Noted Prussian general and one of Germany's most prominent military writers. A Great General Staff officer who had a significant voice within Falkenhayn's inner circle, Freytag served at War's outset as Prussian military representative at Austro-Hungarian Headquarters.

When Falkenhayn fell out of favor in mid-1916, his popular replacement von Hindenburg brought his deputy Erich Ludendorff to headquarters to serve in the newly created position of First General Quartiermeister. Freytag-Loringhoven was then moved into a new posting as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, a job he retained until the armistice.

Freiherr von Freytag-Loringhoven was the son of diplomat within the Russian service. During the Great War, he received the Order Pour le Merite for Arts and Sciences for his writings on military science. His sister Mathilde was a renowned artist, while his son Leopold was married to avant-garde dadaist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. The general died in Weimar in October 1924.