Adalbert von Falk

Adalbert von Falk, after March 1915

Poster from April 15, 1918 of the Deputy General commands under General von Falk with the request to denounce "strike and revolutionary agitators" for considerable sums

.

Franz Ludwig Adalbert Falk , von Falk since 1879 (born September 19, 1856 in Lyck , † March 25, 1944 in Berlin-Schmargendorf ) was a Prussian infantry general .

Life

family

Falk was the son of the public prosecutor and later Prussian minister of education, Falk, and his wife Rose, née Passow (1827–1898). Falk married Meta von Lentzcke (* 1861) on June 3, 1882.

Military career

After his upbringing and attending the Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin, where he graduated from high school, Falk joined the Guard Fusilier Regiment of the Prussian Army on March 20, 1875 as a three-year-old volunteer . On October 12, 1875 he was appointed Portepeefähnrich and promoted to Second Lieutenant on October 17, 1876 . In 1879 he received the nobility rejected by his father and requested for his son . From October 1, 1883, Falk graduated from the War Academy for three years , was subsequently promoted to Prime Lieutenant and received an honorary saber in recognition of his achievements at the Academy in March 1877 . On April 1, 1888, he was assigned to the General Staff for one year . This command was extended by a further year until Falk was finally transferred to the secondary budget of the General Staff on March 24, 1890 under promotion to captain and position à la suite of the Emperor Franz Garde Grenadier Regiment No. 2 . Associated with this was the appointment as adjutant to the chief quartermaster . On March 5, 1891, Falk was appointed Second Adjutant to the Chief of the General Staff under position à la suite of the General Staff of the Army. Of 19 September 1891 to 13 February 1893, he was then the General Staff of the II. Army Corps operates and then returned as a company commander in the Grenadier Regiment "King Friedrich Wilhelm II." (1st Silesian) no. 10 in the troop service back. In the following year, Falk came to Munster for the General Staff of the 13th Division and became major on September 12, 1895 . From June 17, 1897 to April 21, 1902, he was employed as a battalion commander in the 2nd Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 32 . Then Falk was transferred to the staff of the 3rd Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 71 as a lieutenant colonel . With effect from October 1, 1902, he was transferred to the military academy as a military teacher with the uniform of the General Staff. There Falk rose to a member of the board on May 17, 1904 and was promoted to colonel on March 16, 1905 in this position . From May 21, 1906 he acted as commander of the grenadier regiment "King Friedrich Wilhelm I." (2nd East Prussian) No. 3 . On April 2, 1909, he was major general in command of the 9th Infantry Brigade in Frankfurt (Oder) . On January 27, 1912, Falk was appointed inspector of the war schools. In this function he was also chairman of the senior military study commission . Shortly thereafter, on April 22, 1912, he was promoted to lieutenant general.

At the beginning of the First World War he was appointed commander of the 2nd division from Insterburg . Almost four weeks later he fought with the large association in the battle of Tannenberg . From October 4th to 7th, 1914, he was temporarily entrusted with the management of the 1st Army Corps . Falk remained on the Eastern Front and took part in the trench warfare there as well as the winter battle in Masuria . For his achievements in this battle he was awarded the Cross of the Commandery with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern , after he had previously received both classes of the Iron Cross . In October 1915 he was awarded the star for the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with oak leaves and swords.

Due to his age, Falk was recalled from his front command and at home on June 2, 1916 as the commanding general of the deputy general command of the IX. Army Corps appointed in Altona . On August 18, 1916, he was promoted to General of the Infantry.

When the sailors' uprising broke out in Kiel , the governor , Vice Admiral Souchon , did not turn to the senior military commander in his home area on November 3, 1918, but rather to the deputy general command of the adjoining corps area in Altona. Its commanding general, Adalbert von Falk, then commissioned the troop leader of the deputy brigade command closest to the Kiel fortress area , Major General v. Wright to collect all available infantry forces from the reserve battalions under his command and to transport them to Kiel that same night. The General Command had trains ready for their transports in Lübeck and Neumünster . Wright alerted the reserve battalions of the 162 and the Schleswig Reserve Regiment garrisoned here, the 84 in Lübeck and the 163 in Neumünster. However, by using force - at least eight people were killed - Souchon was able to bring the situation under control again and the measures taken by the brigade were reversed before midnight.

However, the next morning the unrest revived, Souchon asked the chief of the deputy general staff of the corps for help from Rendsburg ( 85 ) and Lübeck. The chief of staff appointed Wright by telephone at 11 o'clock to command all the replacement battalions to be deployed against Kiel.

Wright's plan was to gather all the intervention troops arriving from the corps area south of Kiel and march into Kiel with united forces. The plan was based not only on his “experiences in the history of war”, but also on the general staff study from 1908 on the “fight in insurgent cities”, which was distributed to the brigade staff.

Souchon rejects, however, since the command of a troop leader of the land army in the area of the naval war port of Kiel was excluded for him, both Wright's plan and this as commander. He got in touch with the Falk in Altona and, largely asserting his personal reputation and immediate position , he managed to come to an understanding with him that Wright would be released from his command at noon by a call from the General Command and the reaction forces under the Souchon's direct command was placed. With the help of the last formations still loyal to him and the army troops brought to them, he wanted to create Remedur within the fortress area.

However, this project should prove to be unusable in the first place. Contrary to the forceful counter-ideas of the army commander, who had been rejected by him, he allowed all special trains manned by intervention troops to enter the main station of the rebel- ruled city. There the revolutionary crowd took the incoming transports by surprise. Souchon was forced to enter into negotiations.

After the war was adjusted Falk on 24 November 1918. Disposition .

Honors

Star for the Order of the Crown, 2nd class

Prussian service award cross

Commander of the Order of the Griffin

Commander II class of the Duke of Saxony-Ernestine House Order

Commander II class of the Frederick Order

Commander of the Order of the Redeemer

Honorary citizen of Lyck

literature

Friedrich von Rieben: History of the Royal Prussian Emperor Franz Garde Grenadier Regiment No. 2. Publisher Paul Parey. Berlin 1914. p. 282.
Paul von Scheven: Officer regular roles and rankings of the Royal Prussian Emperor Franz Garde Grenadier Regiment No. 2. 1814–1894. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1894. pp. 136-137.
Fabian Krahe: Adalbert von Falk, General. In: Olaf Matthes / Ortwin Pelc : People in the Revolution. Hamburg portraits 1918/19. Husum Verlag, Husum 2018, ISBN 978-3-89876-947-1 , pp. 29–32.

Web links

Commons : Adalbert von Falk - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Adalbert von Falk in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Death register of the Berlin-Wilmersdorf registry office No. 884/1944.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Lieutenant General v. Falk In: Lübeckische advertisements : 166th year, number 263, edition of June 7, 1916.
^ Military weekly paper . No. 46 of March 2, 1915. p. 1059.
^ Military weekly paper. No. 190/191 of October 23, 1915. p. 4501.
^ Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of officers of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps 1917. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1917. p. 2.
↑ See also list of abandoned buildings in Lübeck: Wisbystraße
^ Ernst-Heinrich Schmidt: Heimatheer and Revolution 1918. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-421-06060-6 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn. Berlin 1914. p. 556.

personal data
SURNAME	Falk, Adalbert von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Falk, Franz Ludwig Adalbert von (full name); Falk, Franz Ludwig Adalbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prussian general of the infantry
DATE OF BIRTH	September 19, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH	Elk
DATE OF DEATH	March 25, 1944
Place of death	Berlin-Schmargendorf

[1] Death register of the Berlin-Wilmersdorf registry office No. 884/1944.

[Lübeckische_Anzeigen-2] Lieutenant General v. Falk In: Lübeckische advertisements : 166th year, number 263, edition of June 7, 1916.

[3] Military weekly paper . No. 46 of March 2, 1915. p. 1059.

[4] Military weekly paper. No. 190/191 of October 23, 1915. p. 4501.

[Rangliste1917-5] Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of officers of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps 1917. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1917. p. 2.

[6] See also list of abandoned buildings in Lübeck: Wisbystraße

[7] Ernst-Heinrich Schmidt: Heimatheer and Revolution 1918. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-421-06060-6 .

[Rangliste1914-8] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn. Berlin 1914. p. 556.