Max Hofmann (General)

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General Max Hofmann

Max Paul Otto Hofmann (* 9. March 1854 in Meiningen , † 28. November 1918 in Osnabrück ) was a Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War .

Life

Hofmann joined the Hessian Fusilier Regiment No. 80 of the Prussian Army in Wiesbaden on March 21, 1874 as a flag junior . There he was made ensign on November 12, 1874 and promoted to second lieutenant on October 12, 1875 . As such, Hofmann was adjutant of the 2nd battalion from April 1880 to the end of March 1884 and then rose to regimental adjutant . On June 12, 1886, he became Prime Lieutenant and left his position a short time later. Since April 24, 1890, he had been transferred to the 5th Infantry Brigade in Stettin as an adjutant , where he was promoted to captain on October 14, 1890 . À la suite of the Danzig Infantry Regiment No. 128 he was there with a patent from October 12, 1895. At the same time as his promotion to major , he was transferred to the infantry regiment "Duke Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig" (East Frisian) on September 10, 1897 No. 78 was transferred to Osnabrück and on March 25, 1899 to the commander of the III stationed in Aurich . Battalion appointed. He was released from this position on February 1, 1904 and moved up to the regimental staff , where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on March 10, 1904 . On September 13, 1906, Hofmann was given command of the 4th Baden Infantry Regiment "Prinz Wilhelm" No. 112, which was stationed in Mulhouse , while at the same time being promoted to colonel . After almost four years he was assigned to represent the commander of the 82nd Infantry Brigade on leave and on September 10, 1910, when he was promoted to major general, he was given command of this brigade .

With the promotion to lieutenant general on March 22, 1913 Hofmann was appointed commander of the 19th division . When the First World War broke out, Hofmann and his major unit moved into neutral Belgium, took part in the conquest of Liège and fought in the Battle of the Sambre near Namur and Châtelet . He then crossed the Belgian-French border with his troops. During the battle of St. Quentin he was able to defeat the opponents standing on the heights of Mont d'Origny. After fighting on the Petit Morin Hofmann received the order to retreat, and stood in the Aisne in the trench warfare .

In April 1915 Hofmann and his division were transferred to Galicia on the Eastern Front . Here she took part in the 11th Army in the Battle of Gorlice-Tarnów , subsequently crossed the San and advanced to Jaroslau fighting . In June 1915 the division fought near Lubaczow and Lemberg . In mid-July 1915, the Russian lines were broken at Krasnostaw before Hofmann relinquished command on July 20, 1915. He was then appointed representative of the sick commanding general of the Beskid Corps in the Bug Army. This was fighting at Wojslawice and was able to assert itself victoriously against the tsarist army in the following years in the battles of Cholm , Ucherka and Wlodawa . Hofmann then received the order to conquer Brest-Litovsk with his corps . After the fall of the Brest fortress , Wilhelm II awarded him the highest Prussian valor award, the order Pour le Mérite, for this victory on August 28, 1915 . The corps pursued the enemy through the Pripet marshes towards Kobryn , fought at Bereza Kartuska and then transferred to the Woyrsch Army Detachment . Here it took part in the Battle of Slonim and then went over to trench warfare between Upper Shchara and Serwetsch . On October 8, 1915, Hofmann was appointed leader of the Beskid Corps and remained in this quiet section of the front for the next year and a half. In mid-July 1917 Hofmann returned to Galicia with his general command in the Zloczow section and took part in the breakthrough battle in eastern Galicia . This was followed by fighting in the Southern Army between Zbrucz and Sereth near Hussjatyn .

At the end of October 1917, his General Command was transferred to the Western Front and deployed to Army Division C between the Meuse and the Moselle . Here the large association was on January 1, 1918 in XXXVIII. Renamed Reserve Corps , and Hofmann was promoted to General of the Infantry on January 27, 1918, and was appointed Commanding General. From mid-May 1918 the corps was used by the 18th Army on the Avre and fought in the Battle of Noyon from June 9, 1918 . In doing so, he succeeded in taking the northern range of Ribécourt hills and repelling attempts to retake French. For this, Hofmann received the oak leaves for the Pour le Mérite from AKO on July 5, 1918.

Due to health reasons, Hofmann took a vacation on August 10, 1918 and never returned to his troops. He was then transferred to the army officers on September 15, 1918 and died unexpectedly in Osnabrück after the armistice . He was buried in the Hasefriedhof in Osnabrück, which is now a listed building. The grave and headstone have been preserved.

Awards

literature

  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2003, ISBN 3-7648-2516-2 , pp. 117-118.
  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 502–504.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Dechend : History of the Fusilier Regiment von Gersdorff (Hess.) No. 80: and his regular regiment of the Electoral Hessian Life Guard Regiment from 1632 to 1900. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1901, p. 715.
  2. ↑ www.hasefriedhof-johannisfriedhof.de
  3. ↑ a b c d e f 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. 85.
personal data
SURNAME Hofmann, Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hofmann, Max Paul Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Meiningen
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1918
Place of death Osnabrück