Günther Horst
Sylvester Ritter und Edler von Oetinger
(31.12.1857 - 27.09.1928)
place of birth: Erfurt
Königreich
Preußen: KG,
Stellv KG, Generalleutnant
Imperial German general officer
Horst von Oetinger commanded an infantry division and IX. Army Corps
during the Great War. He was born in Erfurt as the
son of Prussian Generalmajor Günther
Ritter und Edler von Oetinger and his spouse Franziska nee Klien. Son
Horst enjoyed a pre-War carry as a staff officer, and just prior to
mobilization in 1912, was promoted to Generalmajor and given command on
55th Infantry Brigade. At the outset of the War, he was nevertheless
unable to to carry out field commander duties because of an illness,
and was thus temporarily assigned to XIV. Army Corps headquarters in
Karlsruhe.
Upon recovering, von Oetinger was sent to
Liege, Belgium as head of the Landwehr Division there. In late
September, OHL dispatched him the Aisne region to take charge of 20th
Infantry Division, engaged in trench warfare in support of General von
Emmich's X. Army Corps. On the occasion of Kaiser Wilhelm's birthday in
1915, von Oetinger received a field promotion to Generalleutnant. In
April, his division entrained for the Eastern Front and soon was
engaged in the Bug Offensive in Galicia, fighting
in support of 11th Field Army. At the end of that summer, General von
Oetinger fell ill with cholera and was carried to the field hospital in
Biala Piska.
Generalleutnant von Oetinger once again
recovered from sickness and was transferred to Jakobstadt (Lithuania)
to command the newly-established 109th Division, subordinate to Eighth
Army. Following a year of positional fighting, the 109th was
transferred south to Romania in October 1916 to fight in the Vulkan
Mountains with Erich von Falkenhayn's Ninth Army. The 109th enjoyed
success against the Romanians during the Battle of Argesch
in December 1916, as well as the Battle of the Putna
in January 1917. Von Oetinger then found himself back on the Western
Front, where he replaced General von Quast as commander of IX. Army
Corps. His troops were engaged along the Siegfriedstellung
(Hindenburg Line), at first in support of First Army, then subordinate
to Second Army. For the Spring Offensive of 1918, IX. Army Corps fought
under Eighteenth Army as they successfully broke through at St
Quentin - La Fere and pushed on to the River Somme.
These military achievements were recognized by the Kaiser as he
personally awarded Generalleutnant von Oetinger the Pour le Merite in
March 1918.
IX. Army Corps continued battling along the Hindenburg
Line during the summer of 1918, and in September were moved
to Lorraine region to fight in the trenches
alongside Tenth Army until War's end. After the Armistice signing in Compiegne,
Generalleutnant von Oetinger returned with his corps to Altona for
subsequent demobilization. He retired from active duty in 1919 and
received an honorary promotion to the rank of General der Infanterie.
Upon passing away in 1928, General von Oetinger was interred in the
town of Baden-Baden.
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Generalleutnant |
27.01.1915 |
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Pour
le Mérite |
26.03.1918 |
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