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Hermann Gottfried Emil von Eichhorn
(13.02.1848 - 30.07.1918)
place of birth: Breslau, Niederschlesien (Wroclaw,
Poland)
Königreich
Preußen: Generalfeldmarschall
Imperial German Field Marshal Hermann von Eichhorn
served as commander of the Tenth Army throughout most of the Great
War. He began his military career as a Fahnenjunker in 2nd Foot
Guards Regiment, with whom he saw action in 1866 war with Austria, first
at Soor, then at Königinhof and Königgrätz.
Von Eichhorn also also served during the Franco-Prussian War of
1870-71, chiefly as battalion adjutant for the Foot-Guards. Prior to the
Great War, he served in several general staff positions,
eventually becoming the Inspector General for Seventh Army Inspectorate
- Saarbrücken - and earning in 1912 the Order
of the Black Eagle.
General von Eichhorn would have been
slated to command a field army as the sabers rattled throughout Europe,
but in May 1913 he was seriously injured in a horseback riding accident
in the vicinity of Metz. Although he was completely healthy by July 1914
mobilization, all high command positions had already been filled. He
thus whiled away the first few months of the war but finally got
approval from the Kaiser himself to temporarily command a Leib-Grenadier
regiment in January 1915, seeing heavy action at Soissons. Later
that month he was transferred to command Tenth Army on the Eastern
Front, where he was awarded the Pour le Merite in 1915 for the
storming of the Fortress of Kovno; he likewise successfully
commanded Landwehr and Landsturm troops during the winter
battle at Masurian Lakes. Von Eichhorn remained in
command of the Tenth until 1918, also concurrently serving as commander
of his own army group. For the final months of the war, he lead the
troops of Army Group Kiev as they occupied Ukraine and thus
received the moniker of "Uncrowned King of Ukraine."
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Leutnant - 1866 |
Hermann was the son of
Karl Friedrich von Eichhorn, a high-ranking politician in Minden, and
Julie Schelling. His grandfather Johann Albrecht von Eichhorn was also a
noted Prussian statesman and Prussian Cultural Minister. His grandfather
on his mother's side was the noted philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm
Schelling. Eichhorn's son Wolf served during the War as a Kapitänleutnant
in the German Navy. A highly educated and cultured field marshal, Feld
Marshal von Eichhorn was assassinated on 30 July 1918 by a left-wing
revolutionary in Kiev. He is buried next to GFM Alfred von Schlieffen at
the Invaliden Friedhof in Berlin.
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Generalfeldmarschall ...... |
18.12.1917 |
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Eisernes
Kreuz II .............. |
Deutsch-Französischer
Krieg 1870–1871 |
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Pour
le Mérite .................... |
18.08.1915
(Eichenlaub: 28.09.1915) |
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