Siegfried von Ende

Siegfried Hans Adam Karl Freiherr von Ende (born August 13, 1851 in Oberwaldenburg , † February 8, 1926 in Berlin-Charlottenburg ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

He was the son of August von Ende (1815-1889) and his wife Eleonore, née Countess von Königsdorff (1831-1907) , who later became President of the Hesse-Nassau Province .

Military career

After his upbringing in his parents' house and attending the Maria Magdalenen High School in Breslau , at the end of the war against France on July 27, 1870, he joined the 3rd Guard Grenadier Regiment "Queen Elisabeth" of the Prussian Army as a one-year volunteer a. With the regiment he took part in the siege of Paris and the fighting at Le Bourget and Aulnay during the war. For his behavior, Ende received the Iron Cross 2nd class.

After the imperial proclamation , he was appointed portepeef ensign on February 22nd and promoted to second lieutenant on May 9, 1871 . End then completed an academic course in Berlin by February 1872 and was appointed adjutant and investigative officer of the Fusilier Battalion on April 28, 1874 . From August 19, 1877 to August 5, 1881, he was employed as a regimental adjutant and was promoted to prime lieutenant on September 18, 1880. Under position à la suite the regiment acted from June 10, 1882 to September 17, 1886 as adjutant of the 34th Infantry Brigade in Schwerin . Afterwards, Ende returned as a captain to the Guards Grenadier Regiment, became chief of the 8th Company and moved up to the regimental staff with his promotion to Major on January 27, 1894. From March 22, 1895 to July 21, 1900, Ende acted as commander of the 1st Battalion in the 7th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 96 in Altenburg and then came to Schwerin to join the staff of the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89 . There he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 18, 1900 and commissioned on November 27, 1902 with the command of the fusilier regiment “Queen” (Schleswig-Holstein) No. 86 . With simultaneous promotion to colonel end was on 27 January 1903 a commander of this association appointed. On April 14, 1907, he then rose to major general and commander of the 35th Infantry Brigade in Flensburg on, finally to end on 7 August 1908 with pension under award of the Red Eagle II. Class with oak leaves for disposition was made.

With the outbreak of the First World War , he made himself available at the end of the day, but initially received no command. It was not until January 23, 1915 that he was appointed commander of the 35th Reserve Infantry Brigade, which at that time was part of the IX. Reserve Corps in the Roye - Noyon section . In addition, from the end of spring he also acted as infantry leader of the 18th Reserve Division and received the character of Lieutenant General on August 18, 1915 . With his brigade end accepted the position battles at the Loretto-height at Vimy and Lens as well as the Battle of the Somme in part. After she had fought here at Pozières , the large unit was pulled from the front, lay with Loos to rest for a few weeks and then entered the battle again. This time it was used by Bapaume .

With the award of the patent for his rank, he was appointed commander of the 50th Reserve Division at the end of November 5, 1916 . After trench warfare at La Bassée , the division was used at Grandcourt until the end of the year . This was followed by a four-week rest period at Valenciennes , fighting in the Serre section and, in March / April 1917, the retreat to the Siegfriedstellung . Then the large association took part in the battle of Arras . At the beginning of June the division was relieved and joined the 4th Army in Flanders . As an army and shock reserve, his troops were able to prove themselves particularly in the battles near Langemark , Passendale and St. Julien and Ende received the star for the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with oak leaves and swords, for his services on August 26, 1917. Also in the following battles at the end of the polygon forest proved itself once more and was awarded the order Pour le Mérite on October 31, 1917 at the instigation of his commanding general Karl Dieffenbach . After the heavy fighting, the division moved into a quieter section at Aubers . During the Battle of Cambrai , the division managed to take around 200 prisoners and capture five machine guns . Then the large association prepared for the Great Battle in France . In association with the 2nd Army , Ende led his division on March 21, 1918 in the attack battle between Gouzeaucourt and Vermand and then took part in the pursuit battles in the summer area. After the offensive ceased, the division fought at the Ancre . Due to age and illness, he was relieved of his command at the end of May 27, 1918 and his mobilization provision was lifted the following day.

He then spent his twilight years in Charlottenburg. Ende was a legal knight of the Order of St. John .

family

He married Karoline Johannes (1856–1932) on March 30, 1876 in Carlshof in the Neumark. Several daughters resulted from the marriage.

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. 359-360.
• 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. 269–270.
• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , pp. 63-65, no. 3082.
• Söding: Officer master list of the Royal Prussian 7th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 96. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1912, pp. 160–161.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 31 of September 11, 1917, p. 831.