Götz von König

Götz Freiherr von König as commander of the Uhlan regiment "Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden" (Rheinisches) No. 7 (1893–1897)

Friedrich Wilhelm Ulrich Götz von König (* 13. March 1849 in Vienenburg , † 8. January 1934 in Woltersdorf ) was a Prussian cavalry general and leader of the Landwehr Corps in the First World War .

Life

Götz was the son of the Hanoverian treasure council and manorial estate owner Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von König (1800–1862) and his wife Pauline, née Bornemann († 1896).

Hanoverian Army

König was educated by a preacher and, after attending grammar schools in Wernigerode and Celle , joined the Hanover cadet corps on April 24, 1864 . He was then transferred on June 17, 1866 as a second lieutenant to the 5th Infantry Regiment , with whom he participated in the Battle of Langensalza during the German War and was taken prisoner in Prussia .

Brunswick Army

After his release, König took his leave on November 28, 1866 and joined the Hussar Regiment No. 17 of the Duchy of Braunschweig . With this King took part in the Franco-German War . With only three hussars from his squadron , he succeeded in taking the city of Sarreguemines without a fight . For this he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class and used as an orderly officer at the High Command of the 2nd Army under Friedrich Karl Nikolaus von Prussia . In the further course of the war, König was involved in the battles at Spichern , Gravelotte , Beaune-la-Rolande , Orléans and Le Mans .

Prussian Army

Released from Brunswick's service after the end of the war , King found employment in the Prussian Army with the Hussar Regiment "von Zieten" (Brandenburgisches) No. 3 in Rathenow . There he was promoted to Prime Lieutenant on November 15, 1873 . From May 18, 1876 to February 10, 1879, König acted as adjutant of the 7th Cavalry Brigade in Magdeburg and then in the same function until June 10, 1879 with the 3rd Cavalry Brigade . At the same time he was promoted to Rittmeister , König came to Potsdam on June 11, 1879 as a squadron chief in the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment . On December 11, 1886, he was transferred to the 2nd Guards Uhlan Regiment while simultaneously serving as an adjutant at the General Command of the IX. Army Corps and a year later on December 13 his promotion to major . As such, König was transferred to the Dragoon Regiment "King Friedrich III." (2nd Silesian) No. 8 and employed here on the staff. After he had become lieutenant colonel on March 25, 1893 , he was commanded to represent the commander of the Uhlan regiment "Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden" (Rheinisches) No. 7 on April 4, 1893 and finally appointed him on June 17, 1893 Commander. In this position he was promoted to colonel on April 18, 1896 . He gave up command on June 17, 1897, was assigned à la suite of the regiment and appointed commander of the 22nd Cavalry Brigade stationed in Kassel . Here on May 22, 1899, he was promoted to major general . On March 22, 1902, König was commissioned to take on the business as the inspector of the 4th Cavalry Inspection in Saarbrücken . When he was promoted to lieutenant general on April 22, 1902, he was appointed inspector. In this capacity, König received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion on November 4, 1902 and the Grand Cross of the Order of Frederick on October 5, 1904 . His post then gave King on May 6, 1905, and was awarded the Order of the Crown , First Class with board for disposition made.

During his retirement , König was active as the author of various works on the cavalry and wrote articles in the military weekly .

First World War

With the outbreak of the First World War, König immediately made himself available, was initially Higher Landwehr Commander for special purposes and on August 14, 1914, he became commander of the 3rd Landwehr Division . This was part of the Landwehr Corps and at the head of his division he moved into Poland via Kalisch and only came to a stop on the Vistula . During the battle of Tarnawka he came to the aid of the Austrian allies , covered the retreat to Galicia and then set up for defense at Czestochowa in order to prevent the threatened invasion of the coal mining area in Upper Silesia by Russian units . There, König, who had received the Iron Cross 1st Class on October 16, 1914 , was commissioned to lead the Landwehr Corps on December 4, 1914, as the commanding General Remus von Woyrsch took over the army department named after him .

He judged König on January 10, 1915 as follows:

“Lieutenant General Freiherr von König made it his own concern to penetrate into the essence of the less familiar arm of the weapon. He has now mastered the tactics of linked arms. His leadership of the Landwehr Corps is absolutely secure and successful in every respect, both in combat and in the positional warfare that has now begun. His great care for his subordinates deserves special recognition. "

- Remus von Woyrsch

In the months that followed, King led his corps from the national border to Lososina and Czarna, then to Ilsanka. On July 17, 1915, he took part in the breakthrough battle near Sienno, which led to the breakthrough at Ivangorod and the enforcement of the Vistula crossing at Maciejowice. The river was about 900 meters wide here. In the meantime, on July 23, 1915, King was personally awarded the highest Prussian valor award, the order Pour le Mérite , by Wilhelm II for his services in the leadership of the corps .

After securing the bridgehead and defending against various counter-attacks, the corps advanced via Bialowies , the Serwetsch to the Tschara. There, the corps went to the Battle of Baranovichi in September 1915, the trench warfare over. On September 30, 1915, König paid tribute to allied Austrians by awarding the Order of the Iron Crown 1st class with war decorations. On November 14, 1915, König was promoted to general of the cavalry after he had already been given the character on January 27, 1915 . In April 1916 he received the swords for the Order of the Crown, First Class. During the Russian Brusilov offensive in the summer of 1916, König was able to maintain his section of the front.

On September 22, 1916, König was relieved of his post and then appointed Higher Cavalry Commander No. 1 , who led a section between Narocz and Lake Dryswjaty. After the reshuffle on November 20, 1916 to General Command z. b. V. no. 56 became king at the Army Division D a section in Daugavpils . From mid-February 1918 he took part in the offensive against Lake Peipus and the upper Daugava and advanced via Drissa to Polotsk .

Due to the peace of Brest-Litovsk , the general command was dissolved and the mobilization provisions of König on March 5, 1918 were repealed. In recognition of his services, he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle 1st Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on the Ring on March 6, 1918 . He spent the last years of his life on his estate in Wolterdorf.

family

König had been married to Hertha Freiin von Cramm (1847–1934) since July 25, 1870 . The three children Leo , who became a recognized painter and representative of the Berlin Secession artist group , Kraft (* 1872) and Anna Paulowna (* 1873) resulted from the marriage.

literature

• 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. 603-604.
• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 470-472.
• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , pp. 16-20, no. 3055.
• Wilhelm Heye : The History of the Landwehr Corps in the World War 1914–1918. Volumes 1 & 2, Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn Verlag, Breslau 1935.
• König family house Lochtum. In: Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses to the year 1870. S. 441ff.

Web links

• The bloodless conquest of a city . In: The Gazebo . 1870, p. 583 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reichsarchiv (ed.): The World War 1914–1918. Volume 8: Summer and Autumn 1915. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1932, pp. 408f.