Hermann von Lenz

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Hermann Lenz , since 1917 Knight von Lenz (born June 23, 1872 in Neu-Ulm , † December 20, 1959 in Munich ) was a German officer , most recently major general and leader of the soldiers' union " Stahlhelm " in Bavaria from 1929 to 1933.

Life

family

Hermann was the son of the railway chief inspector Friedrich Lenz and his wife Emma, ​​née Müller. Lenz married Johanna Fuchs on October 15, 1900.

Military career

Lenz completed his Abitur at the St. Stephan Humanist High School in Augsburg . Then he joined the 15th Infantry Regiment "King Friedrich August von Sachsen" of the Bavarian Army in Neuburg an der Donau on August 10, 1890 as an officer aspirant . With his promotion to Second Lieutenant on March 5, 1892, he was transferred to Landau in the Palatinate to the 18th Infantry Regiment "Prince Ludwig Ferdinand" . The following year Lenz joined the 4th Infantry Regiment "King Wilhelm von Württemberg" , where he was first lieutenant on September 19, 1900, and as an adjutant battalion from April 18, 1901 . From 1902 to 1905 Lenz graduated from the Bavarian War Academy , which awarded him the qualification for the general staff and the subject with a focus on tactics and war history.

Lenz was then sent to the central office of the General Staff and was promoted to captain on August 15, 1906. After just two months he was transferred to the General Staff of the II Army Corps . Lenz worked here for the next two years before he returned to the troop service as a company commander in the 17th Infantry Regiment "Orff" . After two years, Lenz returned to the Central Office of the General Staff, was transferred to the Military Academy as a teacher of tactics on October 15, 1911, and was promoted to major nine days later . A planned use in the Great General in Berlin after this activity did not materialize due to the outbreak of the First World War .

With the mobilization , Lenz was appointed First General Staff Officer of the 1st Reserve Corps on August 2, 1914 . In this capacity, he was in the fighting in Lorraine , in Nancy - Epinal and in the trench warfare in Artois . In 1915 Lenz took part in the spring battle at La-Bassée and Arras , which was followed by trench warfare in the Artois. From November 10 to December 14, 1915, he was also the deputy leader of the Reserve Infantry Regiment 1 . From June 10 to August 27, 1916, Lenz was first general staff officer in the General Staff of the 6th Army and then in the same function until December 23, 1916 in the Army Group "Crown Prince Rupprecht" . He then became Chief of the General Staff of the 1st Reserve Corps. Lenz was involved in the fighting in Artois and Flanders with the large association . On April 9, 1917, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for his services . The personal nobility was connected with the award and Lenz was allowed to call himself Ritter von Lenz after being entered in the Bavarian nobility register . He was also promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 17, 1917 .

On August 27, 1917, Lenz was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the 6th Army. After the German spring offensive from March 21 to April 6, 1918, the 6th Army also attacked. In the Battle of Armentières , which lasted from April 9 to 18, 1918 , the original target was the Channel coast. In the course of the battle u. a. two Portuguese divisions almost completely destroyed, a total of around 3,000 prisoners and 40 guns brought in, and Armentières itself captured on April 11th. However, there were no further gains in terrain due to the reinforcement of the British troops and the marshy terrain. As a token of recognition for the preparation and management of the battle, Lenz received the highest Prussian valor award, the Order Pour le Mérite, from Wilhelm II on April 10, 1918 .

At his request, Lenz was released from his command on August 8, 1918 and made available to the Bavarian War Ministry. According to his request, Lenz received a troop command and on September 2, 1918 was appointed commander of the 4th infantry regiment "King Wilhelm of Württemberg". During the defensive battle in Champagne and the Meuse , he was critically wounded on October 2, 1918 by a shot in the head. Lenz then came to the hospital, where he saw the end of the war.

After his restoration, he was used in May 1919 as a department head in the central office of the Bavarian General Staff. At the end of the year he was appointed head of the Central Office of the General Staff and inspector of military training institutions. Lenz held both posts until the Bavarian Army was dissolved. On January 24, 1920 he was appointed chairman of the German border commission for Alsace-Lorraine , based in Baden-Baden . In this position he was promoted to colonel on February 10, 1921 . Shortly thereafter, Lenz was transferred to the army officers on March 31, 1921 because of his war injury and finally retired from active service on May 30, 1921.

As early as 1920 Lenz had taken over the management of the temporary volunteer associations in Munich, which mainly consisted of students from Munich universities. From 1921 to 1923 he was the leader of the temporary volunteer corps, with which he formally joined the Working Group of the Patriotic Combat Units in April 1923 . When the student volunteers refused to take part in the demonstration of the right-wing extremist associations of the working group planned for May 1, 1923, Lenz resigned angrily as association leader.

Lenz received the character of Major General on August 27, 1939, the so-called Tannenberg Day.

Civil life

After his departure, Lenz became a member of the Stahlhelm and headed the Bavarian regional association from 1929 to 1933.

Even after the end of the Second World War , Lenz remained loyal to his functions and was a co-founder of the Bavarian State Association in the German Soldiers' Union .

literature

  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweig: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Publishing House. Bissendorf 2003. ISBN 3-7648-2516-2 . Pp. 323-325
  • 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. 658-659.
  • Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: VIRTUTI PRO PATRIA - The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, Acts of War and Book of Honor 1914-1918. Self-published by the Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order. Munich 1966. p. 352.
  • Short biography in the yearbook calendar for the Stahlhelm comrade . Munich 1931 (with picture; digitized )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Othmar Hackl : The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche publishing house bookstore. Munich 1989. ISBN 3-406-10490-8 . P. 509.
personal data
SURNAME Lenz, Hermann von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lenz, Hermann Ritter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, major general
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH New Ulm
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 1959
Place of death Munich