Karl von Kleinhenz

Karl August Kleinhenz , knight of Kleinhenz since 1915 , (born August 3, 1864 in Ludwigshafen , † February 4, 1948 ) was a Bavarian officer , most recently a lieutenant general .

Life

After attending the humanistic grammar school in Speyer, Kleinhenz joined the 1st Infantry Regiment "König" of the Bavarian Army on September 21, 1882 and was appointed portepéefähnrich there on March 3, 1883. He then moved to the 8th Infantry Regiment "Grand Duke Friedrich II. Von Baden" by Metz and was in the following period on 24 June 1884 to second lieutenant and on September 22, 1893. First Lieutenant promoted. Since 1891 he was an adjutant to the battalion and, after being promoted to captain , was appointed company commander in his regiment on February 19, 1899 . In 1902 he was assigned to the shooting school and, after his promotion to major, he was transferred to the staff of the 8th Infantry Regiment, where he was appointed battalion commander on May 22, 1908. As a lieutenant colonel (since May 21, 1912), he joined the regimental staff on September 19, 1912 and was appointed commander of the regiment on March 19, 1914 while being promoted to colonel .

In the early stages of World War I , his regiment initially fought in the border battles in Lorraine . The 8th Infantry Regiment was part of the 8th Infantry Brigade under Major General Riedl in August 1914 and formed part of the 33rd Reserve Division , which was in the Metz area as a reserve. For his extraordinary merits, Kleinhenz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order on May 5, 1915 and was allowed to call himself Knight of Kleinhenz from this point onwards due to the associated elevation into the personal nobility . On September 28, 1916, Kleinhenz was relieved of his command, took over a reserve brigade and fought in Transylvania and Romania . There he was promoted to major general on January 17, 1917 . From February 8, 1917 to April 8, 1918 he commanded the 1st Royal Bavarian Jäger Brigade as part of the Alpine Corps . He was then between April 9 and May 28, 1918 commander of the 200th Infantry Division and on May 29, 1918 he took over the leadership of the 14th Infantry Division .

From November 7, 1918 on, Kleinhenz was in command of the South Border Guard ( Freikorps ), and as such was dismissed from the army on August 2, 1920 while being promoted to Lieutenant General .

Kleinhenz had been married to Ida, nee Lellbach, since April 15, 1899.

literature

• 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. p. 335.