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Dietrich Karl
Hermann Freiherr von Stein zu Nord und Ostheim
(11.02.1859 - 26.02.1928)
place of birth: Ansbach, Mittelfranken (Bavarian Franconia)
Königreich
Bayern: KG,
General der Artillerie
Bavarian baron and artillery officer
Hermann von Stein entered the Great War in command
of the 1st Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade. He also led a division and
a corps during the War and should not be confused with the German War
Minister by the same name. Hermann was the son of wealthy landowner
Bernhard Freiherr von Stein zu Nord und Ostheim and Luise née Freiin Löw von und zu Steinfurth.
In October 1885, Hermann was joined in marriage to Karoline von Heckel,
with whom he had one son.
Bavaria's 1st Field Artillery Brigade was initially engaged
in battle in the Lorraine region before moving on to northern France
with I. Bavarian Army Corps. After convalescing from a minor injury,
the recently promoted Generalleutnant von Stein took over command in
January 1915 of the newly-established 8th Bavarian Reserve Division.
Following skirmishes in the Vosges Mountains, the
reserve division was transferred to the Eastern Front, but then
returned to the Vosges in less than a month.
During the summer of 1916, the division was headquartered at
Maurepas from where they took part in the Battle of
the Somme. For his bravery and meritorious leadership in battle, he was
awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) of
Bavaria's highest military order - the Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden. He
was officially presented with the decoration on 27.02.1917 and later received the Kommandeur class of the
order. Freiherr von Stein was additionally awarded the Pour le Merite in
1917 along with the oakleaves.
General von Stein and his division returned
east in the fall of 1916, this time to the East Carpathians in order to
help fend off the Russians who had broken through in the Gyorgyo
Mountains. Remaining in this area until January 1917, von
Stein was then selected to command III. Bavarian Corps attached to
Sixth Army. His corps was sent in May to take part in the
Battle of Arras, although the action there had already
started to abate somewhat. In June 1917, he was in command of Gruppe
Ypern (Ypres Group) subordinate to Fourth Army, as they
fought the British in Flanders. From Flanders, General von Stein
traveled with the III. Bavarian to the Italian Front, where this unit
distinguished itself at Isonzo, as well as during
the pursuit to Tagliamento and the Piave.
Toward the end of 1917, the III. Bavarian
Corps returned to the Western Front to support Otto von Below's
Seventeenth Army on the River Scarpe and at Armentières.
Freiherr von Stein was promoted to General der Artillerie in May 1918
and continued to oversee his corps troops as they conducted an orderly
retreat toward the Antwerp-Maas Line in the late
summer months. Upon leading his corps back to Bavaria for
demobilization, Hermann Freiherr von Stein retired to his family estate
in Völkershausen, Lower Franconia.
Although Stein is registered as a Generalleutnant
in the April 1918 edition of the Bavarian Seniority List, he was promoted to
General der Kavallerie the following month.
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