Gerd von Below (General)

Karl Emil Louis Theodor Gerd von Below (born December 5, 1838 in Lugowen , † December 24, 1892 ibid) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Gerd was a son of the Prussian Rittmeister a. D. and Mr. auf Lugowien Karl Theodor von Below (1801–1871) and his wife Cäcilie Marie, née Countess Dönhoff (1812–1883).

Military career

Below received private lessons in his parents' house and attended the old town high school and the private school of the lieutenant a. D. Good time in Koenigsberg . On March 9, 1856 he joined the 8th Uhlan Regiment of the Prussian Army and was promoted to second lieutenant until mid-December 1857 . As such, Below was commanded to the replacement squadron during mobilization on the occasion of the Sardinian War and was transferred to the 2nd Guard Uhlan Regiment in March of the following year . After a year of command at the military riding school in Schwedt / Oder , he rose to prime lieutenant in September 1864 and was in command as adjutant of the 1st Cavalry Brigade from December 18, 1864 to November 1, 1866 . In this capacity Below took part in the battles near Trautenau and Königgrätz in 1866 during the war against Austria . Praised for his behavior, he became captain and squadron chief in April 1867 .

During the war against France , Below led his squadron in 1870/71 in the battles at Gravelotte , Beaumont , Sedan , Saint-Quentin and the siege of Paris . Awarded the Iron Cross II. Class was it the beginning of August 1875, the character as Major awarded. The patent for this rank received Below mid-October 1875. On 15 September 1877 his transfer took place as extrabudgetary staff officer in the 1st Guards Dragoons . In March 1882 Below you sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople Opel to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. The right conferred on him Black Eagle to deliver. On this occasion, Below received the Mecidiye Order II. Class.

After his return to Germany, he rose to lieutenant colonel in mid-September 1882 , was commander of the Guard Hussar Regiment from August 21, 1883 to September 15, 1885 and was then appointed commander of the Gardes du Corps regiment. In this position, Below advanced to colonel in mid-September 1886 and was awarded the Order of the Crown, 2nd class , in September 1888 . In position à la suite of his regiment, he was commissioned on February 16, 1889, initially with the leadership of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, and Below was appointed commander of this large formation on March 22, 1889 . As such, he was awarded Major General on January 27, 1890 and in mid-May 1890 with the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves. In the spring of 1891, Below fell ill with a nervous disorder . As for a cure no improvement was expected, he was at his request, with presentation of the character as a Lieutenant General with the statutory board for disposition made.

Below was a legal knight of the Order of St. John and spent his old age on his estate in Lugowen.

family

Below married Henriette von Borcke (1837–1872) in Tolksdorf on July 5, 1867 . After her death he married Karoline Luise von Witzleben (1840–1906) on March 1, 1878 in Berlin . The following children emerged from the marriages:

• Otto Karl Eugen (* 1869), owner of Henriettenhof (510 ha ), Warnickem (410 ha) and co-owner of Lugowien (1915 ha)
• Klara Karoline Emmy (* 1872)
• Richard Friedrich (* 1879), co-owner of Lugowien
• Paul Friedrich (* 1881), Prussian officer, co-owner of Lugowien

literature

• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , pp. 463-465, no. 3331.
• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the noble houses. 1902. Third year, Justus Perthes , Gotha 1901, p. 80.