Walter von Haxthausen

Walter von Haxthausen (born March 16, 1864 in Lauenburg , † May 13, 1935 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf ) was a Prussian major general in the First World War .

Life

He came from the noble family von Haxthausen .

After graduating from high school , Haxthausen joined the 4th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment No. 24 of the Prussian Army on May 1, 1883 as a flag junior . There he was promoted to secondary lieutenant on September 13, 1884 and from March 1888 to the end of September 1892 as adjutant of the III. Battalion used in Havelberg . This was followed by his command for further training at the War Academy in Berlin until July 1895 and, on September 14, 1893, he was promoted to prime lieutenant . After brief service in his regiment, Haxthausen was assigned to the General Staff on April 1, 1896 , and was promoted to captain here. In the following years he served in various general staffs, most recently as first general staff officer with the IX. Army Corps . This activity was only interrupted by a troop command as chief of the 12th Company in the Fusilier Regiment "von Gersdorff" (Kurhessisches) No. 80 from March 1902 to the end of January 1904. On November 26, 1910, Haxthausen was appointed commander of the III. Battalion of the infantry regiment "Graf Bose" (1st Thuringian) No. 31 in Altona and promoted to lieutenant colonel on January 27, 1912 . As such, he was appointed General Staff of the XV on July 1, 1912 . Army Corps and three months later became Chief of the General Staff of the newly formed XXI. Army Corps appointed in Saarbrücken . In this position he was promoted to colonel on March 22, 1914 .

First World War

With the Corps Haxthausen took after the outbreak of World War I in the 6th Army in the battles in Lorraine and in Nancy - Epinal part. In mid-September was fighting the major unit in northern France on the Somme and then went at Saint-Quentin in the trench warfare over. In January 1915 the corps moved to the east and was involved in the winter battle in Masuria . After fighting on the Bobr , Sejny and Krasnopol , Haxthausen was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the I. Reserve Corps on May 3, 1915 . With this corps he was also involved in the fighting on the Eastern Front . On June 2, 1916, he was then ordered to serve in the High Command of the 5th Army and three weeks later he was appointed chief quartermaster of this army. Here he experiences the loss-making battles for Verdun up close . With the formation of the "German Crown Prince" Army Group , Haxthausen was relieved of his position and at the end of the year appointed commander of the 77th Infantry Brigade. In association with the 10th Reserve Division , he fought in front of Verdun, in the double battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne . On July 18, 1917, Haxthausen was promoted to major general. From October to December 1917 he chaired a commission in the 2nd Army , which was entrusted with drafting new training regulations for foot troops. After completion of this activity he was made available to the OHL and commissioned Haxthausen with the establishment and management of courses for front and general staff officers in the 9th Army .

On March 4, 1918, he was finally appointed commander of the 5th Guard Division , which at that time formed a reserve of the OHL. With the 18th Army , Haxthausen took part in the German spring offensive from March 21st . She fought in the breakthrough battle at St. Quentin- La Fère , was able to break through the enemy positions and reached the Montdidier- Noyon line , where the division went into position warfare at the beginning of April. For his achievements during the battle of Soissons and Reims at the end of May, Haxthausen was awarded the highest Prussian honor for bravery, the order Pour le Mérite , on June 13, 1918 . In the last months of the war his troops were in constant defensive battles.

post war period

After the Armistice of Compiègne , Haxthausen led his division back home through Lorraine , the Rhine Province and the Palatinate . There she was demobilized and he was transferred to the army officers on January 12, 1919. Haxthausen then submitted his departure, which was granted to him on May 19, 1919.

family

Haxthausen married on July 3, 1902 in Cologne with Marie Paula von Ploetz (* 1881), daughter of the Prussian general of the infantry Paul von Ploetz .

literature

• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2003, ISBN 3-7648-2516-2 , pp. 48-49.
• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume 1: A-L. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Berlin 1935, pp. 457–459.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Uradelige houses. The nobility born in Germany (primeval nobility). 1913. Fourteenth year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1912, p. 508.