Christoph Hugo Immo Bierling
Christoph Hugo Immo Bierling (born August 14, 1891 in Dresden ; † September 16, 1974 in Bremen ) was a banker from Dresden and an officer in the First and Second World Wars.
Life
family
Bierling came from the well-known old Saxon entrepreneur and officer family Bierling. His grandfather was Heinrich Bierling, the founder of Bierling Lederwerke GmbH, his great-uncle was Christoph Albert Bierling, founder of CA Bierling GmbH , which was initially founded as an armaments company in 1848, but later converted its business to art monuments and bell castings due to the military reform of 1866. Another uncle was the Dresden textile and leather manufacturer Friedrich August Bierling. Christoph Bierling was a nephew of the Saxon Lieutenant General Wilhelm August Bierling. His cousin was Lieutenant General Werner Richter. His great-uncle was August Otto Bierling, Rittmeister in the royal Saxon Garde du Corps .
youth
At the age of 16, Christoph Bierling lost his father, the Dresdner Kommerzienrat Bernhard Robert Bierling, whereupon he grew up with his uncle, the entrepreneur Clemens Albert Bierling and his family in the Villa Bierling at Hohe Straße 27 in Dresden. Following his Abitur at the Kreuzgymnasium in Dresden, Bierling began training as a businessman at Lederwerke Bierling GmbH in Brockwitz.
In 1913 Bierling joined the Saxon Army at the age of 22.
First World War
In 1914, with the beginning of the First World War, Bierling advanced with the 23rd Division (1st Royal Saxon) to Dinant . After deploying at Hurtebise , he was appointed ensign in January 1915 . In 1917 Bierling was promoted to lieutenant and in 1918 commanded a company for the " Marne Protection -Reims Company" to secure the crossing of the Marne . In fierce fighting in the vicinity of Cambrai Bierling was wounded in autumn 1918 and, at that time with the rank of major , did not take part in any further acts of war until the end of World War I.
Weimar Republic and National Socialism
After being released from the hospital, Bierling spent eight months recovering at Naundorf Castle , the family estate of his uncle Heinrich Oscar Bierling, before he returned to Dresden in 1919 and switched to civilian life.
From 1919 Hugo Immo Bierling was a member of the management of Bierling Lederwerke GmbH.
In 1919 he married the Bremen entrepreneur daughter and opera singer Ilse Focke (1899–1965). The marriage resulted in 2 children.
From 1925 Christoph Bierling was on the board of the Allgemeine Deutsche Creditanstalt in Dresden. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Bierling entered active service in the Wehrmacht with the rank of major .
Second World War
From 1939 Bierling served in the Army High Command as a staff officer at the General Staff under Erich von Manstein . After the French campaign and the occupation of France, Bierling was transferred to Paris. There he initially coordinated tasks in the newly created "Defense Economy and Armaments Staff France". In February 1941 Bierling was promoted to lieutenant colonel and transferred to the headquarters of the Paris commandant, where he served on Ernst Schaumburg's staff until 1943 .
In May 1943, Christoph Bierling was transferred to the Eastern Front with the rank of Colonel and served as a staff officer in the central section of the Eastern Front in the 25th Infantry Division of Army Group South . In May 1945 with the end of the Second World War, Bierling found his way to the family of his wife Ilse Focke in Bremen for fear of being captured by the Red Army , as his home Dresden was occupied by the Red Army.
After the Second World War
In Bremen Bierling worked for the British Allied Army in various administrative tasks until 1947. He then resumed his work as a banker and was on the management board until 1966 and later on the supervisory board of Norddeutsche Kreditbank Bremen.
Awards
Awards in the First World War
- Albrechts Order
- Iron Cross 1st class
- Knight's Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry
- Saxon Order of Merit
- Cross of Honor for Services in the War of Saxony-Meiningen
- Bravery Medal (Saxony Altenburg)
- Iron Cross 2nd class
- Wound badge in silver
Awards in World War II
- Repeat clasp Iron Cross 1st class
- War Merit Cross with Swords 1st Class
- German cross in gold
- Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir , 1st class with swords
- War Merit Cross with Swords 1st Class
- War Merit Cross with Swords 2nd Class
- Wound badge in silver
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Oscar Bierling: Family tree of the Bierling family . Ed .: Heinrich Oscar Bierling. 2nd Edition. tape 1 . Meisenbach Riffarth & Co, 1919.
- ^ Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German armies 1815-1939 . Ed .: Günter Wegner. 1st edition. tape 1 . Biblio, Osnabrück 1990.
- ↑ Colonel a. D. Georg Richter: The Royal Saxon Military Order of St. Heinrich 1736-1918 . Ed .: Colonel a. D. Georg Richter. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation, Dresden 1937.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bierling, Christoph Hugo Immo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German banker and officer in the First and Second World Wars |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 14, 1891 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dresden |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 16, 1974 |
| Place of death | Bremen |