Gustav Emil Bernhard Bodo von Kessel
(6.4.1846 - 28.4.1918)
place of birth:  Potsdam, Brandenburg


Prussian colonel general serving as adjutant for Kaiser Wilhelm II during the Great War. Gustav was born the son of Major General Emil von Kessel and his wife Julie von Canstein. Following studies at the Ritterakademie in Liegnitz, he entered the military in 1864 by joining as a grenadier with the 1st Foot Guard Regiment in his hometown of Potsdam. A couple years later found him engaged with his regiment in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, where he was wounded during the Battle of Königgrätz. He served as his uncle Colonel Bernhard von Kessel's adjutant while fighting the French in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, again receiving war wounds during the Battle of Gravelotte and St. Privat.

The inter-war period in Prussia provided von Kessel a fast track for his military career, with assignments in the Great General Staff and within Berlin's Guard Corps. Concurrent with his service time in the Guard Corps, von Kessel was brought in to the royal house as an adjutant to the future Kaiser Friedrich III. As aide-de-camp to Friedrich III during his 99-day reign, von Kessel remained in this posting as Friedrich was succeeded by Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1896, von Kessel was appointed the Kaiser's Adjutant General, remaining in the adjutancy until his death. From 1909 until 1918, General von Kessel headed the Supreme Command of Mark Brandenburg, simultaneously serving as Governor of Berlin. He was thus responsible for implementing the military measures needed to quell strikes and social unrest in Berlin in January 1918.
 
General von Kessel was married to Friedrike von Esebeck. They had one daughter, Elisabeth, who became a noted artist. Von Kessel died shortly before War's end on 28 May 1918 in Berlin.