Hans von Hemmer

Hans Hemmer , since 1916 Knight von Hemmer (born June 26, 1869 in Munich ; † December 15, 1931 ibid) was a Bavarian officer , most recently Major General and Knight of the Military Max Joseph Order and the Pour le Mérite .

Life

Hans was the son of Colonel Anton Hemmer and his wife Ida, nee Weißmann. After attending the humanistic grammar school in Regensburg , he joined the 11th Infantry Regiment of the Bavarian Army on August 12, 1888, as a voluntary commander and officer aspirant . From March 1, 1889 to January 21, 1890, Hemmer was sent to the Munich War School and was transferred to the 2nd Infantry Regiment on July 7, 1889 , while being appointed Portepée ensign . On March 6, 1890, he was appointed second lieutenant with the highest commendation. February 15, 1893 to June 1, 1896 he was appointed as battalion - adjutant used. He was then assigned to the War Academy for three years , followed by a one-year command to the General Staff in 1900, which was extended for a further year. From 1902 to 1906 he served as an adjutant of the 3rd Infantry Brigade ; during this time in 1904 he was promoted to captain . On October 29, 1907, he took over as chief of a company in the 8th Infantry Regiment . Hemmer gave up this command after two years and then served as first general staff officer in the staff of the 5th Division until September 30, 1910 . This was followed by his transfer to the central office of the General Staff and at the same time he was assigned to the Great General Staff in Berlin . At the same time, Hemmer, as a regular member of the Bavarian Senate, carried out duties at the Reich Military Court for two years . From September 19, 1912, he was transferred to the General Staff of the 1st Army Corps as First General Staff Officer , and in this role he went to the First World War .

First World War

He took part in the fighting in August 1914 at Badonviller , the Vezouze , Saarburg , the Battle of Lorraine and the battles in front of Nancy - Epinal and the Somme . On November 30, 1914, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on December 28, 1914, he took over the management of the General Staff of the 1st Reserve Corps .

In the meantime transferred to the Southern Army , he distinguished himself as a general staff officer in a special way, so that he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . Associated with this was the elevation to the personal nobility and he was allowed to call himself Ritter von Hemmer after being entered in the nobility register . The explanatory statement states that he was considered worthy of the order “for his excellent work as chief of staff during the storming of the Zwinin on April 9, 1915 and in the Battle of Styri on May 31, 1915”.

On July 6, 1915 he was officially appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Southern Army under General of the Infantry Felix Graf von Bothmer . In 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Hemmer had to face heavy fighting during the trench warfare on the Strypa and between Wozuska and Sereth . He played a major role in the storming of the Voribijorka heights and participated in the battles at Zoloscze and Niziniow. After the fighting in retreat between Strypa and Zlota Lipa , the southern army took up positions near Zborow.

After the battle of the Zlota Ripa, the skirmishes on the lower Narajowka required all his talent for coordination, as the German and Austro-Hungarian units of the southern army dovetailed again and again. Here he bore heavy responsibility, as he had to consider national concerns and still what militarily necessary had to be achieved. He demanded that the subordinate troops should build up their positions consistently and, wherever possible, build up adequate reserves. He solved the demanding task in such an impressive way that he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order by his commander, Count von Bothmer, on June 4, 1916, "because of his outstanding services to the, characterized by special intelligence, energy and tireless perseverance Preparation and successful implementation of the difficult defensive battles during the Russian summer offensive 1916 "was proposed.

In 1917 he was involved in the battle at Dzihie Lany, then in the battles at Brzesany and Koninchy. On August 25, he received the order Pour le Mérite and on December 14, 1917, he was promoted to colonel. He then coordinated the persecution in eastern Galicia and planned the trench warfare between Dniester, Zbrucz and Sereth. After the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk , he moved on February 4, 1918 from the Eastern to the Western Front and was used as Chief of the General Staff of the 19th Army . In this capacity he fought in the trench warfare in Lorraine .

post war period

After the armistice of Compiègne inhibitors led his troops into the home and became after the demobilization of the army high command in January 1919-budgetary member of the Bavarian Senate of the Reich Military Court appointed. With the dissolution of the Authority inhibitors retired on October 1, 1920 from active duty after previously to him a day character had given as a major general.

He died of a heart attack .

literature

• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Bernard & Graefe publishing house. Berlin 1935. pp. 469-471.
• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2003, ISBN 3-7648-2516-2 , pp. 66-67.
• Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: The royal Bavarian military Max-Joseph-Order. Self-published by the kb Military Max Joseph Order. Munich 1966. pp. 317-318.
• Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen , Friedrichfranz Feeser : The Bavaria book of the world wars 1914-1918. Chr. Belser AG. Publishing bookstore. Stuttgart 1930.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: The royal Bavarian military Max Joseph order. Self-published by the kb Military Max Joseph Order. Munich 1966.
2. ↑ quoted from Rudolf v. Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels, The Royal Bavarian Military Max-Joseph-Order, self-published by the kb Military-Max-Joseph-Order, Munich 1966