| The Prussian Machine - Generals |
Duke Albrecht von
Württemberg
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(1865-1939) place of birth: Vienna (Austria) Generalfeldmarschall: 1 August 1916 The Duke of Württemberg, son of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria (1845-1927), was one of Germany's clearest and most independent military minds. As a royal, the duke enjoyed the customary rapid climb up the command ladder. He was promoted to colonel general in 1913, having complete charge of the Württemberg Army, and during the Great War made the final step to field marshal (August 1916). Albrecht commanded Germany's Fourth Army at war's outbreak when his forces were the first to occupy Luxembourg. Along with his worthy Chief of Staff, Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen, he had victories against the French at Neufchateau and Sedan. In 1915, his troops also took part in the Race to the Sea where they later found themselves entrenched at Ypres. Here his army launched the April 1915 attack known as Second Ypres, noted for the first use of poison gas (phosgene) on the Western Front. Albrecht was awarded the Pour le Merite in 1915 and was promoted to field marshal in 1916. Also serving under him at this time was the young signals officer and future WW2 chief of general staff, Heinz Guderian, as well as a young Bavarian reservist by the name of Corporal Hitler. Albrecht concluded his wartime service as commander of an army group on the fairly quiet southern sector of the Western Front. After the armistice, Albrecht was stripped of his royal inheritance but was able to live out his final years in his castle at Altshausen, Oberschwaben. He died there on 31 October 1939. Albrecht, who had been the oldest son of Duke Philipp I of Württemberg, was married to the Duchess Margaretha Sophie of Austria. |
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