Maximilian von Prittwitz and Gaffron

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Maximilian von Prittwitz and Gaffron, Prussian Colonel General and Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Army
The coat of arms of the von Prittwitz and Gaffron family
Maximilian von Prittwitz and Gaffron

Maximilian "Max" Wilhelm Gustav Moritz von Prittwitz and Gaffron (born November 27, 1848 in Bernstadt , district of Oels , province of Silesia , † March 29, 1917 in Berlin ) was a Prussian Colonel General and at the beginning of the First World War Commander in Chief of the 8th Army .

Life

origin

Maximilian came from the Silesian noble family von Prittwitz . He was the son of Gustav von Prittwitz and his wife Elisabeth, née von Klaß. His father was a royal high appellate judge a. D. and Privy Councilor .

Military career

After attending the Ducal High School in Oels , he joined the 3rd Guard Grenadier Regiment Queen Elisabeth in Breslau on April 27, 1866 as a flag junior . In the German War of 1866 he took part with this in the Zernierung of Josefstadt , the Battle of Königgrätz and the battle of Thrush . After he was promoted to Portepee - Ensign on July 31st , he was transferred to the Silesian Fusilier Regiment No. 38 , also stationed in Breslau , on November 3rd, 1866 . From December to August 1867 he had been assigned to the war school in Potsdam . On November 14, 1867, he was promoted to second lieutenant. He belonged to the occupation command of the Königstein Fortress from July 1, 1870. From August 5, 1870, he was an investigative officer of the 1st Battalion in Breslau, from 1867 Görlitz and 1871 Schweidnitz . In addition, he was from April 13, 1871 adjutant of the battalion . In the Franco-Prussian War he took part in the enclosure of Pfalzburg and Paris , as well as the bombardment of Pfalzburg and Toul . For his achievements he received the Iron Cross, 2nd class.

Prittwitz was assigned to the War Academy from October 1, 1873 to July 23, 1876. During this time he was from July 1 to October 1, 1874 for service with the 2nd Silesian Dragoons Regiment No. 8 in Oels , was transferred as Prime Lieutenant to the 2nd Silesian Jäger Battalion No. 6 in Oels and graduated from July 1 to 23, 1876 participated in a military training trip of the War Academy. Prittwitz was assigned to serve the Great General Staff from May 1, 1877 to April 28, 1879. While being promoted to captain , he was transferred to the army general staff's position à la suite and left in his command on April 29, 1879 in its ancillary budget. From October 3rd to 16th, 1879 he was on the training trip of the General Staff of the VI. Army corps detached from Breslau. Left with the General Staff, he was assigned to the General Staff during the trip on October 11th. From September 21 to October 11, 1880, he was assigned to another training trip by the Great General Staff. In the General Staff of the VI. He was transferred to the Army Corps on March 1, 1881 and to that of the 12th Division in Neisse, which was subordinate to him, on September 21, 1882. In the summer of 1885 he took part in a recognition trip to Belgium .

On December 5, 1885, Prittwitz was transferred to the 2nd Hanseatic Regiment No. 76 in Hamburg and appointed chief of the 5th Company . From June 21 to July 3, 1886, he acted as a company commander in their Landwehr training battalion in Lübeck . He was transferred to the General Staff of the 6th Division in Brandenburg on October 16 and received the rank of major there on November 13, 1886 . He was transferred to the general staff of the commandant's office in Königsberg on November 20, 1888. He accompanied the chief quartermaster , Lieutenant General Graf von Haeseler , from July 16 to 30, 1889 on the reconnaissance trip to East and West Prussia . As a general staff officer , he was assigned to lead the attack exercise near Lötzen from 23 to 27 August 1890.

On December 9, 1890, Prittwitz was transferred to the infantry regiment "Herzog Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz" (6th East Prussian) No. 43 to Königsberg, appointed commander of one of his battalions and on January 27, 1892 promoted to lieutenant colonel. When he was reassigned to the General Staff of the Army, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the IX on December 29, 1892 . Army Corps appointed in Altona . He received the rank of colonel on September 12, 1894. From January 28 to February 10, 1895, he took part in a teaching course at the field artillery shooting school in Jüterbog . On September 12, 1895, he was appointed emperor as Chief of the General Staff of the Northern Army.

In this capacity he was with others in Lübeck on May 31, 1895 to lay the foundation stone for the Elbe-Trave Canal . After the blows with the silver hammer by the chief construction director, Adolf Wiebe , the chief of staff , followed by the commander of the 2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 76 stationed in Hamburg and Lübeck , Friedrich de la Motte-Fouqué , hit the granite stone .

On January 27, 1896, Prittwitz was transferred to Posen to the Grenadier Regiment "Graf Kleist von Nollendorf" (1st West Prussian) No. 6 and appointed its regimental commander. As this he was given the direction of a tactical training trip from July 23 to 27, 1896 in the area of ​​the 19th Infantry Brigade . From October 5th to 17th, 1896, he took part in an information course at the infantry shooting school in Spandau . In position à la suite of the regiment , he was commissioned on December 14, 1897 to lead the 20th Infantry Brigade , which was also stationed in Posen . With his promotion to major general on June 15, 1898, he became their commander. After Cécil von Renthe-Fink had submitted his resignation, Prittwitz was entrusted with the management of the 8th Division on May 18, 1901 and promoted to Lieutenant General on June 16, 1901 at the same time as his predecessor left , and appointed Commander of the Division. As a general of the infantry , he commanded the XVI from April 24, 1906 . Army Corps in Metz .

Since 1910 he was a member of the Prussian manor house . In 1913 he became Colonel General and Inspector General of the First Army Inspection in Danzig .

With the beginning of the First World War, Prittwitz was Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Army on the Eastern Front and led them from 19 to 20 August 1914 in the Battle of Gumbinnen . Prittwitz broke off the battle on August 20 after various difficulties had arisen and wanted to pull the army back behind the Vistula . Thereupon he was replaced on August 22nd by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff and put up for disposition .

He spent his retirement in Berlin. There he died of a heart attack on March 29, 1917 and was buried in the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin.

family

He married Olga von Dewitz on May 19, 1874 at Gut Maldewin, Regenwalde district (born August 30, 1848 at Gut Maldewin; † January 9, 1938 in Berlin). She was the daughter of the landowner von Maldewin, Kurt von Dewitz and his wife Euphemia, née von der Groeben . His only son Erdmann von Prittwitz and Gaffron died on May 23, 1918 during World War I.

Orders and decorations

literature

  • Harry von Rège : Officer master list of the infantry regiment No. 76. Mauke, Hamburg 1902. OCLC 252978009 , pp. 120–122.
  • Family Association of Prittwitz (ed.): The war victims of the family of those of Prittwitz and Gaffron 1914–1918. circa 1927.
  • Genealogical manual of the nobility . Noble houses A Volume VI. P. 411, Volume 29 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg / Lahn 1962, ISSN  0435-2408 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The laying of the foundation stone for the Elbe-Trave Canal. In: Lübeckische Blätter. Volume 37, number 44, edition of June 2, 1895, pp. 297–301.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. 45.
personal data
SURNAME Prittwitz and Gaffron, Maximilian von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prittwitz and Gaffron, Maximilian Wilhelm Gustav Moritz von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Colonel General, Commander of the 8th Army on the Eastern Front at the beginning of the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Bernstadt , District of Oels , Province of Silesia
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 1917
Place of death Berlin