Georg Maercker (General)

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Major General Maercker around 1920

Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker (born September 21, 1865 in Baldenburg , † December 31, 1924 in Dresden ) was a German major general and free corps leader .

Adolescence

Maercker was born in Baldenburg as the eldest of five children of the district judge Theodor Maercker. His family probably originally came from Calbe (Saale) . At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, his great-grandfather, Johann Simon Maercker (1764–1836), moved to Marienwerder in West Prussia as a secret medical advisor . Maercker's father fought on the Prussian side both in the German War of 1866 and in the Franco-German War of 1870/71 as a reserve officer and died in 1871 when Maercker was six years old.

Military career until 1904

Maercker's military training began in the Culm Cadet House and ended after visiting the main cadet institute in Groß-Lichterfelde near Berlin . Subsequently, on April 14, 1885, he was transferred to the 4th Pomeranian Infantry Regiment No. 21 of the Prussian Army in Thorn as Second Lieutenant . On April 1, 1887, he was transferred to Infantry Regiment No. 137 in Hagenau. There he took a one-year leave of absence on September 19, 1888, to go to Africa. After a short period for the German East Africa Company he went as an officer for the protection force for German East Africa . There he took part on May 18, 1889 in a battle near Dar-es-Salam as part of the suppression of the so-called Arab uprising . In 1890 he was taken back into the Prussian Army, where he a. a. was further trained at the War Academy from 1891 to 1894. In 1895 he was transferred to the General Staff . In the same year he married Luise Lindner.

In 1898 he was promoted to captain during a command at the Reichsmarineamt , which included surveying work in Kiautschou , the German leased area in China, from 1898 to 1899 . In 1900 he returned to Germany, first served again in the General Staff and from 1902 as a company commander in the infantry regiment "von Boyen" (5th East Prussian) No. 41 in Tilsit . In 1904 he was promoted to major and transferred to the general staff of the stage command of the protection force for German South West Africa , today's Namibia .

German South West Africa

In the years 1904 to 1907 Maercker took part in the then so-called Herero and Hottentot campaigns. As part of the Nama uprising , he led the Schutztruppe units in the battle near Nubib against the Herero and Nama troops, which were united under the command of the Herero leader Andreas; he was badly wounded in the shoulder. In 1910 he left the Schutztruppe and became battalion commander in the infantry regiment “King Ludwig III. von Bayern "(2nd Lower Silesian) No. 47 . In 1912 Maercker was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in 1913 he became commandant on the island of Borkum . In 1914 he was promoted to colonel .

First World War

In World War I he took 1915 and 1916 as a regimental commander at the position battles on Kormyn and the Styr against the Russian army in part, then the position of fighting in the west, on the Yser, in Wytschaete Arch and St. Eloi. In 1916 he was wounded again in the Battle of the Somme , but took part in the trench warfare on the Aisne again a month later . At the end of 1916 he came back to the Russian front, where he was involved in the battle of the Narajowka and Zlota Lipa . In 1917 he took part in the trench warfare on the Somme, the Wytschaete-Bogen, the Yser and the spring battle at Arras , then trench warfare in Champagne and the battle in Flanders , in which he was wounded again. On October 1, 1917, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite and on May 3, 1918 with the oak leaves for Pour le Mérite. On August 18, 1917, he was promoted to major general and on January 20, 1918 appointed commander of the 214th Division .

post war period

Leaflet
Comment by Maercker in the Landesjäger-Zeitung in 1921
Georg Maercker's grave in the north cemetery in Dresden

A few weeks after the end of the war, on December 6, 1918, Maercker, who was staying in Salzkotten near Paderborn, decided, at the suggestion of the Supreme Army Command , to form a free corps. The initiative for the establishment probably went back to the then Reich Chancellor Friedrich Ebert and the later Reich Defense Minister Gustav Noske . The majority of the officers and NCOs as well as a large part of the men in his former 214th Division followed his call to join the "Landesjäger" Free Corps. In its internal structure, it was based heavily on the imperial army. Maercker observed strict discipline and subordinated the Freikorps to the Reich government under Ebert. On January 5, 1919, Noske was officially appointed commander-in-chief of all troops loyal to the government, including the “Landesjäger”.

In January 1919 the Spartacus uprising broke out in Berlin , and by the end of January 1919 Maercker and his Freikorps secured parts of Berlin on orders from Noske. A military presence and threats made it possible to stabilize the situation. At the beginning of February 1919, the Landesjägerkorps went to Weimar , where it was supposed to disarm the workers 'and soldiers' council there . Here, too, Maercker's tactics of massive military presence and threats proved successful: the armed councils withdrew and the city returned to the control of the Reich government. Maercker's Freikorps now secured the National Assembly , which was meeting in Weimar, and Ebert's election as Reich President. In mid-February, the Freikorps was first ordered to Gotha , then to Eisenach and other Thuringian cities in order to pacify the out-of-control situation there. Here, too, Maercker was mostly successful, with chaotic negotiations between him and the representatives of the workers 'and soldiers' councils. In Erfurt he was attacked and injured in the head by a knife.

In March he was ordered to enter Halle . Because of a train accident, the intended surprise of the revolutionary councils failed. There was considerable bloodshed on both sides in the street battles with armed workers and sailors that followed. Among the fatalities was Lieutenant Colonel Robert von Klüber , who had set out on a scouting tour of the city in civilian clothes, but was recognized as a Freikorpsmann; he was thrown from a bridge into the hall and finally shot. Maercker declared the city to be under siege and ordered a military crackdown. After seven hours of fighting, the Freikorps took control of the city. On the part of the councils, 29 dead were to be mourned, in the Freikorps 7 men. At the end of March the Freikorps withdrew from Halle and the state of siege was lifted.

In April 1919, the Central Soldiers' Council of IV., XVI. and XXI. Army Corps in Magdeburg to dismiss the officers, overthrow the Reich government and establish a Soviet republic in Germany. There was a general workers' strike and politicians and the military were arrested. Arms stores in the citadel were looted and street fighting broke out between revolutionary workers and soldiers and troops loyal to the government. The Reich government finally called on the soldiers' council to release its prisoners and ordered Maercker to restore order in the city. On the morning of April 9th, Maercker's Landesjäger, coming from Halle, arrived in Magdeburg, where there were immediately isolated skirmishes. A day later the government's mandate was fulfilled; the revolutionaries suffered seven deaths.

In the meantime the situation in Braunschweig had escalated. The city was viewed by the imperial government as the center of the communist movement. On April 9, the Spartacists called there a general strike , the overthrow of the Reich government, the annexation to the Russian Soviet Republic and the establishment of a soviet rule in all of Germany. The strike wreaked havoc on the railways across the country. The Brunswick bourgeoisie then went on a counter strike, and civil war threatened the city. Thereupon the Reich government commissioned Maercker to maintain order in Braunschweig as well and declared the city to be under siege. On April 14th, Maercker had flyers dropped over the city by plane, threatening severe consequences in the event of resistance. Nevertheless, there were first fights in Helmstedt on April 15 , in which there were deaths on both sides. Maercker's threats, however, had an effect: the general strike was broken off, and Maercker was able to march into Braunschweig without bloodshed. The heads of the revolutionary government were arrested or placed under house arrest. After just a few days, the situation normalized again and the state of siege was eased considerably.

On May 2, the Landesjägerkorps was officially incorporated into the newly created Reichswehr , as the Landesjägerkorps Reichswehr Brigade 16.

On May 10, Maercker withdrew his troops on orders from the government to Leipzig , where chaotic conditions had also developed. On May 11th, 15,000 soldiers entered Leipzig. Order was restored to the city without any major bloodshed. On May 19, Maercker's troops moved into the equally troubled Eisenach and arrested the leaders of the revolutionaries. After intensive negotiations, the will of the imperial government was enforced without major fighting. In the following, Maercker tried to improve the food supply for the population. In June, there were smaller deployments in Erfurt and Weimar. The troops were then mainly relocated to Gotha and based there. This prevented the proclamation of the Soviet republic in Gotha. In October 1919, Major General Maercker became the commander of Military District IV in Dresden.

During the Kapp Putsch in March 1920, Maercker initially took a wait-and-see attitude, then ultimately refused to support the putschists. On April 28, 1920 Maercker was released from active military service.

In 1921 Maercker founded the Koloniale Arbeitsgemeinschaft in Halle / S. and joined the steel helmet . In 1922 he founded the German Colonial Warrior Association and was its first president until his death.

After his death he was buried in the Dresden North Cemetery . The former General Maercker barracks in Halle (Saale) was named after him.

Fonts

  • From the Imperial Army to the Reichswehr. Leipzig 1921 ( online ).
  • Our protection force in East Africa. Berlin 1893.

literature

  • Ernst von Salomon : The book of the German free corps fighters. Facsimile of the 1938 edition, Verlag für holistic research 2001, ISBN 3-932878-92-2 , pp. 54–62, p. 65, pp. 365–369.
  • Dominique Venner : Mercenaries without pay. The German Freikorps 1918–1923. Luebbe Publishing Group 1982, ISBN 978-3404008582 .
  • Gustav Füllner: The end of the Spartakist rule in Braunschweig. Deployment of government troops under General Maercker 50 years ago. In: Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch. No. 50, 1969, ISSN  0068-0745 , pp. 199-216.
  • Joachim Niemeyer:  Maercker, Georg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 638 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Ursula Schelm-Spangenberg: The German People's Party in Braunschweig. Foundation, development, sociological structure, political work. Orphanage printing and publishing house, Braunschweig 1964 (= Braunschweiger Werkstücke 30) (also: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1962/63).
  • Waldemar Erfurth : The history of the German general staff from 1918 to 1945. Muster-Schmidt, Göttingen 1957, ISBN 978-3-941960-20-6
  • Claus Kristen: A life in male discipline. About colonies and the November Revolution. Georg Maercker, the "urban fence". Butterfly Verlag, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-89657-160-1