Wenzel von Wurm

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Wurm as major general

Wenzel Wurm , from 1917 Freiherr von Wurm (born February 27, 1859 in Karolinenthal, today as Karlín a district of Prague ; † March 21, 1921 in Vienna ) was Colonel General of the Austro-Hungarian Army .

family

Wurm was the son of a first lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian army. On May 1, 1886, he married Irene Mezner from Prague, with whom he had two daughters. However, one of the two died as a toddler. When Irene died in 1895, he took Maria Natieska to his second wife, who in turn gave birth to a daughter.

Life

Education and career before the war

After secondary school, Wurm entered the genius department of the Technical Military Academy in Vienna in 1875 , which he graduated with excellent success. After graduation, on April 24, 1879, he was assigned to the 1st Genier Regiment as a lieutenant . He then attended the war school in Vienna from 1883 to 1885 and was then transferred as a first lieutenant to the general staff . During his service with the 58th and 24th Infantry Brigades , he was promoted to captain in the general staff. On November 1, 1894, Wurm was promoted to major , and after a brief service with the 75th Infantry Regiment , he became Chief of the General Staff of the 14th Infantry Division in Pressburg . In March 1895 he was transferred to the 5th Department of the War Ministry, where he served for two years. To lieutenant colonel , he was on May 1st. Promoted in 1897 and now served in the troop service with the 76th Infantry Regiment. In 1900 he returned to Pressburg as Chief of the General Staff of the V Corps, and on November 1 of the same year he rose to the rank of Colonel . Together with his promotion to major general on November 1, 1906, he was given command of the 37th Infantry Brigade in Pilsen . In February 1910 he became the commander of the 19th Infantry Division in Pilsen, followed by promotion to Lieutenant Field Marshal on November 1st. He remained in this post until February 1914, when he was in command of the XVI. Corps in Ragusa (now Dubrovnik ).

First World War

180th doctorate of the Military Maria Theresa Order on August 17, 1917 in the Villa Wartholz (in the middle, with a view of the Kaiser, Wenzel von Wurm)

When the First World War began, Wurm was promoted to Feldzeugmeister on August 1, 1914 (November 7, 1914) and was given command of the XVI. Corps, which was part of the 6th Army in the Serbian theater of war. During the first offensive in August 1914 his troops marched through the Sanjak to Uvac, then crossed the Drina again in September after the general retreat and captured a strategically very important position at Jagodna, which they also held against strong Serb counter-attacks. In November a new offensive against Serbia was launched on a broad front, in which Wurm's corps took the city of Valjevo . Despite the poor supply situation (due to bad weather and the lack of usable roads) of the Austro-Hungarian armies , Wurm was the only high-ranking commander to call for further attacks, as his commanding general Feldzeugmeister Potiorek also needed countable successes quickly. However, after Serbian reserves were brought to the front, the entire offensive collapsed and led to a bloody and hasty retreat. As a result of this defeat, Potiorek resigned his command as he took on all the responsibility. Wurm himself gained the reputation of being a ruthless commander towards his troops, who was later accused of poor leadership.

Colonel General Wurm as commander of the 1st Isonzo Army
Tomb of Wenzel von Wurm in the Vienna Central Cemetery

When Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23, 1915, the XVI. Wurm Corps in Syrmia . He was given the task of bringing the Italian forces to a standstill as quickly as possible. He set up his troops west of Gorizia along the Isonzo , and not as ordered in the higher areas further to the east. This was the basis for the following four successful defensive battles of the Austro-Hungarian Army and brought the Feldzeugmeister several honors and awards, including the title of a Privy Council on March 16, 1916.

In the summer of 1917 he took command of the 4th Army in Volhynia, followed by his promotion to Colonel General on August 1, 1917 (August 10, 1917). For his services in the Italian theater of war, he was finally awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa awarded, which he received together with 24 other carriers on the occasion of the 180th doctorate of the Maria-Theresia-Order on August 17, 1917 by Emperor Karl in the Villa Wartholz . Due to the statutes of the order, Wurm was also raised to the baron status.

On August 23, 1917, he was given a new task again, when he was deployed as commander of the 1st Isonzo Army in the Italian theater of war . After the successful breakthrough at Flitsch - Tolmein , his troops crossed the Isonzo and reached the lower Piave . Finally, in June 1918, Wurm and his troops took part in the last great Austro-Hungarian offensive against Italy. After some troops were able to cross the Piave, one still had to retreat to the starting positions.

On December 1, 1918, Colonel General von Wurm retired and died in Vienna in 1921. His honorary grave is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery (Gate 2, Group 48B, Row 3, No. 16).

Awards

Web links

Commons : Wenzel Wurm  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner: The death of the double eagle . Special edition. Verlag Styria, Graz, Vienna, Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-222-12454-X , p. 580.
  2. ↑ Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: The KK or KuK Generalität 1816–1918 ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Austrian State Archives, Vienna 2007, p. 206 (PDF). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oesta.gv.at
  3. ↑ https://www.friedhoefewien.at/media/download/2020/Wiener%20Zentral_334730.pdf , accessed on June 21, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Wurm, Wenzel von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wurm, Wenzel Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian colonel general in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Karolinenthal
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1921
Place of death Vienna