Joseph von Schmauß

Joseph Schmauß , since 1915 Knight von Schmauß (born May 25, 1863 in Göllheim , † June 18, 1932 in Munich ) was a Bavarian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Joseph was a son of the government and district medical councilor Gottfried Schmauß (1829–1877) and his wife Maria, née Kremer. His grandfather was the Bavarian colonel and fortress builder Friedrich von Schmauß (1792–1846).

Military career

After visiting a humanistic Gymnasium Schmauß occurred on 21 September 1881 as an officer cadet in the 3rd Infantry Regiment "Prince Charles of Bavaria," the Bavarian Army and became the end of December 1883, for the second lieutenant . From October 1891 he graduated from the War Academy for three years , which made him qualify for the higher adjutantage. As a prime lieutenant and training course officer, Schmauß was assigned to the airship department in Munich for one year from October 1895. In 1898 he was promoted to captain and company commander . In mid-May 1905 he was transferred to Regensburg as adjutant of the 6th Division and in this position he became major at the end of August 1905 . When he was appointed commander of the 1st Battalion in his regular regiment, Schmauß resigned from service on March 8, 1907, was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the end of October 1909 , and was promoted to regular staff officer on January 24, 1910. As a colonel , he was in command of the 16th Infantry Regiment "Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany" in Passau from June 22, 1912 to September 19, 1913 . Then Schmauß was put up for disposal with a pension .

With the outbreak of the First World War , Schmauß was reused as a ZD officer and was initially active as commander of the fortress infantry regiment 5 and in command of the core fortress of Germersheim . On March 25, 1915 he was given command of the Reserve Infantry Regiment 12, with which he took part in the fighting on the Western Front in France . On April 10, 1915, it was character as Major General awarded. During the spring battle of La Bassée-Arras from May 9th to May 12th, he was able to repel enemy attacks on the strategically important telegraph height near Thélus and to hold his positions. For this he was by King Ludwig III. entrusted with the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . Associated with this was the elevation to the personal nobility status and he was allowed to call himself “Ritter von Schmauß” when he entered the nobility register .

On December 16, 1915, he gave command of his regiment to Lieutenant Colonel Weißenberger and took over the 1st Reserve Infantry Brigade , with which he took part in the trench warfare in the Artois . In this capacity, Schmauß was granted the patent for his rank as major general on February 26, 1916 , and was appointed commander of the 11th Reserve Infantry Brigade on August 1, 1916 . From mid-August to early September he took part in the Battle of the Somme , then fought in trench warfare on the Aisne and from the end of November on the Somme . From January to March 1917 his brigade was pulled out of the front and deployed in the area of the army group "Kronprinz Rupprecht" . After that, the brigade was again engaged in trench warfare and in April had to face the double battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne . This was followed by fighting between the Meuse and the Moselle until mid-May . Schmauß handed over his brigade to Major General Luitpold Weiss-Jonak on May 17, 1917 . It was not until October 9, 1917 that he was reappointed when he was appointed commander of the 2nd Landwehr Infantry Brigade and took part in trench warfare in Lower Alsace until the end of the war . For his work, he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the Star for the Military Merit Order II. Class with Swords.

After his mobilization provision had been lifted at the end of the war, he was given the character of Lieutenant General in 1920.

family

Schmauß had married Bertha Reichenbach in 1889. The marriage had two children.

literature

• Othmar Hackl : The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-10490-8 , p. 564.
• 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, pp. 399–400.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Othmar Hackl: The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-10490-8 , p. 564.