Alexander von Spitz

Peter Alexander Spitz , von Spitz since 1886 (born November 1, 1832 in Bonn , † July 31, 1910 in Berlin ) was a Prussian infantry general .

Life

origin

He was the son of Josef Spitz († 1861) and his wife Eleonore, née Lippe (1800–1871). His father was a councilor and quaestor at the University of Bonn . The later Prussian Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Spitz (1836–1910) was his younger brother.

Military career

Spitz attended the Moravian Institute in Neuwied and the grammar school in his hometown. On October 1, 1851, he joined the 8th Artillery Brigade of the Prussian Army in Koblenz as a one-year volunteer . In May of the following year he switched to infantry and joined the 29th Infantry Regiment . Here Spitz was promoted to second lieutenant on November 8, 1853 . In June / July 1855 he was assigned to the 8th Pioneer Department for training purposes . On January 1, 1859, Spitz became adjutant of the 2nd Battalion in the 29th Landwehr Regiment in Andernach . As part of the reorganization of the army, he came to the 7th Rhenish Infantry Regiment (No. 69) in Simmern on July 1, 1860 , where he was promoted to Prime Lieutenant on October 17, 1860 . With his regiment , Spitz took part in the battles of Münchengrätz and Königgrätz in 1866 during the war against Austria .

After the peace treaty , Spitz became captain and company commander at the end of October 1866 . During the mobilization on the occasion of the war against France , he was transferred to the regiment's replacement battalion and on December 15, 1870, was appointed adjutant at the General Command on the Rhine. At the beginning of May 1871 he was assigned to the office of the Deputy General Command of the VIII Army Corps and in mid-July Spitz became an adjutant in the governorate in Mainz . With a patent dated August 16, 1866, on March 25, 1873 he was assigned to the 2nd Posensche Infantry Regiment No. 19 as an adjutant to the 13th Division in Münster . In mid-October 1873 he then transferred to the general command of the 1st Army Corps in Königsberg as a major and adjutant . On April 16, 1874 he was assigned to the War Ministry in the Department of Disabled Persons. After six months he was transferred here and subsequently acted as a speaker and department head. Wilhelm I raised Spitz to the hereditary Prussian nobility on June 19, 1886 .

Spitz advanced further and was finally promoted to director of the department on June 22, 1889. A position that he should hold until his departure. At the same time, from January 26, 1891, he also acted as a deputy authorized representative to the Federal Council . In approval of his resignation request, Spitz was put up for disposition on April 18, 1896 and given the character of General of the Infantry with the statutory pension . Shortly afterwards, on May 10, 1896, he was released from his position on the Federal Council.

After his departure, Spitz took over the chairmanship of the German War Association . With the establishment of the Prussian National Warrior Association on January 1, 1899 and the Kyffhäuserbund on January 1, 1900, Spitz was the first chairman of both associations until his death. On the occasion of his 50th anniversary in service, Wilhelm II awarded him the uniform of the 7th Rhenish Infantry Regiment No. 69 on October 1, 1901. In addition, the following year King honored Spitz by awarding him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle . After his death he was buried on August 3, 1910 in the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin.

family

Spitz married Valeska von Windheim (1841–1912) on February 20, 1862 in Koblenz. The two sons Ernst Alexander Maria (* 1863) and Wilhelm Maria Alexander (* 1865) emerged from the marriage.

literature

• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , pp. 417-419, no. 3300.
• Officer tribe list of the infantry regiment v. Courbiere (2. Posensches) No. 19. Görlitz 1913, p. 205.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kurt von Priesdorff: Soldatisches Führertum. Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , p. 419, no. 3301.