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Josias Oskar von Heeringen
(09.05.1850 - 09.10.1926)
place of birth: Kassel, Nordhessen (Hesse)
Königreich
Preußen: Kriegsminister, GenInsp, OBH,
Generaloberst
Generaloberst Josias von Heeringen
served as Prussia's Minister of War from 1909 to 1913, where he became
a bitter rival of Colonel Ludendorff at the general staff over the
pre-war Army buildup. Prior to World War One, he also served as
inspector general of the Prussian Second Army. At war's outbreak von Heeringen commanded the
Seventh Army in Lorraine where he won the Pour le Merite
for leading successful operations
during the battle of Mülhausen and for driving the French forces from Alsace. He also received
the Oak leaves a year later on 28 August 1916. Serving under von
Heeringen during the Battle for the Frontiers
was a young officer cadet and future WW2 field marshal, Friedrich von
Paulus. Von Heeringen was relieved of his command in August 1916 and
then appointed commander of Germany's Coastal Defense Forces
until war's end. After the war he devoted himself to the care of war
veterans and was president of the Kyfthaeuser Association.
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Portepee-Fähnrich
1870 |
The German Empire's
future colonel general was born in the city of Kassel to the
family of Karoline von Starckloff and Josias Sr., the major-domo
serving Hesse's last electoral prince (Kurfürst).
In 1867, after having attended military academies in Kassel and Berlin,
young Josias Jr. joined the 80th Infantry Regiment in Wiesbaden as a
Fähnrich.
General von Heeringen later served as a
lieutenant during the Franco-Prussian War of
1870-71. During the engagement at Wörth,
he was severely wounded by a shot to the head and his arm, later
receiving the Iron Cross for personal bravery. He later served in
various peace-time infantry regiments, married his sweetheart Augusta
von Dewall, and ended up in the Great General Staff. His sons Walther
and Kurt also served as junior infantry officers during World War One.
Following his service during the Great War, Josias von Heeringen died
on 9 October 1926 and was buried in the Invaliden Friedhof in Berlin.
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