Traugott from Sauberzweig

Traugott Martin Sauberzweig , von Sauberzweig since 1913 , (born October 28, 1863 in Greiffenberg , † April 14, 1920 in Kassel ) was a Prussian lieutenant general in the First World War .

Life

The son of the preacher Gustav Sauberzweig occurred on October 4, 1881 as an ensign in the Grenadier Regiment "Prince Carl of Prussia" (2nd Brandenburg) no. 12 of the Prussian army in Frankfurt (Oder) one. Here he was appointed ensign on May 13, 1882 and promoted to second lieutenant on February 13, 1883 . From October 1, 1888, he was adjutant in the Landwehr district of Sorau for three years . After he was promoted to Prime Lieutenant on June 16, 1891 , Sauberzweig graduated from the War Academy for three years on October 1, 1891 . He was then transferred to the 2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment in Hamburg on July 24, 1894 , and from April 1, 1895, he was assigned to the General Staff for one year . With his promotion to captain on March 19, 1896, he was aggregated to the General Staff and finally assigned on July 18, 1896. At the end of October 1896, Sauberzweig took over the position of Second General Staff Officer in the General Staff of the XI. Army Corps in Kassel . From March 25, 1899 to October 17, 1900 he resigned in the troop service and acted as chief of the 8th  company in the infantry regiment "Graf Schwerin" (3rd Pomeranian) No. 14 in Graudenz . Subsequently, Sauberzweig was the first general staff officer in the general staff of the 4th Division in Bromberg . On September 12, 1902, he was promoted to major and on October 1, he came to the military academy as a military teacher. After four years of teaching, Sauberzweig was transferred to Strasbourg and became the first general staff officer of the XV. Army Corps used. On November 19, 1908, Sauberzweig came to Wittenberg in the infantry regiment "Graf Tauentzien von Wittenberg" (3rd Brandenburg) No. 20 . At first he acted as commander of the 2nd Battalion, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in this position on May 22, 1909 and transferred to the regimental staff on March 22, 1910. On April 21, 1911, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the III. Army corps and his promotion to colonel on April 22, 1912. As such, from April 4, 1913, Sauberzweig was commander of the grenadier regiment "Prince Carl von Prussia" (2nd Brandenburgisches) No. 12, in which he began his military career in 1881 would have.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. On June 16, 1913, Sauberzweig was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility for his long service.

First World War

On February 1, 1914, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the XI with the rank and fee of a Brigade Commander. Army Corps. Sauberzweig held this position even after the outbreak of the First World War. With his large association he was initially involved in the invasion of neutral Belgium and there in the siege of Namur . After the city and fortress had been conquered, the corps was moved to the Eastern Front and intervened there in the ongoing battle of the Masurian Lakes . Immediately thereafter, on September 18, 1914, Sauberzweig was appointed senior quartermaster of the newly formed 9th Army under Colonel General Paul von Hindenburg . He also held this position under the new Commander in Chief General of the Cavalry August von Mackensen . In the following period, Sauberzweig took part in the battles near Lodz and the Rawka - Bzura and was promoted to major general on December 24, 1914 . The beginning of 1915 was marked by the interim positional warfare , until Sauberzweig on July 24, 1915 as Chief of the General Staff to III. Reserve Corps was commanded. In the same role he joined the siege army of Novogeorgiewsk and was significantly involved in the planning that led to the fall of the strategically important Russian fortress . During the conquest, the German troops fell into the hands of over 80,000 Russian soldiers and large amounts of war material. For this, Sauberzweig was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with oak leaves and swords.

After this operation, for a few days, Sauberzweig was charged with the command of the corps that had received the order to enclose the Grodno fortress . He was then recalled from the Eastern Front in September 1915, transferred to Brussels and appointed military governor there. In this position he was u. a. involved in the execution of Edith Cavell and gained international fame in this context. Because of the Cavell case, Sauberzweig was replaced. Herbert Hoover and his commission for the Belgian relief organization were among those who suffered from his anger that followed , as Sauberzweig was close to prohibiting this organization from providing aid.

After his replacement in June 1916, Sauberzweig was appointed to the main headquarters and initially appointed to represent the Quartermaster General Hugo von Freytag-Loringhoven . On November 16, 1916, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the 8th Army on the Eastern Front. The subordinate troops were mainly engaged in trench warfare on the Riga front and were deployed in January / February 1917 during the two defensive battles on the Aa . In the late summer of 1917, the operations planned by Sauberzweig led to the capture of Riga . Thereupon his commanding general Oskar von Hutier proposed him to be awarded the order Pour le Mérite . By AKO on September 6, 1917, Wilhelm II. Sauberzweig awarded this highest Prussian bravery award. Three days later he was transferred to the 10th Army as Chief of the General Staff .

In this position, however, Sauberzweig only worked for three months, since his former commanding general Oskar von Hutier had requested him. Hutier was meanwhile commander in chief of the newly formed 18th Army on the Western Front. Sauberzweig also took over the post of Chief of the General Staff here. During the German spring offensive, which began on March 21, 1918, the large association was successful in the breakthrough battle at St. Quentin - La Fère and penetrated through the summer region to the Roye - Montdidier line . For this, Sauberzweig was awarded the oak leaves for Pour le Mérite on March 23, 1918. After the German offensive got stuck and had to be broken off, the subordinate troops returned to trench warfare. It was not until June 9th to 13th 1918 that the army went on the offensive again in the battle of Noyon . After initial successes, however, further attack efforts had to be stopped due to wear and tear. Nevertheless, Sauberzweig was awarded the star for the Order of the Crown, Second Class with Swords, and was promoted to Lieutenant General on July 15, 1918.

Due to a heart condition, Sauberzweig had to take a long vacation at the end of the month and was therefore transferred to the army officers on August 7, 1918. After his recovery, he was fit for duty again on November 4, 1918 and served as chief of the general staff of the " Gallwitz " army group until December 27, 1918 after the end of the war . After the high command was demobilized , Sauberzweig was then commander of the 38th Division until he was finally put up for disposition on July 5, 1919 .

literature

• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume II: M-Z. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Berlin 1935, pp. 241–243.
• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, ISBN 3-7648-2586-3 , pp. 182-184.
• Harry von Rège : Officer master list of the infantry regiment No. 76. 1902. P. 164.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichsarchiv (Hrsg.): The world war 1914 to 1918. Volume 8: The operations of the year 1915. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1932. p. 376.
2. ^ Reichsarchiv (Hrsg.): The world war 1914 to 1918. Volume 8: The operations of the year 1915. ES Mittler & Sohn. Berlin 1932. p. 487.
3. ↑ Gen. Clean Branch Dead. Was Military Governor of Brussels When Edith Cavell Was Executed. The New York Times. April 19, 1920.
4. ^ Cavell Case Causes Official's Removal. The New York Times. November 2, 1915.
5. ^ Herbert Hoover: Memoirs. Years of Adventure 1874–1920. Volume 1. Matthias Grünewald Verlag. Mainz 1951. S. ???.