Karl von Kirchbach on Lauterbach

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karl Graf von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach as general

Karl Freiherr von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach , from 1917 Count von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach (born May 20, 1856 in Gyöngyös , Hungary ; † May 20, 1939 in Scharnstein , Upper Austria ) was a Colonel General of the Austro-Hungarian Austro-Hungarian Army .

family

The von Kirchbach aristocratic family produced several generals in their history , mainly in various German armies. Karl, who came from the Saxon line of the family, was born in Hungary as the eldest son of Feldmarschallleutnant Ferdinand Freiherr von Kirchbach. Together with his younger brother Johann Ferdinand , he was destined to pursue a military career in order to live up to family tradition.

Life

Education and career before the war

At the age of 11, Karl von Kirchbach on Lauterbach entered the cadet institute in St. Pölten , later in Eisenstadt . After graduating from the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt , on September 1, 1875, he was transferred as a lieutenant to Dragoon Regiment No. 5. As a result, he attended courses at the Military Riding Instructor Institute , after which he was promoted to lieutenant on May 1, 1880 . Between the years 1881 and 1884 he attended the kuk war school in Vienna with good success. After graduation, he was assigned to the General Staff in 1885 , where he performed various services until 1890. On November 1, 1887, he was appointed Captain  I. Class. After a year with the 17th Infantry Division, he was transferred to Dragoon Regiment No. 9 in May 1891. Two years later he married Rosa Carol Vay. On November 1, 1893, Karl was promoted to major and from that year served as Chief of the General Staff of the XV. Corps . From 1895 to 1897 he then held the post of Chief of Staff of the Cavalry Division in Stanislau . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 1, 1896. The troop service with the Dragoon Regiment No. 1 he provided in the years 1897 to 1899. On April 1, 1899 he was Chief of Staff of the III. Corps, where he replaced Colonel Karl Ritter von Pfiffer , followed by his appointment as Colonel on May 1, 1899.

At his own request, he was released from the duties of Chief of Staff and on April 4, 1901, transferred to Dragoon Regiment No. 5, of which he became commander a month later. After three years of service as regimental commander, he was given command of the 12th Cavalry Brigade. In the meantime, Karl von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach was promoted to major general on November 1, 1905 . Between 1907 and 1909 he was in command of the 10th Cavalry Brigade in Vienna, followed by his appointment as commander of the 1st Cavalry Division in Temesvar in 1909. On May 1, 1910, he was promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal . Since he belonged to the group of young and modern-thinking generals around Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Chief of Staff of the Army Conrad von Hötzendorf , it was hardly surprising that on March 23, 1911 he was given the newly created post of Imperial and Royal Landwehr cavalry inspector. In the following years he put all his efforts into the task of putting the level of education and training of the Landwehr cavalry on the same level as that of the "regular" army . He was also of the opinion that this unit is capable of more than just reconnaissance and protection of the train . In this sense, he trained the Landwehr cavalry insofar as they can operate as a large independent unit, and also promoted cooperation with the infantry divisions. On May 1, 1914, he was finally promoted to general of the cavalry . In 1914 he also received the title of Privy Councilor .

First World War

When the war broke out, General of the Cavalry Kirchbach (General April 24, 1914 to May 1) took over the I. Corps and was the commanding general in Krakow . His first tasks were to cover the transports as part of the mobilization on the Russian border , as well as to advance on the left flank of Dankl's 1st Army at the beginning of the offensive . During the August fighting, his I. Corps in the north of Tanew contributed decisively to the victory at Kraśnik . When Dankl's army was forced to retreat, the 1st Corps brought up the rear. During the Battle of the Vistula in October, his corps reached Ivangorod and Kirchbach temporarily took over command of an army group in the south of the Vistula . After the retreat, General Kirchbach stayed with his troops in the southern Polish area on both sides of Pinschow in November 1914 . In the aftermath of the Battle of Gorlice-Tarnów (May 1915) his corps reached the eastern bank of the Bug in June 1915 and in August 1915 reached the Ikwa near Dubno . Together with the Szurmay group , they succeeded in building a bridgehead near Sokal on the east bank of the Bug . The offensive aimed at Rovno was successfully thrown back by the Russians through strong counterattacks.

In May 1916 his corps was transferred to the South Tyrolean front to take part in the subsequent South Tyrol offensive as part of the 3rd Army . There, on June 15 and 16, 1916, he led the last attempt at attack by the 3rd Army before the offensive against the Italian positions southwest of Asiago in the area of ​​Monte Lemerle, Monte Zovetto and Magnaboschi ceased. This attack ultimately failed because of the numerically superior Italians and the insufficient support of the Austro-Hungarian artillery , which was not able to eliminate the well-camouflaged Italian positions accordingly.

Afterwards Kirchbach returned with his corps to the Russian front, where he took up a position east of Stanislau . In August 1916 he was responsible for the defense of the Tatar passport near Rakhiv . The Russians tried repeatedly to take this strategically important point and thus the "gateway to Hungary", but this was thwarted each time by the imperial troops. On September 8, 1916, he took over command of the 7th Army , where he succeeded the general of the cavalry Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin , with whom he again received a defensive task. During the subsequent Russian offensive, which aimed to relieve the allied Romanian troops, he managed to prevent the enemy troops from breaking through through risky but ultimately successful operations on the Carpathian ridge. On October 20th he exchanged his command with General Kövess and took over the command of the 3rd Army . He was promoted to Colonel General on November 1, 1916 (rank date Nov. 10).

On March 5, 1917, he took command of the 4th Army , but a serious illness soon forced him to leave his post. In October 1917 he finally returned to active service, but was still marked by the illness he had suffered. On December 8, 1917, the colonel general was elevated to the rank of count . At the beginning of 1918 he was appointed military commander of all Austro-Hungarian troops in the Cherson Governorate with headquarters in Odessa . His very important task was to pacify the region and to extract as many resources as possible, but mainly agricultural products, from this fertile area.

In the first days of April, his poor health forced him to retire from active service. After a few months of recovery, he again applied for a front command, whereupon Emperor Karl appointed him inspector of the Austro-Hungarian troops on the western front on September 24, 1918 . In view of the late appointment to this office, it must have been more than a sign of recognition.

After the end of the war, Colonel General Karl Graf von Kirchbach stayed on Lauterbach in Austria and fully recovered from his illness. He died in Scharnstein in May 1939.

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Karl von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Kirchbach , The Austro-Hungarian Army (English)
  • Kirchbach Karl , The Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914–1918
  • Kirchbach , entry on Austrian Commanders (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d biography of General Karl Graf von Kirchbach (English) accessed on 23 August 2018
  2. ^ Austrian Federal Ministry and War Archives (ed.): Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914–1918. Fourth volume. The war year 1916. First part, pp. 344–347
personal data
SURNAME Kirchbach on Lauterbach, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kirchbach auf Lauterbach, Karl Graf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Gyöngyös , Hungary
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 1939
Place of death Scharnstein , Upper Austria