Karl Freiherr von Plettenberg  
(18.12.1852 - 10.02.1938)
place of birth:  Neuhaus bei Paderborn, Westfalen  (Westphalia)
Königreich Preußen:  KG,  Generaladjutant SM,  General der Infanterie


German baron and Imperial general officer Karl von Plettenberg commanded the elite Guard Corps during the first two years of the Great War. He also served as Kaiser Wilhelm II's Adjutant General. Karl was a descendant of the aristocratic Plettenberg family out of Sauerland, with one of his ancestors having received the Pour le Merite honor from King Frederick the Great. Karl's mother was the former Minnette von der Borch, and his father Eugen served as a Prussian cavalry officer. After seeing action as a young lieutenant during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Karl was selected in 1898 to serve for three years as an aide-de-camp in Kaiser Wilhelm II's entourage. In 1913, he was chosen to command the elite Garde-Korps in Berlin, and simultaneously functioned as an Adjutant General to His Majesty.

At the outbreak of the Great War, von Plettenberg's guards marched into Belgium as a subordinate corps to General von Bülow's 2. Armee-Oberkommando. Von Plettenberg was awarded the Pour le Merite in 1915, but in the wake of his criticism of OHL's execution of the War on the Western Front, he was relieved of his post in January 1917. He nevertheless remained attached to the Kaiser's court as Adjutant General. One of General von Plettenberg's soldiers was his son Karl-Wilhelm, who serving as a lieutenant was killed in action in August 1914 during the Battle of St Quentin. Another son Kurt was arrested for participating in the 20 July 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler. To avoid forced testimony against other co-conspirators, he committed suicide in March 1945 while being detained at the Gestapo's house prison in Berlin. General der Infanterie Karl von Plettenberg died on 10 February 1938 at Bückeberg where the street Plettenbergstraße was named after him.

 
 
General der Infanterie  12.04.1910

Eisernes Kreuz II  Deutsch-Französischer Krieg  1870–1871

Pour le Mérite  14.05.1915
Schwarzer Adler 24.01.1917
 
 
 

  
  
Curriculum Vitae
   
02.08.1870 Portepée-Fähnrich
02.08.1870 5. Westfälisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 53 - Münster
19.07.1870 Deutsch-Französischer Krieg von 1870–1871  (Combatant in Franco-Prussian War)
18.12.1870 Sekonde-Lieutenant
10.05.1871 5. Westfälisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 53 - Münster  (Franco-Prussian War ends)
16.06.1871 das Königlich Preußische Eiserne Kreuz 1870/71 - 2. Klasse
16.06.1871 Kaiserlich-Deutsche Kriegsdenkmünze für die Feldzüge 1870–71 aus Bronze
01.10.1875 Preußische Kriegsakademie - Berlin  (Student at Royal Prussian War College)
23.10.1877 1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß - Potsdam  (transfer while at War College)
27.07.1878 1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß - Potsdam  (return from War College)
12.04.1879 Premier-Lieutenant
03.05.1884 Hauptmann  (ohne Patent)
03.05.1884 1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß - Potsdam  (Coy Cdr)
30.05.1884 Hauptmann  (Patent)
24.03.1890 Major 
24.03.1890 Westfälisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 7 - Bückeburg  (aggregiert = Battalion asset)
18.11.1890 Westfälisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 7 - Bückeburg  (Cdr)
16.06.1894 Garde-Jäger-Bataillon - Potsdam  (Cdr)
16.06.1896 Oberst-Lieutenant
15.06.1898 1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß - Potsdam  (provisional Cdr)
01.01.1899 Oberst-Lieutenant  =  Oberstleutnant
27.01.1899 Oberst
27.01.1899 1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß - Potsdam  (Cdr, concurrent with below)
02.05.1899 Flügeladjutant SM des Kaiser und König  (Aide-de-Camp in HM King Wilhelm II's court)
22.03.1902 Inspektion der Jäger und Schützen - Berlin  (Inspector General Jäger und Schützen, concurrent with below)
22.03.1902 Reitendes Feldjäger-Korps - Berlin  (provisional Cdr Mounted Military Police)
22.04.1902 Generalmajor
20.03.1906 Generalleutnant  =  Exzellenz
24.09.1906 22. Infanterie-Division - Kassel  (Cdr, replaced Heeringen)
12.04.1910 General der Infanterie
12.04.1910 IX. Armee-Korps - Altona  (Cdr, replaced Frh von Vietinghoff-Scheel)
01.03.1913 Garde-Korps - Berlin  (Cdr, replaced Loewenfeld and concurrent with below)
16.06.1913 Generaladjutant SM des Kaiser und Königs  (Adjutant General in HM Wilhelm II's court)
   
Great War
   
02.08.1914 Garde-Korps  (Cdr, concurrent with below)
02.08.1914 Generaladjutant SM des Kaiser und Königs  (Adjutant General in HM Wilhelm II's court)
14.05.1915 Orden Pour le Mérite
27.01.1916 à la suite: 1.Garde-Regiment zu Fuß
24.01.1917 Königlich Preußischer Schwarzer Adler-Orden
24.01.1917 Königlich Preußischer Roter Adler-Orden - Großkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Krone und Schwertern
27.01.1917 Offizier von der Armee  (Officer of the Army)
06.02.1917 zur Disposition gestellt
11.11.1918 Waffenstillstand von Compiègne (Armistice)
   
   
 

06.05.1914
 

 

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