Robert Bürkner (Major General)

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Robert Bürkner at the beginning of the First World War

Robert Alexander Bürkner (born December 6, 1870 in Charlottenburg ; † March 19, 1925 in Königsberg ) was a German major general in the Reichswehr .

Life

Bürkner was born on Ziegelstrasse in Berlin and baptized Johannes Evangelist in the church . His parents were the secret accountant Robert Heinrich Bürkner and his wife Alexandrine, née Knerk. At the age of 20 Bürkner joined the Grenadier Regiment “Prince Carl von Prussia” (2nd Brandenburg) No. 12 of the Prussian Army in 1891 . There he was in 1892 second lieutenant , 1901 lieutenant and - after attending the War Academy - 1906 Captain of the General Staff of XVIII. Army Corps . Further career stations were company commander in the 9th Baden Infantry Regiment No. 170 and with the general staff of the 30th Division . On October 1, 1912, he became major and first general staff officer of the 42nd Division .

In this capacity, Bürkner took to the field with the outbreak of the First World War . He took part in the battle at Lagarde on August 11, 1914 and fought in the Battle of Lorraine from August 20 to 22 . During the division's fighting in front of Nancy - Épinal in early September, he was seriously wounded and was therefore transferred to the army officers on September 7, 1914. Bürkner was not ready for use again until three months later. Thereupon he was made available to the Commander-in-Chief East on December 5, 1914 for use as a general staff officer in the Zastrow Corps, in whose bloody but victorious battles for Soldau he took part. Bürkner came from the east in July 1915 as a general staff officer to the Antwerp governorate , where he stayed until Emperor Wilhelm II. On February 16, 1916 made him chief of the general staff of the XXI. Army Corps under Lieutenant General Oskar von Hutier , which stood on the Eastern Front around Lake Naroch and near Postawy .

Pour le Mérite

In his new position he rendered great services to the defense of the Russian attacks in March / April 1916, which were conducted with great superiority, in which he stood by his commanding general with never-ending energy and circumspection. The trench warfare gave the corps peace again. 1917 came, now led by Lieutenant General Adolf von Oven , to the West, standing in front of Verdun and in the Upper Rhine in the army division B . Bürkner was promoted to lieutenant colonel on January 27, 1918 and in April 1918 to chief of the general staff of the XVIII. Reserve Corps , with which he made a great contribution in the battle of the Kemmel , so that his commander submitted him to the Pour le Mérite , which the Emperor awarded him on May 16, 1918, on the following grounds :

“Lieutenant Colonel Bürkner became Chief of the General Staff of the XVIII. RK was attacking the Wytschaete position at a moment when his task, which until then had been more local in nature, had expanded. The attack with four divisions against the deeply structured English Kemmel positions had to be prepared in a short time and presented enormous difficulties in the silted funnel area. Lieutenant Colonel Bürkner settled in with admirable calm and security in his wide-ranging new task. Fast, thorough and tireless in his work, far-sighted, thinking of everything, responsible and knowing no difficulties, he was an outstanding chief of the general staff in the ensuing struggle and a clever, purposeful advisor who represented his convictions with great tact. He played his full part in the great successes of the General Command ... "

On August 7, 1918, Lieutenant Colonel Bürkner was appointed Chief of the General Staff to the XVIII. Army under General von Hutier , which was at the moment in the battle of the Somme and Oise . Here, as in the battles of the 18th Army before and in the Siegfriedstellung , in the battle between Cambrai and St. Quentin , as well as in the Hermannstellung, supported Lieutenant Colonel Bürkner, who was suggested for his services to be awarded the oak leaves for the Pour le Mérite (which he no longer received as a result of the outbreak of the November Revolution) his Commander-in-Chief, as well as when the army was returned home.

Weimar Republic

In December 1918 he was first appointed Chief of the General Staff of the 8th Army in the Baltic States and, after their repatriation and demobilization, the General Command of the XX. Army Corps in Olsztyn . Then he was chief of the general staff of the IV Army Corps in Magdeburg from April 1919 until he joined the I Army Corps in Königsberg in September 1919 in the same capacity . Bürkner was accepted into the Reichswehr on May 16, 1920 as Chief of Staff of Military District Command I (since October 1, 1920 also the 1st Division ) in Königsberg and promoted to Colonel on October 1 of the same year . After being in command of the 2nd (Prussian) Infantry Regiment for several years , he returned to Königsberg on February 1, 1924 as Infantry Leader I. On the New Year of 1925 he was promoted to major general .

Bürkner died on March 19, 1925 in the garrison hospital in Königsberg.

family

He left behind his wife Ella, born Kröhnke he in on March 23, 1904 Frankfurt (Oder) had married, and four daughters Inga, Hilde and the twins Alrun and Sigrid. Ella Bürkner (born July 19, 1875 in Wilhelmshaven, † before July 1961 in Berlin-Steglitz ) was the daughter of the Fehmarn Secret Building Council and inventor of the " Vogelfluglinie ", Gustav Kröhnke .

The Bürknerhöhe south of Wiersbinnen in East Prussia

Posthumous honor

Because of his services to the defense of East Prussia in the First World War and afterwards, in 1926 a 145 meter high hill in the Prussian ridge in Masuria was named "Bürknerhöhe". The Bürknerhöhe was south of the village of Wiersbinnen on the site of the Arys military training area , which is still a Polish military training area today. Today the hill is called "Wzgórze Mazurskie" (Masurian Hill).

Awards

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 2: v. Blanckensee – v. Czettritz and Neuhauß. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2424-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 111.
personal data
SURNAME Bürkner, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bürkner, Robert Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German major general of the Reichswehr
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1925
Place of death Königsberg (Prussia)