Alfred von Larisch (General)

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Georg Karl Kuno Alfred von Larisch (* 20th October 1856 in Gdansk ; † 20th March 1952 in Oberkirchen ) was a Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War .

Life

origin

Alfred came from the Upper Silesian noble family von Larisch . He was the son of the later Prussian general of the cavalry Karl von Larisch (1824–1903) and his wife's first wife Marie, born von Cederstolpe (1838–1878).

Military career

After his education in the Cadet Corps, Larisch joined the Anhalt Infantry Regiment No. 93 of the Prussian Army in Dessau on April 23, 1874 as a second lieutenant . There he served from 1876 to 1880 as adjutant of the 1st battalion and then as regimental adjutant. On August 12, 1883 he was transferred to Berlin in the Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1 . For further training, Larisch completed the Prussian War Academy from October 1, 1884 to July 21, 1887 . On May 22, 1889, he was appointed company commander while being promoted to captain . From June 18, 1895 to November 17, 1897 he was adjutant of the 2nd Guards Division , was in the meantime promoted to Major on April 30, 1896 and then used as commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Guards Regiment on foot . On May 31, 1901 he was transferred to Bückeburg , where he took over as commander of the Westphalian Jäger Battalion No. 7 . There, the transport followed on September 12, 1902 Lieutenant Colonel and on 15 September 1905 , Colonel . On February 13, 1906, Larisch was appointed commander of the 4th Guards Regiment on Foot. He stayed in this position for two years. Then on April 21, 1908, he was appointed to represent the Inspector of Jäger und Schützen and, from August 1, 1908, to take care of the inspector's business in Berlin. At the same time as his promotion to major general , Larisch became inspector of the hunters and riflemen on January 27, 1910. On April 22, 1912 he was promoted to lieutenant general, and on October 1, 1912, he became commander of the 1st Guard Division . On November 17, 1912, however, Larisch was put up for disposition .

After the outbreak of the First World War, Larisch made himself available and was appointed commander of the 10th Division on October 8, 1914 . With this he took part in the fighting on the Meuse heights between the Meuse and the Moselle in the Strantz Army Detachment . Then his division was deployed at Les Epages , where Larisch was wounded on May 8, 1915. He was then transferred to the officers of the army and his mobilization provision was revoked and he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with star, oak leaves and swords.

When he was appointed commander of the 81st Reserve Division , he was reactivated on October 7, 1915. In the following years Larisch was involved with his division on the Eastern Front in the fighting in the Pripjet swamps . On April 30, 1916 he became commander of the Guard Replacement Division , which at that time was fighting on the Meuse Heights on the Western Front . Subsequently, the division fought off Verdun , where, after heavy fighting from August 1 to 8, 1916, it suffered losses of 70 officers and 2,400 men. At the end of August the division was withdrawn from the front and took up positions at Flirey between the Maas and the Moselle. From mid-December 1916 to mid-January 1917, it was back in action off Verdun and then came to Champagne , where it excelled in defense during the defensive battle on the Aisne . For these achievements, Larisch received the Order of the Crown, First Class with Swords.

In mid-July 1917, the division briefly relocated to the east in order to intervene with the 8th Army in the fighting over Riga , which ultimately led to the conquest of the city. After moving back to the west, the division was used again in front of Verdun. On January 20, 1918, Larisch was released from his command and made the leader of the General Command z. b. V. No. 54 appointed. As such, he commanded a section of the 7th Army north of the Ailette . There took Larisch as leader of one of the 5th and 6th Division and the 51st Reserve Division and the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division battle group at the beginning on May 27, 1918 formed German attack , the Battle of Soissons and Reims , in part . On the first day of the fighting, 40 officers and 2,000 prisoners were brought in on the plateau of Pinon- Chavignon, and 50 artillery pieces and over 200 machine guns were also captured. After further successful advance, the combat group encountered bitter resistance on May 30, northwest and west of Soissons, which ultimately led to the end of the German offensive in early June. On June 25, 1918, Larisch was promoted to general of the infantry.

In the offensive of the Allies that began on August 8, 1918 , Larisch was able to successfully defend the section of the group north of the Somme commanded by the 2nd Army and was awarded the Pour le Mérite on August 25, 1918 . From August 22nd to September 2nd he fought with Albert - Péronne , from September 8th for a month in the Siegfried position between Cambrai and St. Quentin and then in the Hermann position . At the beginning of November 1918, Larisch withdrew with his associations to the Antwerp - Maas position.

After the Armistice of Compiègne , Larisch led the divisions under his control back home, where after the demobilization of the General Command on January 18, 1919, his mobilization provision was lifted.

family

Larisch married Elisabeth von Sperber (* 1875) on April 10, 1896. The following children were born from the marriage:

  • Hermann Eugen Alfred Kuno Karl (* 1897)
  • Marie Elisabeth Erika Margarete Asta (* 1898)
  • Erich Wilhelm Peter Nikolaus (* 1900)

Awards

literature

  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweig: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2003, ISBN 3-7648-2516-2 , pp. 315-317.
  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Bernard & Graefe publishing house, Berlin 1935, pp. 651–653.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldatisches Führertum . Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , pp. 120f., No. 3116.
  2. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses 1903. Sixth year, p. 413
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1912. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1912, p. 48.
personal data
SURNAME Larisch, Alfred von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Larisch, Georg Karl Kuno Alfred von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Danzig
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1952
Place of death Obernkirchen