Arthur of Bolfras

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Arthur von Bolfras as general of the infantry

Arthur Heinrich Bolfras von Ahnenburg , from 1904 Freiherr von Bolfras (born April 16, 1838 in Sachsenhausen , Frankfurt am Main , † December 19, 1922 in Baden near Vienna ) was the long-time head of the military chancellery of Emperor Franz Joseph and Colonel General of the Austro-Hungarian k .uk army .

family

Arthur Freiherr von Bolfras comes from an old bourgeois family from northern Germany, which is first mentioned in 1430 in Frankfurt an der Oder . Some of the family members also held high offices in the city. After Emperor Ferdinand I awarded the family its own coat of arms in 1560, Emperor Rudolf II raised them to the knightly nobility in 1600 . Even his grandfather Friedrich Bolfras embarked on a military career in the Austrian army. In 1824 Friedrich Bolfras was raised to the nobility by Emperor Franz I and was given the nobility title “von Ahnenburg”.

biography

At a young age Arthur Bolfras von Ahnenburg attended the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt , from which he was retired in 1858 as a lieutenant in the 39th Infantry Regiment . In the Sardinian War between Austria and Sardinia-Piedmont , he fought as a first lieutenant in the battles of Montebello , Melegnano and Solferino . Between 1860 and 1862 he completed the kuk war school in Vienna and was assigned to the general quartermaster staff and assigned to the fortress government in Venice. In 1864 he became a captain and in the same year married the daughter of the Bolzano patrician Larcher zu Eisegg. In 1866 he was a general staff officer in the national defense of Tyrol. As a result, he was assigned to the Reich Ministry of War and rose to major a year later . In May 1878 he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel , after which he served in the occupation campaign in Bosnia in the General Staff Department of the 3rd Army Corps . On the campaign, Arthur von Bolfras served in the troop service with Infantry Regiment No. 7. In May 1881 he rose to the rank of Colonel , two years later he became Chief of Staff of the XIV Corps under the command of FZM Franz Graf von Thun and Hohenstein. He held this office until 1887, when he also rose to major general and was appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade. In 1888 he moved to the 48th Infantry Brigade.

On March 1, 1889, he was finally entrusted with the management of the emperor's military chancellery, which he held until 1917. Franz Joseph quickly learned to appreciate Bolfras' abilities, and on May 14, 1889, appointed him head of the military chancellery and adjutant general to His Majesty. This was an extremely responsible position; so it was one of his tasks to propose names to the emperor for appointment to the highest and very important posts. During the war, all communiques from the War Department and the Army High Command's headquarters passed through his hands. He had a high level of intelligence, quick judgment and excellent human knowledge. Because of these skills, as well as his impeccable demeanor, he was well suited for this position. However, the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand was a great adversary to Bolfras and felt many of his decisions as terrible, whereupon he worked against the adjutant general throughout his life. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of that, Emperor Franz Joseph kept him in his office until old age.

In 1891 he was appointed to the Privy Council and promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal . In 1898 the adjutant general of the emperors was promoted to Feldzeugmeister . On August 15, 1900, Arthur von Bolfras was appointed owner of the 84th Infantry Regiment, whose legacy is still upheld today by a traditional rifle corps. In 1904 he was raised to the baron status by the emperor and dropped the title “von Ahnenburg”. From 1908 on, the rank of Feldzeugmeister was only applied to members of the artillery, so that Bolfras was now general of the infantry . Finally promoted to Colonel General in 1916 , he was retired by Emperor Karl I on January 5, 1917 at his own request . He was also appointed for life as a member of the Herrenhaus , the upper house of the Austrian Imperial Council.

Awards

Appreciation

The army barracks in Mistelbach are named Bolfras barracks in his honor .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner: The death of the double eagle . Special edition. Verlag Styria, Graz, Vienna, Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-222-12454-X , p. 131.
  2. ↑ Kurt-Gerhard Klietmann : The Order of Merit of the Prussian Crown , communication from the Institute for Scientific Order Studies, Der Herold - Volume 12, 32nd year 1989, Issue 9, p. 246

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Bolfras, Arthur of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bolfras, Arthur Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Colonel General
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Sachsenhausen , Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1922
Place of death Baden near Vienna