Jacob Meckel

Jacob Clemens Meckel around 1890

Memorial plaque , Goerzallee 6, in Berlin-Lichterfelde

Klemens Wilhelm Jacob Meckel (born March 28, 1842 in Cologne , † July 5, 1906 in Groß-Lichterfelde ) was a Prussian officer , most recently major general and military advisor to the Japanese army.

origin

His parents were the Cologne notary Karl Anton Meckel (1808–1881) and his wife Johanna Catharina nee Führer (1816–1879). The marriage resulted in a total of 13 children. His brother Maximilian (1847–1910) was the archbishop's building director in Freiburg, another brother Wilhelm (1859–1935) became a Prussian general and Ludwig (1860–1927) a well-known hunting painter.

Life and professional development

Jacob Meckel completed his school days at six different school locations, the relocation of the family was due to his father's work. During school he learned to play the piano. He wasn't a very good student. According to statements from his teachers, he lacked the familiar security in his parents' home. Until 1860 Jacob Meckel studied at the grammar school in Düren without taking the Abitur. In 1860, as a three-year-old volunteer, he joined the Infantry Regiment No. 68 of the Prussian Army . With this regiment he took part in the battle of Königgrätz during the war against Austria in 1866 . In October of that year, Meckel graduated from the War Academy for three years . He experienced the war against France in 1870/71 as a Prime Lieutenant in Infantry Regiment No. 82 .

On April 12, 1871 he was transferred to the Hanover War School as a teacher . Here he also published his first scientific paper with the title “Special report on the teaching of tactics”. The following year his work “Study on the War Game” was published. He received several honorable mentions about the usefulness of his work. In general, he had got used to working scientifically in addition to teaching at the war academy. In September 1873 he took part in a maneuver of the General Staff of the X. Army Corps and as a result published the teaching material “Exercise plan for teaching tactics”. Further works by Jacob Meckel appeared in 1876: the "Instructions for War Game" and the "Textbook on Tactics".

On December 16 of the same year he was transferred to the Great General Staff in Berlin and had been a lecturer at the War Academy of the Great General Staff since December 1. From September to October 1878 Jacob Meckel took part in military exercises in the fortress war in Alsace. From this he developed the font “Fortress and Field Army”. On December 1, 1878, he was appointed a member of the study commission for the war schools. In June of the same year he was a founding member of the "High Society of Rodensteyn" in Berlin. In the years to come he expanded his scientific occupation with military tactics and in 1881 published the work “Tactics, general doctrine of troop leadership in the field”. At this point he was already in the rank of major. A year later he was transferred to the General Staff of the 16th Division in Trier. Here his book "Elements of Tactics" was published, which received special recognition from the then Chief of the General Staff, General Helmuth von Moltke . On February 5, 1884 Jacob Meckel was appointed General Staff of the XI. Army corps transferred to Kassel.

Working in Japan

In September of the same year, a Japanese military delegation headed by the Japanese Minister of War Ōyama Iwao (1842–1916) was in Berlin. During this visit, the envoy from the Japanese embassy in Berlin Aoki Shūzō (1844-1914) asked to select an experienced Prussian general staff officer as a lecturer for the Japanese military academy. This academy was established in Kyoto in 1868 for the special training of officers for the Japanese army. Jacob Meckel is considered suitable for this task and is on leave for an initial period of two years to work in Japan. After being passed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) in December 1884, he began his trip to Japan in January of the following year.

Jacob Meckel arrived in Japan on March 18, 1885. Due to the short preparation time, he was unable to get a very clear picture of what actually awaited him in Japan. He knew that a French military mission had been responsible for training the Japanese army since 1866. The Japanese army was organized on the basis of French experience. He also knew that so far only one German had been used to train around 300 Japanese soldiers on the Dreyse needle gun . That was the weapons sergeant, Karl Köppen (1833–1907), who had been recommended through the delivery company Hartmann & Lehmann and who had been on site since 1869. Jacob Meckel also had no experience with Buddhism or Confucianism and no knowledge of the Japanese language.

There were 45 students in the Japanese Military Academy. Jacob Meckel was assigned to teaching tactics, strategy, general staff service and war history in the 2nd and 3rd course levels. Two interpreters were specially trained for his lessons, and courses for senior officers were set up within a short period of time. For these, the knowledge of leading military units was primarily intended. The first maneuver took place near Mito in November 1885. After the first few months, the Japanese General Katsura Tarō (1848–1913) brought further tasks to Jacob Meckel to fundamentally reorient the Japanese army system. By March 1, 1886, the military administrations were unified. He participated in the restructuring of the Japanese army, based on the Prussian model of military organizational structures. In order to be able to fulfill all associated tasks in accordance with the now expanded mandate as a military advisor , he asked for a second German general staff officer to be involved. Hermann von Blankenburg arrived in Japan on December 10, 1886. In October 1886, Meckel submitted further reform proposals, such as those relating to general conscription, the establishment and command structure of larger associations, and changes in the top organization. Here he proposed a tripartite division. The structural orientation of the Japanese War Ministry as an administrative authority. The general staff for the mobilization and military leadership of the army units. And to organize the general inspection as the third authority with equal status, with responsibilities for personnel and education. In the same year, the Tenno approved these proposals.

These activities coincided with a time when Japan and Germany were in active contract negotiations to realign their bilateral positions. In this context, the German ambassador in Tokyo Theodor von Holleben (1838–1913) approached Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to extend Jacob Meckel's contract as a "foreign adviser" ( o-yatoi gaikokujin ), because his work was Germany in much better negotiating positions. Bismarck agreed to the proposal. Jacob Meckel promptly received the offer to extend the contract for another two years. He promised his on-site support until March 1888. The decision for further reforms within the Japanese military system was made in August 1887. For their implementation, Meckel now proposed that the German major Heinrich Emin von Wildenbruch (1842-1893) be appointed to Japan. After his arrival and a short induction phase, Jacob Meckel left the teaching staff of the Japanese Army University on March 16, 1888 . He was bid farewell with great honors in Japan and received from Prince Katsura as a personal farewell gift a Japanese blade that he had wielded himself during the civil war. He began his return journey to Germany on March 24, 1888. During the voyage, he prepared reports and opinions on his activities and experiences. During this time, he published an anonymous military science publication entitled “A Midsummer Night's Dream”.

Regardless of his military career, Meckel collected a considerable number of Japanese works of art during his time in Japan, which later came to the Museum of Asian Art of the State Museums in Berlin , Prussian Art Collection, via the collection of the art collector Marie Meyer and the art historian Ernst Grosse .

Return to Germany

During the crossing, Jacob Meckel was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 17, 1888 . As a regular staff officer he was assigned to the staff of the infantry regiment "Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig" (8th Westphalian) No. 57 in Wesel. At the request of the Japanese government 4 Japanese officers were to be looked after by him for the period up to the beginning of 1890. He was promoted to colonel in 1890 and was in command of the 2nd Nassau Infantry Regiment 88 from March 24, 1890 to May 16, 1892 . Here, too, he looked after two other Japanese officers at the request of the Japanese government. During this time, the chief of the Japanese General Staff, General Kodama Gentarō (1852-1906) visited Germany, who took part in regular military exercises.

On March 18, 1890, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck resigned because of considerable disagreements with Kaiser Wilhelm II. From this point on, German-Japanese relations changed, at first only slightly, then later drastically. The newly appointed State Secretary in the Foreign Office, Adolf Marschall von Bieberstein , no longer saw the promotion of military cooperation between the two countries as an ostensible political focus. And no more Japanese officers were invited to join the troops for joint training activities. On May 17, 1892, Jacob Meckel was reassigned to the General Staff . From October he took over teaching duties at the War Academy and was initially head of the War History Department. In 1893 the third edition of the book by Paul Bronsart von Schellendorff (1832-1891) "The Service of the General Staff" was published in revision by Jacob Meckel. After participating in the imperial maneuvers in September 1893, he wrote the study "About Front Widths of Large Armies". Then in early 1894 he was promoted to major general.

At the end of July 1894 there was a military conflict between China and Japan because of the desire for the territory of Korea. With the victory achieved over the Chinese military force, according to the view of the political leadership in Japan, the correctness of the reforms proposed by Jacob Meckel and accompanied at times in the Japanese army was confirmed. This was followed by individual decisions by Japanese ministries that were specifically aimed at emphasizing the importance of German science and the transfer of this knowledge from Germany to Japan for the development of Japan. In a decree of the Ministry of Education, for example, it was stipulated that from now on the German language will be moved to first place among foreign languages ​​at grammar schools. For the universities, it was determined that, because of the importance of scientific knowledge, German should also be considered here as a language to be cultivated for academic training. When Japan attempted further military conquests in southern Manchuria in the spring of 1895, a conflict with Germany arose. The colonial aspirations of imperial Germany were also aiming at this territory, in order to gain new areas of influence. That is why Germany changed its attitude towards Japan significantly. But Japan also changed its position on Germany as a result. This caused considerable disturbances in the relationship between the two countries. In July 1895, the University of German Sciences in Tokyo discontinued its special courses on legal and political issues of German origin.

On January 19, 1896, Jacob Meckel was awarded the "Red Eagle Order, Second Class with Oak Leaves" for his services. This was primarily due to the instigation of the German ambassador in Tokyo Theodor von Holleben, who noticeably experienced the high recognition and appreciation of his work from the Japanese side. And it had also resulted in the mutual relations between the two countries being greatly enhanced. However, the application for the elevation of Jacob Meckel to the nobility did not materialize. To make matters worse, there was an incident that had occurred in the spring at the War Academy in Berlin. As a lecturer, Merkel had refused one of his officer students, the son of the governor of Berlin Wilhelm von Hahnke (1833-1912), the recognition of qualifications for a takeover in the General Staff. Immediately thereafter, Merkel was recalled from all offices and released from teaching on May 19, 1896. He was transferred to Gniezno in the province of Posen. Jacob Meckel then reported sick and on May 27, 1896 submitted his resignation. This was approved immediately.

He retired into private life was then charged with the statutory board for disposition made. During this time Jacob Meckel began to revise his military writings. In addition, he received frequent visits from Japanese officers who were in Germany for various official reasons. In the summer of 1900 he bought a summer house in Schierke in the Harz Mountains. At the same time, he and his wife Carmela moved into the house they had purchased in Goerzallee No. 6 in Berlin. During the Japanese-Russian war in 1904, Jacob Meckel wrote the preface to reports from the current theater of war. As the composer of the opera “Teja” and the author of the textbook, he tried to find a new field of activity in 1905. Since the plot of the opera was a very clear glorification of the imperial proclamation of 1871, the premiere only took place in a small, "closed" circle. It was similar with his consecration festival game "Kaiser Rotbart". Jacob Meckel received another great honor after the return of the Japanese troops from the war against Russia in 1906. For example, a solemn service in honor of Jacob Meckel took place in Tokyo on April 30th.

Personal

Jacob Meckel married Carmela Schloßberger (1857–1914) in Berlin on August 2, 1897 . She was the daughter of the merchant Emil Schloßberger from Havana and Luise Hoerner . She was initially married to General Maximilian von Groll (1845–1912) from Württemberg , but this marriage was divorced. Carmela had a son from his first marriage, Max von Groll, and the couple had no other children.

In recent years, Jacob Meckel has had increasing health problems. On July 5, 1906, he died of a stroke in his house in Berlin. The military attachée of the Japanese embassy also took part in the funeral ceremony on July 9th in Berlin. Numerous obituaries appeared in Japanese newspapers and on July 17th an obituary in the “Military Weekly” in Germany. On August 4, 1906, a memorial service was held in his honor at the Japanese War Academy in Tokyo. He was buried in the Berlin Lichterfelde cemetery.

Aftermath

In respect of his personality and in honor of the services of Jacob Meckel, a monument with a bust of Jacob Meckel was inaugurated on July 7, 1912 in the garden of the Japanese War Academy in Tokyo. A memorial plaque was unveiled on November 19, 1943 at Jacob Meckel's home in Berlin Goerzallee 6. It is said to symbolize the replica of a Japanese shrine. The plaque was donated by the military leadership of Japan and Germany at the time. The design for it came from the sculptor Otto Fischer-Credo from Detmold.

Fonts

• Studies of the progressive development of infantry tactics. 1868.
• Special report on teaching tactics. 1871
• Studies of the War Game. 1872.
• Exercise plan for teaching tactics. 1874.
• Textbook of tactics. 1874-1876.
• Instructions for war games. 1875. (2nd edition 1904.)
• The improved war game machine. around 1875. (2nd edition 1900.)
• The elements of tactics. 1877, 2nd edition 1883, 3rd edition as a plan of Tactics 1895. (4th edition 1897, digitized, PDF of the 3rd edition )
• Fortress and field army. 1878.
• Tactics. General doctrine of troop leadership in the field. 1881. (2nd edition 1883, 3rd edition 1890 as a general doctrine of troop leadership in war )
• A midsummer night's dream. 1888. (Appears without information on the author.)
• The service of the General Staff. Author: Paul Bronsart von Schellendorf, revision: Jacob Meckel 1893.
• Across the front lines of large armies. 1893.
• Preface to Otto von Gottberg : With the Japanese over the Jalu. 1904.

literature

• Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel. His life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt, Göttingen / Zurich / Frankfurt am Main 1970, DNB 457196068 .
• Hans Körner:  Meckel, Jacob. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 584 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Jacob Meckel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Letter from War Minister Oyama to his deputy Saigo from October 11, 1884 in: Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel - his life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1970, pp. 118f.
2. ↑ Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel - his life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1970, pp. 60ff.
3. ↑ Reichsarchiv Potsdam, AA Politische Archive Inventory No. 2024, Vol. XXXIII, Rep. VI No. 11; C, No. 50 A, II 14 560 of May 28, 1887 in: Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel - his life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1970, p. 61ff.
4. ↑ Hans Körner, biography of Jacob Meckel, Neue Deutsche Biographie Bans 16, 1990, pp. 584f.
5. ↑ Meckel, Jacob Wilhelm Klemens. to: das-japanische-gedaechtnis.de
6. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 46, May 23, 1896, p. 1253; Military weekly paper. No. 52 of June 10, 1896, p. 1394.
7. ↑ Carmela Schloßberger at geneagraphie.com
8. ↑ Notarisation by the Berlin-Lichterfelde registry office, No. 330 of July 6, 1906, certified copy of February 10, 1942.
9. ^ Obituaries: The Japan Times. July 9, 1906, Japan Daily Herold. July 9, 1906, Jiji. July 9, 1906, Nippon. July 9, 1906 in: Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel - his life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1970, pp. 60ff.
10. ↑ Krefelder Zeitung. July 9, 1912 in: Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel - his life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1970, p. 96.
11. ↑ German General Newspaper. Berlin edition, No. 556 of November 20, 1943 in: Georg Kerst: Jacob Meckel - his life, his work in Germany and Japan. Musterschmidt Verlag, Göttingen 1970, p. 96.