Hugo von Kathen

Hugo von Kathen

Hugo Karl Gottlieb von Kathen (born August 27, 1855 in Freienwalde , † April 2, 1932 in Wiesbaden ) was a Prussian infantry general and the last military governor of Mainz fortress . On August 1, 1914, he announced the declaration of war from the balcony of the governorate ( Osteiner Hof ). In his memory, the barracks built in 1937 partly in Mainz-Mombach and partly in Mainz-Gonsenheim were named after him.

Life

origin

Kathen came from a merchant family originally from Stralsund , who was raised to the Swedish nobility in 1692 . He was the son of the Prussian major Karl von Kathen (1803–1876), landlord on Langenhaken in Pomerania and his wife Agnes, née Schumann (1825–1895).

Military career

On April 19, 1873, Kathen joined the Kaiser Franz Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 2 of the Prussian Army in Berlin as a second lieutenant , coming from the Cadet Corps . Here he served from February 15, 1880 to 24 December 1881 as Adjutant of the Fusilier - battalion and then from October 1, 1882 for further education at the Prussian Military Academy commanded. On September 30, 1885, Kathen returned to his regiment. On May 1, 1886, he was assigned to the General Staff and from there he was transferred on April 1, 1887 as adjutant of the commandant's office in Berlin. After Kathen had been promoted to captain on June 14, 1888 , two months later he was appointed company commander in the 3rd Guards Regiment on Foot . After four years of service, Kathen was then ordered to serve in the War Ministry and finally transferred here on January 27, 1893 and promoted to major on December 19, 1893 . As such, he came to Karlsruhe on January 27, 1898 and commanded the 1st Battalion of the 1st Baden Leib Grenadier Regiment No. 109 there until July 21, 1900 . Then Kathen was transferred to the staff of the Fusilier Regiment "General-Field Marshal Prince Albrecht of Prussia" (Hannoversches) No. 73 while being promoted to lieutenant colonel . From March 10, 1904 to March 21, 1907 he was in command of the 1st Hanover Infantry Regiment No. 74 . In the further course of his military career, Kathen was governor of Mainz from October 1, 1912, and in this position was finally promoted to General of the Infantry on March 22, 1914.

First World War

Kathen was an excellent tactician . Soon after the start of the war, on August 31, 1914, he took command of the 39th Division , with which he fought on the Aisne and later in the First Battle of Flanders . In December 1914, he took over as commanding general of the XXIII. Reserve Corps . In the Second Battle of Flanders in 1915, he criticized the tactically incorrect use of chlorine gas , which in his opinion was placed too late in the day. This meant that his troops had to go into the combat zone until late at night. He also saw the fact that the soldiers had to wait in the trenches all day as a tactical mistake.

In 1916 Kather's Corps was deployed in the Battle of the Somme , in early 1917 in Champagne , and in the summer of 1917 it was deployed on the southern eastern front . In early September it took part in the Battle of Riga . At the end of September / beginning of October 1917, Kather's General Command was used to command the troops deployed in the Albion company against the Estonian islands of Ösel , Dagö and Moon , including the 42nd Division under Lieutenant General Ludwig von Estorff , which had withdrawn from Libau . The main force landed in Tagalahe on September 29, and the operation was successfully completed in less than ten days. A little later the corps was used again on the western front in the battles of Cambrai .

In March 1918, the corps was deployed in the German " Michael Offensive " as part of the 2nd Army , advancing to the Ancre . In the summer it was moved to the 7th Army on the Marne , which it should cross as part of the Second Marne Battle in July, push as deep as possible into the enemy and achieve union with the 1st Army in the vicinity of Épernay . This project failed due to the Allied counter-offensive that began on July 18, which ultimately resulted in the decisive Hundred Days Offensive .

On July 31, Kathen was appointed commander in chief of the 8th Army in the Baltic States . He led this beyond the armistice until he left the army in December 1918.

family

Kathen married on September 27, 1884 in Berlin Susanne von Dechend (born August 28, 1859 in Berlin; † February 25, 1929 in Wiesbaden), daughter of Reichsbank President Hermann von Dechend (1814–1890), member of the Prussian State Council and his wife Adelgunde Wilke (1823-1915).

Orders and decorations (selection)

• Pour le Mérite with oak leaves
  • Pour le Mérite on August 28, 1916
  • Oak leaves on August 27, 1917 (57th award)

literature

• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: AL. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 548-550.
• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweig: 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. 173-174.
• Genealogical manual of the nobility . Noble houses B Volume VII, p. 180. Volume 36 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1965, ISSN  0435-2408 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gustav Stoffleth : History of the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 18. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1937.
2. ↑ www.pourlemerite.org ( Memento of the original dated December 30, 2007 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.