Franz von Steinhart

Steinhart as Major (1902)

Franz Seraphin Edler von Steinhart (born March 20, 1865 in Mährisch-Weißkirchen , † October 23, 1949 in Innsbruck ) was a field marshal lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian army .

Life

The father Steinhart was a captain and artillery instructor who retired after the war against Prussia and moved with the family first to Graz and then to Klagenfurt . In Klagenfurt von Steinhart attended elementary school and secondary school, and then switched to the fourth grade of the military lower secondary school in Güns . This was followed by the military high school in Mährisch-Weißkirchen and the genius department of the Austro-Hungarian Technical Military Academy in Vienna .

On August 18, 1885 Steinhart was appointed lieutenant in the kk Genieregiment Kaiser Franz-Josef I. No. 1 and assigned to the 2nd battalion in Krakow . After four years of service in the troops, he was sent to the higher genius course in Vienna in the fall of 1889, while at the same time being promoted to lieutenant, and after completing it he was transferred to the genius management in Bilek with very good success . Four years later he was briefly transferred to Komorn and after being promoted to captain in the staff of genius on July 1, 1895, he was again transferred to the genius direction in Przemyśl .

In the Przemysl Fortress he was entrusted with the completion of Fort XIIIa and the planning of Fort XIII, and he was also responsible for building an ammunition field depot.
On February 16, 1897, he was transferred to the genius direction in Trento , while at the same time relocating to the Riva fortress . Here he worked on the project planning of the permanent fortifications, as well as the reinforcement road on Monte Brione and the central battery there .

On May 1, 1899, Steinhart was transferred to the General Engineering Inspectorate in Vienna, where he successfully passed the staff officer examination for the genius staff in March 1901 and was seconded to the genius staff department of the Technical Military Academy in Vienna in July of the same year as a teacher of fortification and fortification warfare.

On November 1, 1901, he was promoted to major in the staff of genius and on July 27, 1907, he was appointed director of genius in Klagenfurt. On May 1, 1908, von Steinhart was promoted to lieutenant colonel with a simultaneous transfer as director of genius to Riva . Here he was responsible for the fortification systems in the border area of ​​the Vallarsa from Passo Pian delle Fugazze to Madonna di Campiglio . His tasks included completing the Monte Tombio tank factory and supervising work on the Carriola tank factory. The Valmorbia plant in Vallarsa was started, but could not be completed until the beginning of the war .

On November 1, 1910, he was promoted to colonel in the staff of genius and on April 25, 1914 appointed director of genius of Trento. Here, until the beginning of the war with Italy on May 23, 1915, he ensured the accelerated expansion of the Trento fortress and the fortifications at Folgaria / Lavarone . Here he was promoted to major general on November 1, 1914 and appointed fortress commander of Trento on January 27, 1915. When war broke out with Italy, his area of ​​responsibility was expanded through his appointment as commander of the Eastern Front off Trento, which lasted until February 26, 1916. From January 27, 1916, Major General von Steinhart became the commandant of the defense section Rayon I Stilfser Joch and on March 6, 1916, the commandant of Rayon II Tonale . On November 1, 1916, he was appointed commander of the 43rd Landwehr Infantry Brigade (at that time deployed in the III.Corps on Monte Interrotto in Valsugana ), and on November 6th he was appointed commander of the Pustertal infantry division (consisting of 96th Infantry, 21st Mountain and 56th Mountain Brigade) followed. The division was responsible for the defense of the Pustertal from the Carinthian border to the Marmolada over about 100 kilometers of the front line. The previously only provisional command of the division was finally named on 23 August 1917, with the unit being renamed the 49th Infantry Troop Division.

On November 1, 1917, von Steinhart was promoted to field marshal lieutenant. Until the end of the war he commanded the 49th Infantry Division in the area of Madonna di Campiglio as far as the Val di Concei .

On November 4, 1918, Steinhart was taken prisoner in Italy, from which he was released as a war invalid on June 24, 1919. He was retired on September 1, 1919.

He was married to Valerie von Steinhart (May 15, 1878 to August 22, 1971). His son Franz Steinhart-Hantken fell as Major i. G. of the German Wehrmacht on June 29, 1944 in the Soviet Union .

Web links

• The Kärntner Landsmannschaft - issue 2/2000, pp. 8-10.
• moesslang.net