Carl Adolf Maximilian Hoffmann  
(25.1.1869 - 8.6.1927)
place of birth:  Homberg an der Efze, Hessen  (Hesse)


Lieutenant general who was possibly Germany's most brilliant military mind in the general staff. As a Lieutenant Colonel on the Eastern Front at war's outbreak, he served as the Eighth Army's chief operations officer, helping plan the Tannenberg encirclement and Battle of Masurian Lakes. He was promoted to Colonel in 1916 and served as the CINC Eastern Forces' Chief of General Staff. 

Hoffmann played a key role in halting the 1916 Brusilov Offensive and later negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. He was promoted to Major General in 1917, by which time he was de facto commander of the Eastern Front Army under the figurehead Prince Leopold von Bayern. Nicknamed "der Lange" (he was 6'4"), Hoffmann has been recognized by many (including himself) as the unaccredited genius behind the Hindenburg/ Ludendorff duo, and he sharply criticized both famous commanders in his post-war memoirs. He died on 8 July 1927 in Bad Reichenhall, Oberbayern.