Karl von Rettberg (Colonel)

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Karl von Rettberg
The officers of IR 162 in February 1917

Karl Paul Jonas von Rettberg (born May 21, 1865 in Polkwitz , † November 17, 1944 in Celle ) was a Prussian colonel , the barracks of the former III. The battalion of the Lübeck infantry regiment he commands in Eutin has been named after him for 25 years.

Life

Karl came from the II. Line of those von Rettberg and was the first child of the Prussian Colonel Karl Ludwig Reinhold von Rettberg. The later lieutenant general Karl von Rettberg was his second cousin .

Coming from the cadet corps, Rettberg was transferred to the 2nd Hanoverian Infantry Regiment No. 77 of the Prussian Army in Celle on April 14, 1883 as a characterized portepeef ensign. Half a year later he received the patent for this rank and was promoted to second lieutenant on September 13, 1884 . During the following years he met Karoline Mathilde Homann, whom he married in Celle in 1901.

On May 20, 1893, Rettberg was promoted to Prime Lieutenant in the Oldenburg Infantry Regiment No. 91 in Oldenburg . In 1898 he was promoted to captain and served as chief of the 4th company. Promoted to major on October 18, 1910 , Rettberg was a member of the Fusilier Regiment "Queen" (Schleswig-Holsteinisches) No. 86 in Flensburg from December 1910 to September 1912 . As commander of the 2nd Battalion of Schleswig-Holstein Infantry Regiment No. 163 , he was transferred to Neumünster .

First World War

After the outbreak of World War I , his regiment was initially deployed to the border guard in North Schleswig and then took part in the invasion of neutral Belgium . During the fighting at Löwen , which led to the destruction of the city , Rettberg was slightly wounded on August 25, 1914. Recovered, he was appointed as the successor to the outgoing Colonel von Koppelow as commander of the infantry regiment "Lübeck" (3rd Hanseatic table) No. 162 . The regiment was subordinate to the 81st Infantry Brigade from Lübeck during the entire war . Rettberg was to shape the regiment with his personality like a Georg Sick did with the sister regiment (163).

The regiment fought at Roye and Noyon . With a patent dated July 24, 1915, Rettberg was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In early 1916, his regiment was deployed on the ridge between Givenchy and Vimy . Owning the Crête de Vimy, known as the Vimy heights on the German side, offered a strategic advantage that was equivalent to that of the Lorettohöhe . On February 21, 1916, which was to become one of Lübeck's fame days, the division stormed the so-called "Gießler-Höhe" behind Angres . Before the brigade conquered the rest of the ridge with Operation Hamburg, the regiment had to be withdrawn from there due to losses. From July to November Rettberg fought with his regiment in two missions, including on the windmill hill (altitude 161) near Pozières and in the battle of the Somme . In the following year Rettberg led his association through the spring battle of Arras and from there to the Siegfriedstellung . After first fought in Vert-Forest, it reached in Artois the command of dislocation .

  • Position at Givenchy and on the Vimy Heights

  • The "Gießler Höhe" by Hans at the end

  • Approach of the regiment for the 1st and 2nd deployment on the Somme

  • Memorial on the former windmill hill

  • Position on the Bois du Vert and Vis en Artois

Rettberg said goodbye with the following order to his 162:

“His Majesty the Kaiser has appointed me in command of the 420 Infantry Regiment. So it is time to say goodbye to the Lübeck Regiment, which I love so much, with whom I shared my joys and sorrows for almost three years. Painful feelings move my heart. There is also a feeling of deep gratitude. I would like to thank all members of the regiment, from staff officers to musketeers, for the faithful dedication that they have always shown in the service of the fatherland, in honor of the Lübeck regiment. I thank you for the trust that officers and men have placed in me. I fully returned this trust. It gave me strength and confidence in difficult days. May a sense of duty, perseverance and bold daring remain at home in the regiment, may the spirit of loyal comradeship continue to live in its ranks until a victorious peace is fought for with God's help. God commands, comrades, and occasionally remember your old commander. "

- signed v. Rettberg.

Sun took on 11 July 1917, the commander of the established in October 1916 in ranks of the 35th Reserve Division in the Pripyat marshes fighting Infantry Regiment. 420 , Ludwig Hauss , the Lübeck Regiment , on the Western Front , while Rettberg to 420s on the Eastern Front changed.

Special dispatch of February
9, 1918

There was a ceasefire there from December 2nd and the ceasefire entered into force on December 17th . On November 20, 1917, Ukraine proclaimed its independence from Russia and announced the formation of a Ukrainian People's Republic. On February 9, 1918, the so-called " Bread Peace " was concluded with the Central Powers .

In January 1918, the Lübeckische Blätter informed their readers that their esteemed former regimental commander had been awarded the Order of Pour le Mérite on November 24, 1917 . This report was not corrected, but was not repeated in the regimental history published on the 25th anniversary of the regiment. It was wrongly assumed that this Karl von Rettberg was her Karl von Rettberg .

When the Rada was driven out of Russia and the northeast of Ukraine, Germany , after being asked for help, invaded with the 35th RD to support it. From June 22 to November 15, 1918, Ukraine was occupied.

post war period

After the end of the war and return home, the regiment was disbanded in Königsberg in mid-January 1919 . Until September 1919, Rettberg was in command of the settlement center of Schleswig-Holstein Infantry Regiment No. 163 in Neumünster. From here he was assigned to the main supply office in Hanover and put up for disposition on April 9, 1920, conferring the character of a colonel .

Although now living in Hanover, he kept in close contact with the Lübeckers. So he suggested to Otto Dziobek to write down its history on the 25th anniversary of the regiment's foundation day . For the 3rd regimental roll call and comrades' meeting of the former 'Infantry Regiment Lübeck (3rd Hanseatic) No. 162', Rettberg held the keynote address on September 16, 1934, the “Day of the 162” on the market square in Lübeck .

The barracks of the former III. The 162nd battalion in Eutin was given the name Rettberg-Kaserne by the son of the former battalion commander Franz de Rainville on their 25th anniversary .

On February 9, 1944, the Rettbergs moved from Hanover to his wife's birthplace , where he died a few months later.

Awards

References

Web links

Commons : Karl von Rettberg (1865–1944)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Otto Dziobek: History of the Infantry Regiment Lübeck (3rd Hanseatic) No. 162. Verlag Gerhard Stalling, 1922 Oldenburg i. D., first edition.
  • Holger Ritter: History of the Schleswig-Holstein Infantry Regiment No. 163. Leuchtfeuer Verlag, Hamburg 1926, Volume 184 of the Prussian. Share of the reminder sheets.
  • Hans Schimmelpfennig: History of the 2nd Hanoverian Infantry Regiment. Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Issue 77.
  • Festschrift for the consecration of the memorial at the Lübeck cemetery of honor and the 2nd regiment day on 9/10. May 1925. Section: The commanders of the Inf.-Regt. "Lübeck" in the world war.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Family data in the Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadligenhäuser
  2. ^ Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of officers of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps 1917. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1917, p. 12.
  3. ^ Jürgen Kraus : Handbook of the associations and troops of the German army 1914-1918. Part VI: Infantry. Volume 1: Infantry Regiments. Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-902526-14-4 , p. 369.
  4. ↑ He was one of the few who belonged to the Lübeck regiment almost continuously during the war
  5. ↑ Lübeckische Blätter : Vol. 76, Issues No. 37, 38.
  6. ↑ a b c Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 318.
  7. ↑ Lübeck city archives in terms of Senate files: Directory of the owner of the Lübeckischen Hanseatic Cross. Signature 1093.
  8. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 59 of September 23, 1916, p. 1308
personal data
SURNAME Rettberg, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rettberg, Karl Paul Jonas from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian colonel
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Polkwitz
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 1944
Place of death Celle