Karl von Haenisch

Karl Eduard von Hänisch
(4.1.1829 - 5.9.1908)
place of birth: Ratibor, Oberschlesien (Upper Silesia)

Prussian cavalry general von Hänisch entered the military service in 1847 with the 2nd Uhlan Regiment in Gleiwitz. He attained the rank of Rittmeister by the time Prussia became involved in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, where he functioned as adjutant for the 10th Infantry Division. Thereafter, von Hänisch also served on the Great General Staff and in the War Ministry.

Von Hänisch was attached to the Prussian War Minister's mobile staff at the outset of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, and thus participated in battles at Gravelotte, Beaumont, and Sedan, as well as in the Siege of Paris. After the war, he followed General Verdy du Vernois as the Director of the General War Department (Allgemeines Kriegsdepartements) in the War Ministry, a posting he held from 1883 to 1888. He later commanded a cavalry division and was then assigned to lead the Fourth Army Corps, a command he held until his retirement from active duty in 1897. General von Hänisch died in September 1908 and was buried in Berlin-Charlottenburg.