Eberhard Alfred Konrad Karl von Hofacker  
(1861 - 1928)
place of birth:  Hemmingen  (Württemberg)


Lieutenant general who led Generalkommando 51 near war's end. Mobilization day, August 1914 found him in command of the 45th Cavalry Brigade, attached to 6th Cavalry Division (Lt. General Egon Graf von Schmettow) and serving with Crown Prince Wilhelm's Fifth Army. After a brief illness, von Hofacker was transferred to office of the Quartermaster at OHL-Headquarters in Charleville-Mezieres.

Thereafter, General von Hofacker was sent back into the field as a commander of various divisional contingents. While in command of the 22nd Reserve Infantry Division, von Hofacker was received the Pour le Merite on 26 April 1917.  His greatest achievement was to play a major role in the success of the Caporetto Offensive, October 1917.  Von Hofacker's division was attached to Otto von Below's Fourteenth Army situated on the upper Isonzo River.  A week after this brilliant breakthrough, von Hofacker transferred to lead Generalkommando 51, to replaced General Albert von Berrer who had been killed in a surprise attack by Italian bicycle troops near Udine.  Von Hofacker's successes in Italy were rewarded by the Oak Leaves addition to his Pour le Merite. Following the dreaded "Black Day" of the German Army, von Hofacker was put on inactive reserve status (August 1918) since there was nothing left of his corps to command.

General von Hofacker's  son Caesar was a lieutenant colonel in the Wehrmacht who was a cousin and friend of Graf von Stauffenberg. Caesar was later implicated in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and, as a result, was executed at Berlin-Plötzensee on 20 December 1944.