Paul Grünert

Paul Ferdinand Alexander Grünert (born January 12, 1861 in Magdeburg , † April 17, 1935 in Munich ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

On February 24, 1880, Grünert joined the 1st Hanover Dragoon Regiment No. 9 of the Prussian Army as a flag junior . In 1895 he was assigned to the Great General Staff as Rittmeister . In 1901 he became first general staff officer (Ia) of the 15th division and as such was promoted to major . In 1904 Grünert became the first general staff officer of the VII Army Corps in Münster . From 1906 to 1908 he served as a teacher at the War Academy before becoming Chief of Staff of the VIII Army Corps in Koblenz . In this position he was promoted to colonel in April 1911 . In January 1912 Grünert was commander of the Magdeburg Dragoon Regiment No. 6 and the following year of the 13th Cavalry Brigade . In April 1914, he was promoted to major general .

During the mobilization for World War I , Grünert was made senior quartermaster in the General Staff of the 8th Army on the Eastern Front . At the beginning of November 1914 he became Chief of Staff of the 9th Army and in August 1915 of the Army Group "Prince Leopold" . For the capture of Warsaw Grünert was by the Bavarian King Ludwig III. Entrusted with the Commander's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order and by Wilhelm II with the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with oak leaves and swords.

After a sick leave he took over from Thaddäus von Jarotzky in January 1916, the 25th Reserve Division , which at that time was in the Argonne . In April of this year, Grünert was reassigned to the General Staff Service, this time as Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army under Fritz von Below . After the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in July, he was replaced by Fritz von Lossberg and was given command of the 3rd Division on the Eastern Front. In September 1916 he took over the 119th Division , which fought in the Southern Army on the Narajowka . From this post he was replaced on November 13, 1917, transferred to the army officers and commanded as head of the Valenciennes General Staff School. On November 19, 1917, he was appointed head of this facility and on January 27, 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Grünert then took over the 21st Division on February 22, 1918 and temporarily led the XXXIX as a representative. Reserve Corps . On May 3, 1918 he was awarded the order Pour le Mérite . On August 6, 1918, Grünert became the leader of the XXXX. Reserve Corps commissioned. At that time the corps formed the left wing of the 6th Army near Lens . From there he went back with her to the Antwerp-Maas position until the armistice came about. Grünert then led his corps back home and submitted his resignation after the demobilization of the large association. It was then put up for disposition on February 2, 1919 .

Fonts

• Royal Prussian Magdeb. Dragoon Regiment No. 6. Mainz Heithof near Hamm (Westphalia) 1936. ( DNB 580037673 )

literature

• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 539-541.
• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Bernard & Graefe Publishing House, Berlin 1935, pp. 413-415.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Awards of the order Pour le Mérite ( Memento of November 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on pourlemerite.org .