Erich Gustav Wilhelm Theodor von Gündell
(13.04.1854 - 23.121924)
place of birth:  Goslar, Niedersachsen
Königreich Preußen:  OBH,  General der Infanterie z.D.


Imperial German General von Gündell was brought out of retirement when the Great War began in order to command V. Reserve-Korps. Gündell launched his career as a soldier in 1874 when he joined Lower Saxony's Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 94. After graduating from the Kriegsakademie (War College) in 1884, he spent much of the pre-War years in various positions with the General Staff of the Army.

In 1900, he deployed to China for a year to function as General von Lessel's chief of staff of the Ostasiatisches Expeditionskorps, Germany's contingent of 11,000 troops dispatched in response to the Boxer Rebellion. Gündell returned to Germany to command a regiment and then three years as Senior Quartermaster a General Staff headquarters. In this capacity, he was sent in 1907 as Imperial Germany's military delegate to the Second Hague Peace Conference, where he submitted an amendment recognizing the rights of civilians in occupied countries. Having been promoted to Generalleutnant, von Gündell commanded 20. Infanterie-Division headquartered in Hannover, and was then assigned in 1913 as director of the Prussian War College, replacing Kurt von Manteuffel. He only remained a few months in this position, however, and opted to retire from active duty as a brevetted General der Infanterie.

Gündell's retirement was short-lived as he was immediately reactivated during Germany's August 1914 mobilization. He headed up V. Reserve-Korps for the first two years of the War, attached to Crown Prince Wilhelm's 5. Armee and fighting in the trenches of the Western Front and especially in the Verdun region. For his distinguished service and leadership during this campaign General von Gündell was decorated in 1916 with the highest Royal Prussian order of bravery, the Pour le Mérite. He subsequently commanded Armee-Abteilung "B" during the last two years of the war. In October 1918, Gündell was sent to Supreme Command headquarters in Spa, Belgium, in order to head up Germany's ceasefire negotiations. Prinz Maximilian von Baden decided, however, that it would be preferable to have a civilian head sign the Armistice and dispatched State Secretary Matthias Erzberger to replace General von Gündell.

"A belligerent is also forbidden to force local nationals of the adverse party to be involved in the operations of war directed against their country, even if they served before war's outbreak." Major General Erich von Gündell * Second Hague Peace Conference - 1907

	General der Infanterie	02.09.1914
	China-Denkmünze	Ostasiatisches Expeditionskorps  1900-01
	Pour le Mérite	28.08.1916