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Albrecht
Maria Alexander Philipp Joseph
Herzog von Württemberg
(23.12.1865 - 29.10.1939)
place of birth: Wien, Österreich
(Vienna)
Königreich Württemberg: Herzog, GenInsp, OBH,
Generalfeldmarschall (Kav)
The Duke of Württemberg, Field Marshal Albrecht served during
the Great War as the commander of Germany's Fourth Army. The son of
Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria (1845-1927), he was one of
Germany's clearest and most independent military minds. As a royal, the
duke enjoyed the customary rapid climb up the command ladder. He was
promoted to colonel general in 1913, having complete charge of the
Württemberg Army, and during the Great War made the final step to field
marshal (August 1916).
Albrecht commanded Germany's Fourth Army at war's outbreak
when his forces were the first to occupy Luxembourg. Along with his
worthy Chief of Staff, Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen, he had
victories against the French at Neufchateau and Sedan. In 1915, his
troops also took part in the Race to the Sea where they later found
themselves entrenched at Ypres. Here his army launched the April 1915
attack known as Second Ypres, noted for the first use of poison gas
(phosgene) on the Western Front. Albrecht was awarded the
Pour le Merite in 1915 and was promoted to field marshal in 1916. Also
serving under him at this time was the young signals officer and future
WW2 chief of general staff, Heinz Guderian, as well as a young Bavarian
reservist by the name of Corporal Hitler. Albrecht concluded his
wartime service as commander of an army group on the fairly quiet
southern sector of the Western Front. After the armistice, Albrecht was
stripped of his royal inheritance but was able to live out his final
years in his castle at Altshausen, Oberschwaben. He died there on 31
October 1939. Albrecht, who had been the oldest son of Duke Philipp I
of Württemberg, was married to the Duchess Margaretha Sophie
of Austria.
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