Günther von Pannewitz

Gunther von Pannewitz (* 6. December 1857 in Neisse ; † 23. September 1936 in Freiburg ) was a Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War .

Life

origin

Günther was a son of the Prussian lieutenant colonel Hermann von Pannewitz (1815–1866) and his wife Antonie, née von Siebold. His father was killed in the battle of Königgrätz during the war against Austria .

Military career

After his education in the cadet corps , Pannewitz was transferred to the Grenadier Regiment "King Friedrich III." (2nd Silesian) No. 11 of the Prussian Army on April 15, 1875 as a Second Lieutenant . From October 1878 to the end of March 1881 he served as an adjutant at the Schweidnitz district command and then came to Strasbourg in the 1st Lower Alsatian Infantry Regiment No. 132 . Here Pannewitz was promoted to regimental adjutant on November 1, 1881, and from October 1, 1885, he was sent to the military academy for three years for further training . This was followed by his command to the Great General Staff and with his promotion to captain on March 24, 1890, Pannewitz was transferred here. In the next three years he was active in various general staffs. First with III. Army Corps and then back to the General Staff. Then Pannewitz acted from mid-February 1893 to mid-November 1894 as a company commander in the infantry regiment "Keith" (1st Upper Silesia) No. 22 . He was transferred to the 21st Division in Frankfurt am Main , used as the first general staff officer and promoted to major on September 12, 1895 . As such, he was transferred to the General Staff on March 22, 1897, while at the same time being assigned to the General Staff of the Fifth Army Inspection . Pannewitz returned to the troop service on July 22, 1900, served as commander of the 1st Battalion in the 1st Baden Leib Grenadier Regiment No. 109 and on April 22, 1902 , when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on the staff of the grenadier regiment " King Friedrich III. ”(2nd Silesian) No. 11 moved. After ten months of service he was entrusted with the management of the business as department head in the Great General Staff and on April 18, 1903 he was appointed to this post. After only two months Pannewitz was recalled and appointed chief of General Staff of the province appointed Strasbourg. He worked there for three years, became a colonel on March 16, 1905 and was in command of the 5th Badische Infantry Regiment No. 113 in Freiburg im Breisgau from April 10, 1906 to October 17, 1908 . Subsequently initially charged with the command of the 14th Infantry Brigade, he was appointed commander with his promotion to major general on March 24, 1909. This brigade gave up Pannewitz on February 19, 1912, was entrusted with the command of the 4th Division and, at the same time as the promotion to lieutenant general , was appointed commander on April 22, 1912.

First World War

Pannewitz also led this division when the First World War broke out. First, his large formation marched into neutral Belgium in conjunction with the 1st Army and fought at the Gete and at Mons . After the Battle of the Marne , Pannewitz and his division retreated as instructed, fighting on the Aisne . At the beginning of November 1914 he was appointed General Command of the XVII. Army Corps appointed on the Eastern Front . Under his command, the corps fought near Kutno, in the battle of Łódź and on the Rawka and Bzura . On January 27, 1915, Pannewitz was promoted to General of the Infantry. With the army group "Gallwitz" he led his corps from July 13, 1915, to which the 1st Guard Reserve Division was subordinate, in the Narew offensive . The conquest of Przasnysz succeeded on the first day . Then his troops broke through the Bogate position, crossed the Narew between Różan and Pułtusk and were able to defeat the Russian forces again in the battle of Wonsewo in early August 1915. After further skirmishes and battles, the advance in the Lithuanian swamps came to a standstill. In October 1915 Pannewitz came with his corps to the western front and was in position battles between Somme and Oise . In the Battle of the Somme , which began on July 1, 1916 , he commanded a group of the 2nd Army and was able to maintain the majority of his positions in heavy defensive battles.

On September 6, 1916, Pannewitz gave up command of his corps due to health problems and was transferred to the officers of the army. In recognition of his achievements during the Battle of the Somme , on September 13, 1916, he was awarded the highest Prussian valor award, the Order Pour le Mérite . After his recovery he was further used and on October 12, 1916 as the commanding general of the deputy general command of the XX. Army Corps appointed in Olsztyn . After the armistice in Compiègne , Pannewitz initially stayed at his post and was put up for disposal on December 4, 1918 at his request .

family

Pannewitz married Ebba von Ekesparre (* 1881) on January 8, 1900 in Davos . She was the daughter of the German-Baltic officer and Imperial Russian Real Councilor of State Eugen von Ekesparre and his wife Anna Carolina Freiin Schilling von Cannstatt .

literature

• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume II: M-Z. Bernard & Graefe publishing house, Berlin 1935, pp. 108–110.
• 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, ISBN 3-7648-2586-3 , pp. 3-4.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen houses. 1916. Tenth year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1915, p. 704.
2. ^ Hans Körner: Die Würzburger Siebold: a family of scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries , Verlag Degener & Co, 1967, p. 585. ( limited preview online at Google Book Search ).