Curt Treitschke

Curt Erwin Franz Gustav Treitschke (born May 8, 1872 in Annaberg , † January 20, 1946 in Dresden ) was a German troop and general staff officer . Treitschke became known as a pioneer of military cartography .

Life

Military career

After graduating from the Kreuzschule in Dresden , Treitschke joined the 3rd Infantry Regiment No. 102 of the Saxon Army in Zittau in 1892 as a porter ensign . As a secondary lieutenant and adjutant , he was transferred to the 13th Infantry Regiment No. 178 in 1897 and then joined the military directorate of the XII in 1899 as a first lieutenant . (I. Royal Saxon) Army Corps in Dresden. In 1901 he passed the examination for the higher military administration service at the TH Dresden . His later activity as a cartographer began with a visit to the Prussian War Academy in Berlin in the winter semester of 1901/1902 . The focus of training was geography and surveying . After study trips to some countries in Europe, Asia and the Orient, Treitschke worked as a general staff officer in several general staffs , including a. in the Saxon General Staff, where in 1914 he was appointed head of the topographical work of the Saxony State Survey as surveying director.

First World War

On the western front of the First World War , Treitschke became Major in the General Staff at the High Command of the 2nd Army , Head of Surveying Department 12. During this time he had already dealt with relief representations in topographic maps , which contained rock drawings as a special feature in the map image. In June 1916 he took over the reorganization of surveying in the headquarters of Field Marshal Hindenburg on the Eastern Front and in 1917 Mackensen in Romania . He wrote a memorandum with the geographer Max Eckert , who earned the development of cartography as an independent science, and thus became a co-creator of German war surveying. While General Field Marshal Mackensen went into internment custody at the end of the war , Treitschke took over Infantry Regiment No. 375 of the 89th Division in Romania in November 1918 from its General Staff and led it, reinforced by various divisions and other troops, through Romania, which had meanwhile been hostile Hungary back to Germany. With regard to the implementation of the organization, without acts of war and avoidance of capture of war despite disarmament , this "Marching Group Treitschke" called by Mackensen was a military achievement marked with high respect and recognition.

After his return he became head of the department for regional admission in the Saxon general staff. Discharged from military service on September 30, 1919, he was in charge of the office, which had now been converted into the civil Saxon land registry, until it was incorporated into the newly created Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme on July 11, 1921.

After the war

After the end of the war, he brought his extensive experience in the field of cartography to his home in Saxony. At the same time, Treitschke wrote his dissertation at the age of 50 , which he submitted as a student at Leipzig University. The content was the cartographic expression taking into account the shapes of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains . The work was graded with distinction. In the anthology "Contributions to German Cartography" , he a. a. Maps of Saxon Switzerland with its wild fissures and the peculiar morphological conditions presented very knowledgeably. In professional circles ( Albrecht Penck / Karl Peuker ) there were appreciative appreciations for this.

Treitschke did not join the Reichswehr . There were family ties with Hans von Seeckt 1866–1936 Colonel General and Chief of the Army Command of the Reichswehr. He became director of the Saxon State Milk Committee. Financial reasons forced him to take on this unfamiliar position. A detailed description of this time is given in the article by Manfred Kobuch and Marianne Stams: "Curt Treitschke, a forgotten Saxon military cartographer" Section 9 "Director of the Saxon State Milk Committee".

In 1935 Curt Treitschke was appointed to the 9th Department of the Army General Staff as a training officer. From 1936 he worked as a part-time teacher in map studies and aerial geography at the air war schools in Berlin-Gatow and Werder (Havel) of the air force that was being established . The basis for his teaching activities was a book he published, "Kartenkunde under special consideration of the needs of the Luftwaffe" , which appeared in four editions. In 1938 he joined the "card system" group of the 7th Department of the General Staff of the Air Force. There he took over the newly created section 5 "Training in aerial geography and mapping" within the air force command staff. In 1939 he was reactivated as an officer. He was promoted to colonel on the 50th anniversary of his entry as an officer . He left the Wehrmacht after his 70th birthday in 1942. He then continued teaching at the air warfare schools as an employee until 1944.

Curt Treitschke died in January 1946 as a result of an assassination attempt on him two years earlier in Czestochowa (Poland). He was buried in the Trinity cemetery in Dresden.

Publications

• The regional recordings of Saxony from 1780–1921. In: Contributions to German cartography. ed. v. Hans Praesent, Leipzig 1921, pp. 47-60.
• Cartographic expression for tectonic and morphological conditions with special consideration of the shapes of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. Univ., Diss., Leipzig 1923.
• Instructions for the teachers of map studies at the war schools, ed. v. Army survey office of the Reich Ministry of War, Berlin 1936
• The march back from Romania. Baensch Foundation. Dresden 1938.
• German Austria, the country, its history, its economy. Bernard & Graefe. Berlin 1938.
• Map customer with special consideration of the needs of the Air Force. Bernard & Graefe, Berlin. 1st edition 1940, 2nd edition 1941, 3rd edition 1942, 4th edition 1942.
• Warfare and Map. In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen . 87 (1941), p. 225.
• The map as a weapon. In: Reichsoffizierblatt No. 12-13. 1941, pp. 268f.
• The flyer card. In: Reichsoffizierblatt No. 28. 1941, p. 537.
• Greece. Scherl. Berlin 1941.
• 5 years Saxon State Committee for the Promotion of Milk Consumption, Saxon State Milk Committee. 1931.

literature

• Manfred Kobuch, Marianne Stams: Curt Treitschke, a forgotten Saxon military cartographer. Cartographic News (No. 6, published December 10, 2009)

Web links

• Short biography in the study of aerial geography, mapping and surveying in the Air Force 1888-2002 (with further references)
• Literature by and about Curt Treitschke in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Curt Treitschke at Open Library