|
Hans Hartwig von
Beseler
(27.04.1850 - 20.12.1921)
place of birth: Greifswald, Pommern (Pomerania)
Königreich Preußen: OBH,
Generaloberst
Prussian
Generaloberst Hans von Beseler was born into the family of
Georg Beseler, a well-known law instructor. He served during the Franco-Prussian
War as a lieutenant in a combat engineering company. When
Beseler later became the Deputy Chief of the Great General Staff
(1899), he was regarded as von Schlieffen's heir apparent. But when
that post went instead to von Moltke, he retired in 1911. He entered
the Prussian House of Lords in 1912, but as war broke out, was
reactivated to command III. Reserve Corps. Beseler is best known for
commanding the occupational forces which captured the Fortress
of Antwerp, a feat which earned him the Pour le
Merite.
With the III. Reserves transferring
to the Eastern Front in November 1914 under Gallwitz, Beseler found
himself in command of the army which captured and occupied the Fortress
of Modlin (Nowo Georgiewsk), taking over 85,000 Russian
prisoners. Falkenhayn then appointed him Governor General of Poland at
Warsaw (1915). In the fall of 1916, Beseler unrealistically promised
Ludendorff that Poland could provide the German Army with five extra
divisions by the spring of 1917. After promotion to colonel general in
late 1918, Beseler committed the unpardonable act of leaving his
command without a farewell to his troops. He died and was buried three
years later at Neubabelsberg near Potsdam, 20 December 1921. He and his
wife Clara Cornelius had three daughters. Additionally, Beseler's uncle
Wilhelm Hartwig von Beseler was president of the provisional government
of Schleswig-Holstein (1848).
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Generaloberst |
27.01.1918 |
|
|
Eisernes
Kreuz II |
Deutsch-Französischer
Krieg 1870–1871 |
|
|
Pour
le Mérite |
10.10.1914 (Eichenlaub:
20.08.1915) |
|
