Guido Graf von Matuschka

Guido Johannes Graf von Matuschka, Baron von Toppolczan and Spaetgen (born March 7, 1849 in Ober-Schönfeld , † December 20, 1935 in Potsdam ) was a Prussian major general .

Major General a. D. Guido Graf von Matuschka (center) with his son Heinrich, Colonel and Commander of the Glogau Fortress (left), and grandson Friedhelm, officer cadet in the Potsdam Infantry Regiment 9 (right)

Life

origin

Guido was the third son of Chamberlain Otto Graf von Matuschka , Baron von Toppolczan and Spaetgen (1815–1890), owner of the Kosel manor near Bunzlau , and his first wife Klara, born von L'Estocq (1820–1898). His eldest brother Matthias (1840–1918) inherited Kosel; his next older brother Emanuel (1842-1861) lost his young life as a midshipman of the Prussian Navy in the sinking of their sail training ship SMS Amazone 1861 off the Dutch North Sea island of Texel .

Military career

Matuschka joined the Prussian Army in 1868 as an officer candidate with the 4th Guards Regiment on foot in Berlin. With his regiment he took part in the war against France in 1870/71 and was killed in the course of the battle of Gravelotte-St. Privately wounded in the attack on Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes on August 18, 1870. After his recovery he took part in the fighting at Beaumont and Sedan and the siege of Paris . In the meantime promoted to second lieutenant in mid-September 1870 , Matuschka received the Iron Cross, 2nd class.

After he was promoted to prime lieutenant in early April 1878 , he took over as captain of the 6th company of the regiment in 1884 . In this use he worked in one of the few military parades before Emperor Friedrich III. With. The parade of the 2nd Guard Infantry Brigade took place on May 29, 1888 shortly before the death of the 99 days emperor in the park of Charlottenburg Palace and was commanded by Crown Prince Wilhelm, later Wilhelm II . In 1894 Matuschka changed to the 1st Hessian Infantry Regiment No. 81 in Frankfurt am Main as Major and Commander of the 2nd Battalion . Like a number of officers from his family, he also returned to Silesia , the home country of the Matuschka, in the course of his military career. As a lieutenant colonel , he became a regular staff officer in the grenadier regiment "King Friedrich III" (2nd Silesian) No. 11 in Breslau at the end of January 1900 . In 1902 Matuschka was appointed colonel and commander of the traditional grenadier regiment "King Friedrich Wilhelm II." (1st Silesian) No. 10 in nearby Schweidnitz . In April 1903 he was put up for disposition with approval of his resignation and he moved with his family to Dresden-Blasewitz .

During the First World War he was reused as a ZD officer and was section commander of the Poznan fortress . In 1915 Matuschka received the character of major general and in 1916 the corresponding patent . He was then used as the commander of the Deputy 18th Infantry Brigade in Liegnitz until the end of the war .

After the First World War he lived in Potsdam at Alleestraße 13 (today's "White Villa Matuschka"). On December 20, 1935, the elderly retired general was hit by an air force vehicle from the “Richthofen” fighter squadron while crossing the street in front of his Potsdam house and succumbed to serious injuries on the way to the municipal hospital.

family

Matuschka had married Hedwig von Hertzberg (1863-1940) on September 20, 1884 , the daughter of the Prussian lieutenant colonel Hermann von Hertzberg and his wife Auguste, née Gumtau. The marriage produced three sons:

• Hans-Joseph (1885–1968), consul ret. D., Major of the Reserve ⚭ 1921 Emilie (Emmy) Pastor (1895–1977), daughter of the factory owner Emil Pastor and his wife Mathilde, née Nellessen
• Heinrich (1887–1935), Colonel and Commander of the Glogau Fortress , died of the consequences of a serious war wound ⚭ 1912 Anni von Heydebrand and the Lasa (1891–1964), daughter of the member of the Prussian manor , owner of the Storchnest estate and chamberlain Heinrich von Heydebrand and the Lasa and his wife Gisela, née Countess von Matuschka
• Emanuel (1891–1914), killed as an imperial lieutenant at sea and officer on watch on the submarine SM U 11

All four grandsons of the couple Guido and Hedwig Matuschka and all sons of Heinrich and Anni Matuschka initially became officers following the family tradition:

• Friedhelm (1913–1979), severely disabled since an accident in 1936, served in the 9th Potsdam Infantry Regiment, as an orderly officer with the First General Staff Officer of Army Group Center in Smolensk, and finally as a major in the Foreign Armies West department in the Army High Command in Zossen . He later studied Protestant theology and became parish priest in Dortmund-Wellinghofen .
• Hartmut (1914–1945), killed as a lieutenant captain and in command of the U 482 submarine , previously an electrical measurement officer on the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen
• Siegfried (1917–1943), killed as a captain in the air force and squadron captain in the fighter wing 26
• Volkhart (1921–2000), lieutenant in Panzer Reconnaissance Department 90, later industrial clerk at Buderus AG in Wetzlar

literature

• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Gräfliche Häuser. 1870.
• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Gräfliche Häuser. 1921, p. 596.
• Genealogical handbook of the nobility Gräfliche Häuser A Volume VI. Verlag CA Starke, Limburg an der Lahn 1970, pp. 235-237.
• Paul von Curtius: List of officers of the Royal Prussian 4th Guard Regiment on foot. 1860-1905. Verlag R. Eisenschmidt, Berlin 1905, p. 70.
• Wolfram von Ebertz: Hundred years of history of the Grenadier Regiment King Friedrich III. (2nd Silesian) No. 11. 1808–1908. 1908.
• Peter Hoffmann : Resistance - Coup - Assassination. Series Piper Vol. 418 4th edition. Munich / Zurich. 1985, p. 331.
• Fabian von Schlabrendorff : Encounters in five decades. Verlag Wunderlich , Tübingen 1979, p. 234.

Web links

• https://www.gdw-berlin.de/leichte-sprache/themen-bereich/8-wege-zum-20-juli-1944/besprechnung/