Friedrich von Friedeburg (officer)

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Friedrich von Friedeburg (eighth from left) during the imperial maneuver in 1905

Friedrich von Friedeburg (born March 5, 1866 in Freiburg im Breisgau , † April 27, 1933 in Berlin ) was a Prussian lieutenant general in World War I and an author .

Life

origin

Friedrich was the son of the Prussian Major General Friedrich von Friedeburg (1836–1888) and his wife Marie, née Walz (* 1842).

Military career

Friedeburg occurred on 21 September 1883 as a cadet in the 1st Guards Regiment walk the Prussian army one was there on 15 April 1884 to Ensign appointed and 14th February 1885 to second lieutenant promoted. From November 1, 1890 to March 25, 1893 Friedeburg was adjutant of the training infantry battalion and then rose to regimental adjutant. In this position he was promoted to Prime Lieutenant on June 3, 1893 , and from April 1, 1896, he was assigned to the General Staff . On April 14, 1897, he was transferred to his secondary budget. As a captain (since November 18, 1897) Friedeburg was first transferred to the General Staff of the Guard Corps for one year , then again to the General Staff, before he took over as chief of a company in his main regiment on September 14, 1900 . Friedeburg gave up this post on April 10, 1902 and was then appointed wing adjutant of Wilhelm II . At the same time he was also a member of the General Order Commission from August 18, 1902 to March 29, 1911. After Friedeburg was promoted to major on December 24, 1902, he was given command of the Castle Guard Company on January 27, 1905 . After six years of service, on March 20, 1911, he was appointed commander of the 1st Foot Guards Regiment, where he had started his military career at the time. Shortly thereafter, on April 21, 1911, he was promoted to colonel . As regimental commander, Friedeburg was appointed general à la suite to the Emperor and King of Prussia on April 22, 1914 and promoted to major general on May 2, 1914.

When the First World War broke out, Friedeburg gave command of the regiment to his successor, Eitel Friedrich Prince of Prussia , and became the commander of the 6th Guard Infantry Brigade. With his brigade , he marched into neutral Belgium in conjunction with the 3rd Guards Division and participated in the fighting for Namur , which finally led to the conquest of the city and fortress on August 25, 1914. The large unit was then transported to the Eastern Front , fought there in the Battle of the Masurian Lakes and then took part in the southern Polish campaign. He was able to distinguish himself on October 16, 1914 by conquering the village of Brzeźnica (Lesser Poland). In the period that followed, the brigade took part in the north-west Polish campaign and was able to free itself from its grip during the battle of Łódź after being surrounded by Russian troops and the front on 23/24. Break through November 1914. In January 1915 the reinforced brigade and the staff of the 3rd Guard Division were transferred to Hungary and fought on the Carpathian Front from there . While maintaining his command as brigade commander, Friedeburg was entrusted with the management of the division from February 17, 1915. After long struggles, the storming of the Zwinin II finally succeeded on April 9, 1915 , for which Friedeburg was awarded the Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords.

The fighting then continued in the Galician plain, with some heavy losses. After a fourteen-day battle near Stryj , the Russian front was breached on May 31, 1915 and the city was occupied. 5000 prisoners were brought in and eight guns were captured. In the following battle on the Dniester the crossing at Zurawno was fought over the river and the northern bank was conquered. Friedeburg's troops then had to retreat because the southern army could not provide the necessary reserves in time. Friedeburg gave up the leadership of the division at the end of June 1915, but remained in command of the 6th Guard Infantry Brigade. With it he passed a second time the Dniester, penetrated to the Zlota Lipa before and went here in the trench warfare over.

On August 1, 1915 Friedeburg was appointed commander of the 1st Guard Infantry Brigade, with which he pursued the defeated enemy as far as the bow of the 1st Guard Division after the fighting near Biskupice . From there the brigade was transferred to the Western Front at the end of September 1915 and immediately thrown into the autumn battle at La Bassée and Arras . After the defensive successes, the brigade stayed here for a short time and then came to further trench warfare in the Roye area. There Friedeburg was appointed commander of the 2nd Guard Division on May 12, 1916 , which at that time was in the same section of the front. With her he then took part in the Battle of the Somme from the beginning of August 1916 until the large unit was pulled from the front in mid-September due to losses and exhaustion. From November 5th until the Allies broke up the battle , the division entered the fighting again. They then remained in their positions and retreated to the Siegfrieg position in the spring of 1917. From mid-April to the end of May 1917 Friedeburg commanded his division in the Battle of the Aisne and then in the trench warfare in the Argonne . At the beginning of July Friedeburg's division then moved to the east, where on July 19, 1917 the Russian positions at Harbuzow in eastern Galicia were broken through. She stayed on the Sereth until the beginning of August in the recurring trench warfare and then came north to the 8th Army . From September 1 to 5, 1917, she took part in the Battle of Riga and was able to conquer the part of the city east of the Daugava . Friedeburg's division was then moved back to the west, fought here at Chemin des Dames , near Chavignon, then with Army Division C on the Maashehe near St. Mihiel and later with Army Division A and the 19th Army in Lorraine . There Friedeburg was promoted to lieutenant general on February 25, 1918.

In March he joined the 17th Army . His division took part in the attack on the Scarpe on March 28, 1918, without success . Then she fought in May / June in the battle of Soissons and from June 15, 1918 on the offensive of the German troops on the Marne . Here it was initially possible to take enemy positions and bring in over 1000 prisoners as well as to capture four batteries and a large number of machine guns and mortars . Then Friedeburg had to move from the offensive to the defensive. Defensive battles followed between Soissons and Reims and between Marne and Vesle . After further trench warfare, superior enemy forces were repulsed once more during the Battle of Albert - Péronne with the 2nd Army in the division section. For these achievements Friedeburg received the highest Prussian bravery award on September 20, 1918, the order Pour le Mérite .

After fighting between Cambrai and St. Quentin , the division came to the 4th Army in Flanders in mid-October 1918 and took part in the retreat fighting there. On November 4, 1918, Friedeburg's division was withdrawn from the front and was to be transferred to Germany in order to put down the uprisings in Berlin with other loyal troops.

With the Armistice of Compiègne , the division was stopped in Cologne and forwarded to Silesia to be used in the Eastern Border Guard . Friedeburg gave up his command here on June 24, 1919 and became head of the VI. Army Corps . After fulfilling this task, Friedeburg was transferred to the officers of the army on March 14, 1920 and, as a result of the army reduction, released from active military service on March 27, 1920.

In retirement he worked as an author and wrote a. a. a chronicle of the 1st Guards Regiment on foot.

family

Friedeburg married Willy von Wenckstern (* 1873) on November 2, 1897 in Banteln . The marriage resulted in the children Lina (* 1898), Friedrich (* 1900), Ilse (* 1901), Wilhelm (* 1904) and Rosemarie (* 1910).

Awards

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reichsarchiv (Ed.): The World War 1914–1918, Volume 8: Summer and Autumn 1915 , ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1932, p. 154.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag War Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1914, p. 142.
personal data
SURNAME Friedeburg, Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedeburg, Friedrich Emil Ludwig Leopold Ferdinand von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Lieutenant General in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1933
Place of death Berlin