Ferdinand Porsche reached the rank of "SS-Oberführer". During the war, Porsche was further decorated with the SS-Ehrenring and awarded the War Merit Cross. As the war progressed his proposed solutions to new developments became more complex and Ferdinand Porsche gained a reputation in certain circles as a "mad scientist" especially with Albert Speer (mainly due to his new found affinity for "pointy" designs). A new city, "Stadt des KdF-Wagens" was founded near Fallersleben for the Volkswagen factory, but wartime production concentrated almost exclusively on the military Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen variants. Mass production of the car, which later became known as the Beetle,
3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf fighting alongside the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" and the "Hermann Göring" Panzer Division destroyed the Soviet 3rd Tank Corps. The terrain around Modlin is excellent for armour, and "Totenkopf's" panzers exploited this to their advantage, engaging Soviet tanks from a range where the superiority of the German optics and the 75 mm high-velocity gun gave the Panthers an edge over the T-34s. The efforts of the "Totenkopf", "Wiking" and "Hermann Göring" divisions allowed the Germans to hold the Vistula line and establish Army Group Vistula. In December 1944, the IX SS Mountain Corps (Alpine Corps-Croatia) was encircled in Budapest.