Curt von Wangenheim

Curt Franz Julius Gustav Adolf von Wangenheim (born March 31, 1862 in Gotha , † November 12, 1937 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German colonel .

Life

origin

Curt came from the Thuringian noble family von Wangenheim . Three of his ancestors, including Wilhelm and Nikolaus , were awarded the order Pour le Mérite as majors under Frederick the Great .

Military career

On April 15, 1882, Wangenheim was transferred from the cadet corps as a second lieutenant to the Hanoverian Fusilier Regiment No. 73 of the Prussian Army in Hanover . From January 7, 1888 to September 12, 1890 he acted as adjutant of the II. Battalion, in the meantime became Prime Lieutenant and from October 1, 1890, he graduated from the War Academy for three years for further training . This was followed by his transfer to the 1st Hanoverian Infantry Regiment No. 74 on December 19, 1893 . This was followed from April 1, 1894, by Wangenheim's assignment to service with the Great General Staff and, on November 14, 1895, with a patent from January 27, 1896, his promotion to captain . On April 1, 1897, he was appointed company commander in Infantry Regiment No. 164 .

On September 14, 1900, Wangenheim resigned from the army and joined the Schutztruppe for German East Africa . There he received his promotion to major on May 18, 1907. After completing his service in the colony and returning to Germany, he was reinstated in the Prussian Army. He came to the staff of the Anhalt Infantry Regiment No. 93 in Dessau on February 28, 1909 and was given command of the 1st Battalion on October 18, 1909. With his promotion to lieutenant colonel on October 1, 1913, Wangenheim was transferred to the staff of the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89 in Schwerin .

On the first day of mobilization , the previous regimental commander Johannes von Busse was appointed commander of the 34th Reserve Infantry Brigade. Wangenheim advanced as the regiment commander . Following the Schlieffen Plan , the association was to advance through Belgium towards France . Contrary to the assumptions, the German Army met resistance. During the conquest of Liège , Wangenheim advanced with his regiment between the forts Liers and Pontisse , penetrated the intermediate position, captured their crew and then advanced to the north of Herstal . After the battle of Mons and the battle of Genly , France was reached. After crossing the Ourcqs and Grand Morins , Wangenheim led his unit into the battles near Esternay on their first day of major combat , later mentioned in their regimental history . The wing enclosure of the enemy failed and Wangenheim then took over the security of the Marne section between Chamigny and Nogent-l'Artaud .

After the German retreat from the Marne, the regiment fought in the Battle of the Aisne in the association of the 5th Division at Vailly-sur-Aisne , from where it was not until the end of September to the IX. Army Corps returned. There followed a year trench warfare in which about 70 km from Paris distant Carlepont on the Oise . In mid-October 1915, his regiment came to Champagne and took over positions at the Quennevières-Ferme ( Tracy-le-Mont ), the Navarin-Ferme ( Somme-Py ) and the La Ferme aux Wacques ( Souain ). Wangenheim received the Iron Cross 1st Class on October 17th . From October 25 to November 27, he took over the leadership of the brigade for the brigade commander who had been transferred to Flanders until the arrival of the new commander, Rüdiger von der Goltz . On January 27, 1916, Wangenheim was promoted to colonel and was awarded the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross, 1st class. His regiment stormed the Navarin position south of Somme-Py on February 27 and took twelve officers, including a battalion staff , and 870 men prisoner and captured three large and seven small mortars and seven machine guns .

The Battle of the Somme , in which his regiment stood at Barleux from July 8th to 27th and south of Péronne from August 9th to September 13th, 1916 , is considered one of the most glorious of the regiment in the regimental history. It was able to withstand all enemy attacks and even move its own line forward in several places. In addition, neighboring troops were relieved by their help. Wangenheim was awarded the Order of the Crown, Second Class with Swords , for the achievements of his regiment there, where he himself had been wounded . Position battles followed at Arras . For Wangenheim, these were interrupted by a command to the Heeresgasschule in Berlin for several weeks. His regiment was in Douai , on the Ancre and in Miraumont . There, at a point protruding far to the west, his regiment repulsed an attack by two English divisions on February 17, 1917. In mid-March they withdrew to the Siegfried Line. After Wangenheim had participated in the course for senior commanders in Valenciennes from the end of March to the beginning of April , he led his regiment to a "defensive victory" in the battle of Arras . There, on April 23, the association not only recaptured the lost northern part of Roeux , but also conquered several trenches from the English. When Wangenheim was appointed commander of the 34th Infantry Brigade on April 26, 1917 , to which his previous regiment was also subordinate, he henceforth led the infantry of the 17th Division . With her he fought from mid-June to the end of July and again from September 23 to October 10, 1917 with distinction and success in the autumn battle in Flanders .

In view of the services he had earned in nearly three years of war, his division commander , Arthur von Gabain , submitted him to the Order of Pour le Mérite. In his award proposal it said, among other things: “... Under his leadership, Grenadier Regiment No. 89 has always achieved particularly outstanding achievements. Since the beginning of the trench war, it has fought on the Western Front, often at crucial points. In defense it has always held the position entrusted to it, often against violent attacks, and in attack it also had excellent results ... "

By the AKO on September 3, 1917, the emperor granted the application by awarding the order .

The spring offensive made his regiments as part of the 17th Army with. In the Kaiserschlacht they followed the line Arras - Albert and took part in the breakthrough battle between Monchy and Cambrai , the battle of Bapaume , as well as a battle near Bucquoy . This is where the German attack efforts should end. In a mobile defensive battle, he led his brigade from the Marne to the Vesle and from there to the Siegfried position. The brigade came to the Champagne and withdrew to the Hunding position. From November 4th, like the other German troops, it evaded the Antwerp-Maas position.

Back at home, Wangenheim kept his position as commander of the 34th Infantry Brigade until the Old Army was dissolved on October 1, 1919. After being taken over into the Reichswehr as Infantry Leader 9 in Schwerin, he resigned after the Kapp Putsch on October 30th April 1920 from active service.

Wangenheim was a legal knight of the Order of St. John . His book on the history of the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89 was published in 1922. On November 15, 1931 , he wrote the preface to the regimental history published in 1932 in Coburg .

Publications

• Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89. Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg / Berlin 1922.

literature

• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, p. 490ff.
• Hanns Möller : History of the knights of the order "Pour le mérite" in the World War. Volume 2: M-Z. Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 465-467.
• Ernst Zipfel : History of the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89. Printed and published by the Bärensprungschen Hofbuchdruckerei, Schwerin 1932.

Web links

Commons : Curt von Wangenheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files