Oskar von Ehrenthal

Oskar von Ehrenthal (* 15. August 1854 in Borna ; † 9. November 1921 in Castle Schönenbach ) was a Saxon general of the infantry in the First World War .

Life

Ehrenthal joined the 2nd Royal Saxon Jäger Battalion No. 13 as an avantageur on October 1, 1872 and was appointed ensign there on April 25, 1873 . For one year he was sent to the War School in Erfurt on October 4, 1873 and, after successfully completing this, he was promoted to secondary lieutenant on October 10, 1874. In the following years Ehrenthal served in his main unit, where he was made prime lieutenant on April 1, 1881 and promoted to captain on March 16, 1887 . As such, he came shortly afterwards on April 1, 1887 to the 3rd Royal Saxon Jäger Battalion No. 15 and served there as a company commander until April 18, 1896 . He was then appointed, while at the same time being promoted to major, as the wing adjutant of the Saxon King Albert . Ehrenthal was recalled from this post on March 25, 1899 and then appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Royal Saxon Leib Grenadier Regiment No. 100 . Two years later, when he was transferred and taken over as commander of the 1st Royal Saxon Jäger Battalion No. 12, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . As such, he returned to the Leib Grenadier Regiment No. 100 on March 26, 1903, was appointed commander and on May 19, 1903, a colonel . Ehrenthal was commanded in this position on July 27, 1906 to represent the commander of the 47th Infantry Brigade in Döbeln . Shortly afterwards, he was assigned the command of the company from August 17, 1906, and was finally appointed brigade commander on May 21, 1907 while being promoted to major general . Due to illness, Ehrenthal was not fit for duty from January 13 to March 19, 1911 and was on leave during this time. After his recovery he was appointed commander of 1st Division No. 23 and Ehrenthal was promoted to lieutenant general . As such, he was put up for disposition on September 13, 1912 in approval of his resignation .

First World War

With the outbreak of the First World War, Ehrenthal was reactivated and appointed commander of the 24th Reserve Division (2nd Royal Saxon) . He led this on the Western Front, first in the battle of Dinant, in the attack on Namur and in the winter battle in Champagne . After its completion, Ehrenthal was promoted to General of the Infantry on March 20, 1915. As a result of illness, he was made available as an officer by the army on March 31, 1916. He took over on August 28, 1916 as commanding general of the XXVII. Reserve Corps (II. Royal Saxon) , which at that time stood on the Somme . In November 1916 the corps moved to the Narajowka section on the Eastern Front . There Ehrenthal was badly wounded by shrapnel on June 15, 1917 and, as he had lost an eye, had to ask for his post to be removed. He was then made available as an officer by the army and, at the same time, rescinded his mobilization provision on May 6, 1918 , while simultaneously being employed à la suite of the 1st Royal Saxon Leib Grenadier Regiment No. 100.

Awards

• Commander 1st class of the Albrecht Order
• Saxon service award cross
• Bavarian Military Merit Order II. Class
• Officer's Cross of the Order of Saints Mauritius and Lazarus
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Griffin
• Commander of the Franz Joseph Order
• Order of the Red Eagle III. class
• Commander of the House Order of the White Falcon
• Commander first class of the Duke of Saxony-Ernestine House Order
• Cross of Honor 2nd class of the Lippe House Order
• Order of the Siamese Crown III. class
• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
• Order of the Crown, 1st class with swords in 1915
• Pour le Mérite on June 15, 1917
• Military Order of St. Heinrich
  • Knight's Cross on October 15, 1914
  • Commander II class October 29, 1915
• Grand Cross of the Saxon Order of Merit with Swords on June 15, 1917

literature

• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: AG. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 344-345
• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order "pour le merite" in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Berlin 1935, pp. 257-258.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Ranking list of the Royal Saxon Army for the year 1912 , publisher: Saxon War Ministry, Department for Personal Affairs, C. Heinrich, Dresden 1912, p. 10
2. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736–1918, A Ehrenblatt of the Saxon Army , Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch-Stiftung, Dresden 1937, p. 211
3. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736–1918, A Ehrenblatt of the Saxon Army , Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch-Stiftung, Dresden 1937, p. 83