Karl von One

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colonel General Karl von Eine (1910)

Karl Wilhelm Georg August Gottfried von Eine named von Rothmaler (born January 1, 1853 in Herzberg am Harz ; † April 7, 1934 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ) was a Prussian Colonel General in World War I and Minister of War from 1903 to 1909 .

Life

origin

The noble family of one is evangelical-Lutheran creed. It comes from the city ​​nobility of Einbeck and is first mentioned in a document in 1284 with Johannes de Eynem, councilor in Einbeck. Karl was the son of the Hanoverian Rittmeister George August von Eine (1822-1858) and his wife Julie, born von Hedemann (1831-1883). He was the older brother of Ernst von One .

He attended high schools in Celle and Hildesheim and was a cadet in Bensberg , later at the cadet institute in Berlin .

Military career

Postcard number 1 from Carl Gentner with the lithographed portrait of Colonel General v. One over oak leaves - and two cans of “Dr. Gentner's shoe finery Nigrin . Gives an elegant mirror finish "

One joined the 2nd Hanoverian Uhlan Regiment No. 14 as an ensign on August 3, 1870 , with whom he took part in the Franco-German War in 1870/71 . During the war he was promoted to Second Lieutenant on December 12, 1870 and awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class.

From 1873 to 1876 he was regimental adjutant in Verden an der Aller . In his memoirs, von one described this time in Verden as the happiest of his life. He lived in a house on Paradeplatz, which is still provided with a commemorative plaque and was renamed “Von-Eine-Platz” (today Anita-Augspurg- Platz ) in 1933 on the occasion of a visit by the 80-year-old Colonel General in Verden for the inauguration of the racecourse .

From 1876 to 1880, Eine was an adjutant in the 8th Cavalry Brigade in Erfurt , where he lived at Kartäuserstraße 33. After working as an adjutant and squadron chief , one then joined the General Staff . From 1893 to 1895 he was in command of the cuirassier regiment "von Driesen" (Westphalian) No. 4 stationed in Münster (Westphalia) . On October 18, 1895, one was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the VII Army Corps . In 1900 he was entrusted with the organization of the German expeditionary force during the Boxer Rebellion in China.

He was close to the young Kaiser Wilhelm II , who recognized his qualifications early on and appointed him to the post of Prussian Minister of War as the successor to War Minister Heinrich von Goßler, who resigned in 1903 . One was also an authorized representative at the Federal Council , head of the committee for the armed forces and the fortresses, and head of the management of the Great Military Orphanage in Potsdam .

During his tenure as Minister of War he reorganized the field artillery and in 1908 introduced the machine gun 08 as a major innovation in the infantry .

On April 17, 1907, he applied to the Reich Attorney General to initiate criminal proceedings against the lawyer Karl Liebknecht because of his writing Militarism and Antimilitarism . The trial ended with Liebknecht's conviction by the Imperial Court of Justice for preparation for high treason to one and a half years of imprisonment . In this writing Liebknecht had violently attacked German militarism, for example it said:

"The confession of the Prussian Minister of War von Eine that he prefers a soldier loyal to the king, even if he shoots badly, than a less minded soldier, no matter how well he shoots, surely sprang from the deepest heart of this representative of German militarism."

In a Reichstag debate in November 1907 on the occasion of the Harden-Eulenburg affair , he expressed his disgust for homosexuals. He did not want to interfere in the scientists' dispute as to whether homosexuality was “completely natural” or “equal”, but demanded: “Such a man must never ever be an officer.” He urged homosexual officers to leave the Prussian Army . “Take your leave , move away, because you don't belong in our ranks! But if he is caught, ... he must be destroyed ”.

Karl von Eine in the Great Illustrated Atlas of the World War (1916)

In 1909 he came back to Münster in Westphalia, now as commanding general of the VII Army Corps. One of these was the successor to General of the Cavalry Friedrich von Bernhardi and thus the 22nd commanding general of this corps. He also led the corps at the beginning of the First World War , including in the siege of Liège (August 4-16, 1914) . After the Battle of the Marne , he replaced the ailing Colonel General Max von Hausen as Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Army , which he was to lead until the end of the war. In this position he led, among other things, the defensive battles in Champagne and in 1918 the German attack east of Reims . Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed him chief of the infantry regiment "Freiherr von Sparr" (3rd Westphalian) No. 16 in Mülheim and Cöln (today part of Cologne ) on October 9, 1918 . After the armistice of Compiègne he took over the Army Group of the German Crown Prince , which he led back home.

Late years and death

After the war, Eins wrote his memoirs and a book about the Prussian army, among other things. In October 1931 he took part in the founding meeting of the Harzburg Front . From 1933 to 1934 he was chairman (so-called "1st Federal Leader") of the Confederation of the Upright . One last lived in Mülheim an der Ruhr , where he died on April 7, 1934 at 4 a.m. at the age of 81.

Grave of Karl von Einems in the central cemetery of Munster

Wilhelm II sent his son Oskar from exile in the Netherlands to the state funeral on April 11, 1934 . Also present was the emperor's former adjutant general , Karl von Plettenberg , who represented the former Royal Prussian Guard Corps . The aged General Field Marshal von Mackensen (1849–1945) attended personally. Reich President Paul von Hindenburg sent a wreath. He was buried in Münster in the central cemetery (Protestant field West I).

family

He met his wife Marie Amalie Auguste (1858–1928), daughter of the later general of the infantry Louis von Rothmaler (1814–1884) and his second wife Charlotte von Ladiges (1824–1876) in Erfurt. The couple married there on September 26, 1877. Since this family became extinct in the male line, one received permission to use the surname of Rothmaler . They had three sons, including the son Günther von Eine . One reports in his autobiography about the paralyzed daughter, who was particularly cared for by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Controversies over streets and squares

Honors by naming streets and squares were repeatedly criticized in the Federal Republic and eventually led to some rededications. The background was mainly Karl von Eine's repressive attitude towards democratic tendencies and homosexuality, as expressed in the above-mentioned Reichstag debate when he called on gay officers to leave the military and otherwise threatened them with "annihilation". In retirement in 1931 he publicly admitted to the National Socialists that he could invoke the tradition of Frederick II :

"The National Socialists can and are allowed to appeal to Frederick the Great, his and his father's principles, Hugenberg and his German Nationals too, perhaps even more so because they are unconditional monarchists."

In 1933 he therefore welcomed the takeover of the National Socialists:

"We therefore gratefully welcome the age of national uprising that began in 1933 and was brought about by heroic personalities and their devoted followers."

Rüdiger Lautmann submitted an expert opinion on the renaming of the street in Berlin and a brief biographical outline of Eine's person on October 12, 2010. Another statement by Günter van Norden (October 24, 1928 - November 21, 2018) ends with the sentence: "[...] that such a figure should not be honored with a street name."

- In Berlin-Schöneberg , immediately after Karl von Eine's death in 1934, a street on the so-called General Train at Nollendorfplatz was named after him. In Berlin, where he worked in the general staff and later worked as a minister, Einsstrasse in the Tiergarten and Schöneberg district had been named after him since June 13, 1934 . It ran from Nollendorfplatz to Lützowplatz . Before that - from 1870 to 1934 - it was part of Maaßenstraße. The Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein has something to say about Einestrasse: “The part of Maaßenstrasse between Nollendorfplatz and Lützowplatz was renamed Einestrasse in 1934. In 1945, it was planned to include one street in Maaßen street again, but this renaming was not confirmed by the magistrate. On March 31, 1976, a sub-area of ​​Einestrasse / corner Lützowplatz was also given this name. Another part of the road was closed to public transport on June 11, 1986. ”;

The District Assembly (BVV) Berlin Tempelhof-Schöneberg decided on March 17, 2010 to consider the renaming of Einestrasse. The SPD justified its request as follows: “Karl von Eine was an active opponent of democracy. In his function as Minister of War, he called for a fight against social democracy and explicitly called for the extermination of homosexual men in the Reichstag. ” Residents objected to the renaming in Berlin's Mitte district . On February 15, 2012, BVV Tempelhof-Schöneberg decided to rename it to Karl-Heinrich-Ulrichs- Strasse . On December 17, 2013, the new street signs were unveiled in the Schöneberg area (southern part to Kurfürstenstrasse). Part of the street is in the Tiergarten district of the Mitte district. Here the responsible BVV decided by a majority on June 13, 2013 to rename, against the votes of the CDU . However, the renaming north of Kurfürstenstrasse did not take place until December 16, 2016. The part in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district was renamed Karl-Heinrich-Ulrichs- Strasse on December 17, 2013 , and the part in Mitte-Tiergarten received the same name on December 16 , 2013 December 2016.

- The city of Essen had decided to part with the street names Von-Seeckt- and Von-Eine-Straße and rename them Irmgardstraße and Ortrudstraße. However, residents and citizens protested against the decision to rename and voted in the referendum on February 3, 2013 with almost 80% and 30% voter turnout to keep the previous street names.

- In his hometown Herzberg am Harz , Von-Eine-Strasse reminds of him, as does Münster , the city that became his home.

- In 1933 the previous parade ground in Verden an der Aller was renamed “Von-Eine-Platz”. One of them lived as a lieutenant in 1873/76 at what was then "Paradeplatz". The honor of Einems as the namesake of the square was withdrawn by a narrow majority after a very emotional debate in the city council in 1990. In 1990 the name was changed to Anita-Augspurg -Platz , a women's rights activist born in Verden. Karl von Eine was rated by the city council on the basis of some formulations in his memoirs published in 1933 as the "stirrup holder of National Socialism".

Positions and promotions

  • 1870 officer's license and promotion to second lieutenant
  • 1873 Regimental adjutant in Verden (until 1876)
  • 1876 ​​Adjutant of the 8th Cavalry Brigade in Erfurt (until 1880)
  • 1893 Commander of the cuirassier regiment from Driesen (Westphalian) No. 4 in Münster (until 1895).
  • 1896 Chief of the General Staff of the VII Army Corps
  • 1897 promoted to colonel
  • 1898 Head of Department in the War Ministry
  • 1900 Director of the General War Department
  • 1903 promotion to lieutenant general
  • 1903 appointed Minister of War (in office until 1909)
  • 1907 promoted to general of the cavalry. Position à la suite of the Cuirassier Regiment "von Driesen" (Westphalian) No. 4
  • 1909 Appointment as commanding general of the VII Army Corps
  • 1914 Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Army
  • 1915 promoted to general colonel

Awards (selection)

Works (selection)

  • 300 years of the army of freedom. Brunnen-Verlag, Berlin 1931, OCLC 3312222 .
  • Memories of a Soldier 1853–1933. FW Koehler, Leipzig 1933, OCLC 490460466 .
  • Call! In: The upright . Issue No. 12/1933 (June 1933).
  • Franz Sontag (ed.): An army leader experienced the world war. Personal notes of Colonel General v. One. Hase & Koehler, Leipzig 1938, OCLC 601773530 .

literature

  • Hermann Gackenholz:  One, Karl von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 394 ( digitized version ).
  • Hermann Klüting: Soldiers in Westphalia and the Lower Rhine - The Royal Prussian VII Army Corps . Beckum 1982
  • In the magazine Der Aufrechte (monarchist magazine from the Weimar period, selection, still incomplete)
    • No. 19/1933 (? 1933): Review of his memoirs.
    • No. 8/1934 (April 1934): Short obituary in the form of an obituary notice (page 59).
  • Memoirs about the German Empire and / or the First World War: Von One is briefly mentioned several times by various authors.
  • Genealogical manual of the nobility , noble houses B, volume IX (volume 46 of the complete series). Limburg a. d. Lahn (Starke) 1970; Volume XV (Volume 83 of the complete series) 1984.

Web links

Commons : Karl von Eine  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List quoted from Klüting: Soldiers in Westphalia and on the Lower Rhine. 1982, p. 27.
  2. ↑ Karl Liebknecht: Recruiting farewell, militarism and anti-militarism. Reprint Dortmund 1971, p. 57.
  3. ^ Protocols of the German Reichstag, November 29, 1907, p. 1916.
  4. ^ Karl Dietrich Bracher : The dissolution of the Weimar Republic. A study on the problem of the decline in power in a democracy. 5th edition, Ring, Villingen 1971, p. 362.
  5. ↑ Genalogische manual of the aristocracy .
  6. ^ Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldatisches Führertum . Volume 8, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1941], DNB 367632837 , p. 88, no. 2495.
  7. ^ Karl von Eine: Memories of a Soldier 1853-1933. FW Koehler, Leipzig 1933, pp. 141f.
  8. ↑ BASJ ( Memento from August 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), Federal Association for Gay Lawyers.
  9. ^ Karl von Eine: 300 Years of the Army of Freedom. Berlin 1931, p. 53.
  10. ^ Karl von Eine: Appeal! In: The upright. Issue No. 12/1933 (June 1933), p. 89.
  11. ↑ Rüdiger Lautmann: General Karl von Eine as a figure in contemporary history. (PDF) LSVD Berlin-Brandenburg eV October 12, 2010. Accessed June 6, 2019.
  12. ↑ Günter van Norden: Summary assessment of Karl von Einem's assessment from the analysis of the writings and speeches as well as the scientific literature (PDF) LSVD Berlin-Brandenburg eV August 1, 2011. Accessed June 6, 2019.
  13. ↑ Einestrasse . In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  14. ↑ BVV agenda of March 17, 2010 (Ö 11.1).
  15. ^ SPD , application dated January 11, 2010
  16. ^ BVV resolves: Einestrasse is to be renamed Karl-Heinrich-Ulrichs-Strasse. On the website of Thomas Birk (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), February 15, 2012.
  17. ↑ a b Ceremonial act for the renaming of Einestrasse to Karl-Heinrich-Ulrichs-Strasse . Press release No. 655, Tempelhof-Schöneberg District Office, December 18, 2013; accessed May 29, 2014
  18. ↑ Frank Stenglein, Jennifer Schumacher: Victory for the generals in the Essen street fight. On DerWesten.de . 3rd February 2013.
  19. ↑ Von-Seeckt- and Von-Eine-Strasse keep their names , Der Westen, February 3, 2013, accessed November 25, 2018
  20. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs Order 1736–1918. An honor sheet of the Saxon Army. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation, Dresden 1937, p. 72.
personal data
SURNAME One, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES One named by Rothmaler, Karl Wilhelm Georg August Gottfried von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian colonel general, war minister and military leader in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Herzberg am Harz
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1934
Place of death Mülheim an der Ruhr