Heinrich von Nauendorf

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Memorial stone for Heinrich von Nauendorf in the New Cemetery in Potsdam

Heinrich Freiherr von Nauendorf (born August 29, 1860 in Wiesbaden ; † January 3, 1905 at Groß-Nabas ) was a Prussian officer who became known through his death in the fight against the Nama in German South West Africa .

Life

Military career

Heinrich von Nauendorf attended high schools in Küstrin and Potsdam , the Roßleben monastery school and the cadet houses in Potsdam and Groß-Lichterfelde .

In 1879 he joined the 8th Rhenish Infantry Regiment No. 70 as a lieutenant , but was soon transferred to the 1st Rhenish Field Artillery Regiment No. 8 and attended the artillery and engineering school in Berlin, which led to his appointment as an artillery officer on April 13 September 1882. On August 21, 1889 he was promoted to Premier Lieutenant and on January 16 of the next year he was transferred to the 2nd Brandenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 18 . In 1893 he became captain and battery chief in the field artillery regiment No. 34 , and in 1897 then captain 1st class. In 1898 Nauendorf was assigned to the field artillery shooting school , the next year to the field artillery regiment No. 76 , then to the staff of the 1st Kurhessischer Feldartillerie-Regiment No. 11 .

German South West Africa

On September 15, 1904, Nauendorf joined the Schutztruppe for German South West Africa and was promoted to major . In November 1904 he was appointed commander of the southern artillery by the Windhoek High Command .

In what became known as the “Thirst Battle of Groß-Nabas” and lasted 54 hours at the waterhole Groß-Nabas on the dry Auob - Rivier near Stampriet , the encircled protection force under Major Johann Meister fought from January 2nd to 4th, 1905 against the Nama under the In command of Hendrik Witbooi , who were joined by around 250 Herero under Frederick Maharero .

Nauendorf, who commanded the artillery during the battle, was hit in the abdomen. He died 24 hours after being wounded. A total of 22 Germans were killed in the battle. The unexpectedly fierce and costly battle led to criticism of the Schutztruppe commander Lothar von Trotha .

Heinrich von Nauendorf's last fight was described by Detlev von Liliencron in the poem The fight for the watering place . Nauendorf's family had a tombstone erected on the fish river . There is also a memorial stone at the New Cemetery in Potsdam , erected by his mother.

The anonymous author of the work Das Alte Heer , who knew Nauendorf personally, characterized him in the following way

“He was the daring, high-spirited daredevil type, always happy, always loud, always ready to use his whole person. The danger attracted him, the fight irritated him and was his real life element. "

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1904-07 life data of the officers who stayed on the Ehrenfelde D. South West Africa, Zum Gedenkblatt, p. 74; digitized on edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 37 (PDF; 1.32 MB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de
  2. ↑ The Old Army. P. 38.
  3. ↑ German Colonial Journal. Volume 16, p. 48.
  4. ↑ Ada Baroness von Liliencron: War and Peace. Memories from the life of an officer's wife. at Zeno.org
  5. ↑ Walter Nuhn: Enemy Everywhere. Guerrilla war in the southwest. The great Nama uprising. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 2001, p. 89f.
  6. ↑ Detlev von Liliencron: Good night. Berlin 1909, pp. 28-32.
  7. ↑ The Old Army. P. 38.
personal data
SURNAME Nauendorf, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nauendorf, Heinrich Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian major in the protection force for German South West Africa
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Wiesbaden
DATE OF DEATH 4th January 1905
Place of death at Groß-Nabas