Magnus von Eberhardt

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Magnus von Eberhard (after 1918)
Tomb for Magnus and Clara von Eberhardt on the Invalidenfriedhof Berlin (status 2013)

Friedrich Wilhelm Magnus Eberhardt (* 6. December 1855 in Berlin , † 24. January 1939 ) was a Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War .

Life

origin

He was the son of the Prussian Major General Heinrich von Eberhardt (1821–1899) and his wife Clara Henriette, née von Reuss (1829–1911). His brothers Gaspard (1858–1928) and Walter (1862–1944) also embarked on a military career and made it to lieutenant general .

Military career

Eberhardt became effective on 23 April 1874 from the cadet corps coming as second lieutenant in the Anhaltische Infantry Regiment. 93 of the Prussian army in Zerbst , where he served first as a company officer and then from 1 November 1875 as battalion adjutant. From September 12, 1878 to July 20, 1881 he was assigned to train at the War Academy in Berlin, where he acquired the qualification for the general staff. On July 20, 1882, he was transferred to the 3rd Guards Regiment on foot in Berlin and on August 29, 1883, he was promoted to first lieutenant . On January 25, 1887, Eberhardt was commanded as adjutant to the 4th Guards Infantry Brigade in Berlin, and on March 22, 1889, he was promoted to captain . On May 22, 1889, he switched to the 3rd Guards Regiment on foot as a company commander . From June 17, 1890 to October 7, 1891 he served with the Great General Staff in Berlin.

On October 8, 1891, Eberhardt became Chief of Staff of the 8th Division in Erfurt . On February 1, 1894, he was assigned to the War Ministry , where he served until April 20, 1898; During this time he was promoted to major on October 18, 1894 . On April 21, 1898 he was battalion commander in the grenadier regiment "Prince Carl of Prussia" (2nd Brandenburg) No. 12 in Frankfurt (Oder) . On September 26, 1900, he was reassigned to the Great General Staff in Berlin, where he served as section chief and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 18, 1901 . On February 24, 1903, Eberhardt was appointed Chief of Staff of the X Army Corps in Hanover . In this position he was promoted to colonel on April 18, 1903 . From May 31, 1904 to April 4, 1907 he commanded the Guard Fusilier Regiment in Berlin. Then he became Chief of Staff of the Guard Corps in Berlin. On September 11, 1907, he was promoted to major general. On January 5, 1911, he was appointed commander of the 19th division in Hanover and shortly thereafter, on January 27, 1911, promoted to lieutenant general. On March 22, 1913, he was appointed military governor of Lower Alsace with his seat in Strasbourg .

When the First World War broke out , Eberhardt, in his capacity as military governor of Strasbourg, was given supreme command in the northern part of Upper Alsace and was promoted to General of the Infantry on August 18, 1914. As such, he was subordinate to the 30th Reserve Division , which was the main reserve in Strasbourg , the Bavarian Replacement Division and several Landwehr brigades. With these Eberhardt took part in the 7th Army in the battle of Nancy-Epinal. On September 1, 1914, the troops were grouped into the "Eberhardt" corps and a little later assigned to the Falkenhausen Army Division, where they were deployed in the Vosges. His corps then became the XV on December 1, 1914 . Reserve corps formed, with which he repulsed the French advance on Colmar and pushed the enemy back to French territory with the exception of the Thann - Altkirch area. When the corps was converted into a Bavarian unit on September 26, 1916, he gave up the command and instead took over the X. Reserve Corps on October 16, 1916 , which he led until June 15, 1918. During this time he was awarded the Pour le Mérite in May 1917 and the Oak Leaves in April 1918, after his corps had distinguished itself during the bloody conquest of the Kemmelberg in West Flanders . On August 6, 1918, he was appointed to succeed Colonel General Max von Boehn in command of the 7th Army , which was located southwest of Laon at the Siegfried Line and which Boehn took over again at the end of October 1918. On November 8, 1918, shortly before the armistice , Eberhardt received command of the 1st Army as the successor to General of the Infantry Otto von Below , whose demobilization he supervised. On December 1, 1918, it was put up for disposal .

Magnus von Eberhardt was married to Clara von Kalitsch-Dobritz (1853-1918). He died in Berlin in January 1939 at the age of 83 and was buried at the side of his wife in the Invalidenfriedhof Berlin. The tomb has been preserved.

Awards

Works (selection)

  • From Prussia's difficult times. Letters and notes from my great-grandfather and grandfather. (1907) Digitized
  • War memories. J. Neumann Publishing House, Neudamm 1938.

literature

  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: AG. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 335-337.
  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Berlin 1935, pp. 248-251.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reports from the German headquarters 1914–1918: The conquest of Kemmel
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps for 1914 , Ed .: War Ministry , ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1914. p. 134.
personal data
SURNAME Eberhardt, Magnus von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eberhardt, Friedrich Wilhelm Magnus von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1939
Place of death Berlin