Hermann Wolff-Metternich

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Hermann-Joseph Graf Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (born April 3, 1887 at Satzvey Castle , † May 29, 1956 at Hillenraad Castle in Swalmen ) was a German military person and counter-revolutionary.

Life

Hermann-Joseph Graf Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht was a son of Dietrich Graf Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1853-1923) and Countess Mechtildis Berghe von Trips (1953-1921). He was the nephew of Count Paul Wolff Metternich zur Gracht .

He first served in the cuirassier regiment of Driesen No. 4 and became a first lieutenant there . During the First World War he worked in the communications department of the Foreign Office under Friedrich von Stumm , whose nephew Metternich was. At the beginning of the November Revolution, he left the news department.

At his offer he was commissioned by Friedrich Ebert on November 9, 1918 to set up a "security guard to protect the city center and government buildings". In this course he made a promise of loyalty to the government. It was only through considerable propaganda, his appearance in worn out clothing and concessions from the War Ministry, that he was able to muster a heavily armed 60-man “special revolutionary force” to secure the Reich Chancellery on the evening of November 11, 1918. This is considered to be a forerunner of the later People's Navy Division . With the official list he was from November 11, 1918 member of the People's Navy Division. He is elected to the People's Naval Council, but his only task is to liaise with government authorities.

On November 14, 1918, immediately after a meeting with Wolff-Metternich and the social-democratic city ​​commandant of Berlin Otto Wels , the captainleutnant Friedrich Brettschneider carried out attacks on the Metternich leadership of the People's Navy Division. Its commander Paul Wieczorek died and the co-organizer of the People's Navy Division Heinrich Dorrenbach was unharmed. From November 15, Metternich occupied the Berlin Palace with the People's Navy Division on behalf of the government . He wanted to protect the national property from the looting by the revolutionary soldiers, arrested the castle guard and handed them over to the city command. He had the art objects brought to a safe place by his 80 or so sailors.

Due to the political circumstances and with the support of Wels and Ebert, he became commander of the People's Navy Division from November 26th to December 7th, 1918. With this takeover, he began the counter-revolution: forbade the distribution of leaflets from the Spartakusbund and papers such as “ Die Rote Fahne ” or “Die Freiheit”. He also had unwanted sailors arrested. He wanted to swear the People's Naval Division to the People's Representatives and completely stop anti-government tendencies. At this point in time, the members of the Executive Council , such as Ernst Däumig , Gustav Heller and Paul Wegmann , expressed doubts about the righteousness of Metternich and saw counter-revolutionary tendencies. Däumig was charged with collecting material on Metternich for a proposal to the government.

For the counter-revolution, initiated by his relative Friedrich von Stumm, he selected 150 men from the division, but left them in the dark about his intentions, as did the rest of the leadership of the division. During the attempted coup on December 6, 1918 , he moved with these parts of the People's Navy Division in front of the Reich Chancellery in order to urge Friedrich Ebert into the presidency of the Reich. In addition, the Executive Council should be arrested. But this was thwarted by the other parties involved and large parts of the People's Navy Division. Ultimately, Metternich's goals failed and he was identified by the Central Council as the main culprit of the attempted coup.

After the attempt, he had also tried, with the help of his contacts in the Foreign Office, to obtain foreign passports for the putschists. He had to leave Berlin, but warned Friedrich Ebert of the radical efforts in the division and suggested that the sailors be released and deported. On December 8th, he tried again, disguised, to convince Waldemar Pabst to move with the Guard Cavalry Rifle Division to Berlin against the People's Navy Division.

After all these incidents he fled to the family estate, Hillenraad Castle, near Roermond .

He had been married to Amalie Mathilde von Schall-Riaucour since 1910 and had several daughters.

literature

  • Rudolf Rotheit: The Berlin Palace under the sign of the November Revolution . A. Scherl , 1923, p. 21 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b military history . Deutscher Militärverlag., 1968, p. 480 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Oertzen: The German Freikorps: 1918-1923 . F. Bruckmann, 1938, p. 238 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ^ Contributions to military and war history . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1981, ISBN 3-421-06060-6 , pp. 403 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ^ A b SPIEGEL editor Wolfgang Malanowski:: November 1918: “Potatoes - no revolution” . In: Spiegel Online . tape 48 , November 25, 1968 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 29, 2019]).
  5. ^ A b Alfred Döblin, Werner Stauffacher: November 1918: Vol. 1. Betrayed people; Vol. 2. Return of the front troops . Walter-Verlag, 1991, ISBN 3-530-16700-2 , pp. 504 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ↑ a b c Martin Kröger: November Revolution: Red cloth for Steinmeier . In: Spiegel Online . November 6, 2008 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 29, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Ulrich Kluge: Soldiers' Councils and Revolution: Studies on Military Policy in Germany 1918/19 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1975, ISBN 3-647-35965-3 , p. 179 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ^ A b Ernst-Heinrich Schmidt: Heimatheer and Revolution 1918: The military powers in the home area between the October reform and the November revolution . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2017, ISBN 978-3-486-82640-1 , p. 403 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  9. ↑ Renate Petras: Das Schloss in Berlin: from the revolution in 1918 to the destruction in 1950 . Verlag für Bauwesen, 1992, ISBN 3-345-00538-7 , p. 34 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  10. ↑ Jakob Weber: In spite of all this !: From the revolution days 1918/19 . Verlag Tribüne., 1960, p. 207 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  11. ^ Military history . Deutscher Militärverlag., 1968, p. 573 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  12. ↑ Rudolf Dix, Brigitte Berlekamp, ​​Socialist Unity Party of Germany, district leadership Berlin district commission for research into the history of the local workers' movement: The November Revolution and the founding of the Communist Party of Germany, 1918/1919 in Berlin: documents and materials . The Commission, 1988, p. 62 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  13. ↑ Gerhard Engel, Bärbel Holtz, Ingo Materna: Greater Berlin Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils in the Revolution 1918/19: Documents of the General Assemblies and the Executive Council. From the outbreak of the revolution to the 1st Reich Councilor Congress . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2014, ISBN 978-3-05-006883-1 , p. 310 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  14. ↑ Gerhard Engel, Bärbel Holtz, Ingo Materna: Greater Berlin Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils in the Revolution 1918/19: Documents of the General Assemblies and the Executive Council. From the outbreak of the revolution to the 1st Reich Councilor Congress . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2014, ISBN 978-3-05-006883-1 , p. 311 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  15. ↑ Ulrich Kluge: Soldiers' Councils and Revolution: Studies on Military Policy in Germany 1918/19 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1975, ISBN 3-647-35965-3 , p. 224 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  16. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Workers and Labor Movement in the Weimar Republic . JHW Dietz, 1984, ISBN 3-8012-0093-0 , p. 98 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  17. ↑ Ulrich Kluge: Soldiers' Councils and Revolution: Studies on Military Policy in Germany 1918/19 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1975, ISBN 3-647-35965-3 , p. 231 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  18. ↑ Richard Müller: The November Revolution . Olle & Wolter, 1973, ISBN 3-921241-06-5 , pp. 194 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  19. ↑ Germany Heer War History Research Institute: The turmoil in the Reich capital and around northern Germany 1918-1920 . ES Mittler, 1940, p. 18 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  20. ^ Klaus Gietinger: November 1918 - The missed spring of the 20th century . Edition Nautilus, 2018, ISBN 978-3-96054-076-2 , pp. 103 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
personal data
SURNAME Wolff-Metternich, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolff-Metternich, Hermann Graf von; Metternich zur Gracht, Hermann-Joseph Wolff von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German military person
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Satzvey Castle
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1956
Place of death Swalms