Richard Koerner

Richard Körner, Edler von Siegringen (born May 24, 1874 in Josefstadt, a suburb of Komorn ; † June 18, 1915 ) was a brother of the later Austrian Federal President Theodor Körner and Lieutenant Colonel of the Artillery Staff during the First World War .

Life

origin

Born in 1874 as the younger son of the artillery captain Theodor Karl Körner, Richard grew up with his siblings - he also had an older sister named Rosa Antonia - in modest circumstances. Even the bail for his marriage to Karoline Fousek in 1871 could only be raised by his father with a mortgage on the inn of his father-in-law Leopold Fousek.

The low pension forced the family to move to Vienna in 1884 after the accident-related farewell to Captain Theodor Karl Körner, who was barely 50 years old, in 1884 , where the father worked as a clerk (diurnist) for three crowns a day in the finance ministry. He carried out this activity for many years until shortly before his death (1917). On April 9, 1900 he was raised to the hereditary Austrian nobility due to the provisions on the " systematic nobility " for officers. It was taken into account that he had fought honorably in the Italian campaigns of 1848/49 and 1859 and 1866. This authorized him, his wife and his legitimate descendants to use the predicate "Noble von Siegringen". However, there were no financial benefits associated with it. Therefore he had to continue to work as a diurnist. In 1910 he and his two sons were promoted to major ad honores.

Youth and officer training

At the age of ten, Richard Körner received a free place at the military high school in Mährisch-Weißkirchen . After graduating from school, he joined the army and, like his father, chose artillery as a weapon . On August 18, 1894, together with his brother Theodor, as a graduate of the Technical Military Academy in Vienna, he was retired as a lieutenant. From 1897 to 1899 he attended the higher artillery course at the Technical Military Academy in the Vienna Stiftskaserne with very good success and ranked third out of a total of 45 participants. Already in peacetime he received high honors like his brother: in 1910 the Military Merit Cross III. Class and in 1913 the Order of the Iron Crown III. Class in recognition of his excellent performance.

First World War

After the outbreak of war, Richard Körner was promoted to lieutenant colonel, like his brother, was transferred to the high command of the Balkan armed forces and Lieutenant Field Marshal Alfred Krauss, the chief of staff of the Balkan armed forces, was assigned as artillery officer. On May 27, 1915, four days after Italy declared war, he ordered the use of all heavy artillery to defend the Gorizia bridgehead.

Savior of Gorizia

On the same day, Lieutenant Colonel of the Artillery Staff Richard Körner met a heavy artillery brigade that was about to withdraw its heavy artillery to safety in the Ljubljana area . Körner immediately ordered the march back to Gorizia and immediate reference to the position as well as the immediate start of the fire fight against the attackers. In doing so he saved the Gorizia bridgehead, even though there was a contrary order from the command of the Southwest Front and thus created the prerequisites for the construction of the actual Isonzo front , with which he qualified as a candidate for the military Maria Theresa Order , and as " Savior of Gorizia ”went down in Austrian military history.

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Körner himself drove a 30.5 cm M.11 mortar far in front of his own infantry lines in order to carry out fire attacks from ten kilometers away - that was the maximum range of these short-barreled guns - on the station of Cormons , where the Italians discharged all of their reinforcements intended for the attack against Gorizia. At the time, it was a unique weapon act that no one had dared to do before out of fear of losing a gun.

For the enemy, however, the fire with the large-caliber grenades had devastating consequences. The railway facilities were destroyed for a long time, and a supply of fresh workers was no longer possible. Gorizia could be held until the sixth Isonzo battle.

The time gained in this way enabled the standing German troops to intervene in the fighting, as the international legal status between Germany and the Kingdom of Italy, which was formerly allied in the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary , had to be clarified. It was therefore thanks to Körner that the conditions for a successful defense of the Habsburg monarchy were also created on the Isonzo .

Accomplishments and death

However, he was no longer allowed to experience the impact and recognition of his achievements. When his car was hit by a shell on June 17, his injuries were so severe that he succumbed to them the next day.

Richard Körner is in the public and in the specialist literature as a result of his short life - despite his military achievements - in the shadow of his brother Theodor, who was also well-deserved in military terms.

It was thanks to Richard Körner's military skills and, above all, his personal commitment that after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23, 1915, the Austrian bridgehead of Gorizia was not overrun immediately, but was held until the sixth Isonzo battle .

In the opinion of the Kuk Kommando of the Southwest Front , which also made an application in this regard on December 7, 1915 , Richard Körner should receive the Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order for this military achievement . After years of controversial discussion, on October 3, 1931, the Chapter of the Order only found him worthy of the Golden Medal of Bravery for officers .

Awards

• 1898 anniversary commemorative medal for the armed power
• 1908 military jubilee cross
• 1910 Military Merit Cross III. class
• 1913 Memorial Cross 1912/1913
• 1913 III. Class of the Order of the Iron Crown
• 1914 Commander's Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania
• 1914 Knight's Cross of the Leopold Order with the war decoration
• 1915 2nd class of the Military Merit Cross with the war decoration (posthumous)
• 1915 Iron Cross 2nd class
• 1931 Gold Medal of Bravery for officers (by resolution of the MMTO chapter for Gorizia in May 1915)

swell

• Eric. C. Kollmann: Theodor Körner, Military and Politics, Publishing House for History and Politics, Vienna 1973.
• Book of Honor of the Artillery, ed. by the Federal Ministry for National Defense, Vienna 1936
• Austrian State Archives: Personnel file Lieutenant Colonel of the Artillery Staff Richard Körner, Edler von Siegringen; Part .: Kuk command of the SW. Front December 7, 1915: * Application by the Kuk, 5th AOK, Res. No. 3717 with 2 supplements, November 29, 1915 , signed Boroevic, GdI., Regarding the award of the Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order to Lieutenant Colonel of the Artillery Staff Richard Körner, Edlen von Siegringen.