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Friedrich
Bertram Sixt von Armin
(27.11.1851 - 30.09.1936)
place of birth: Wetzlar, Hessen
Königreich
Preußen: OBH,
General der Infanterie
Friedrich Sixt von Armin served
during the Great War as a Imperial German field
army commander. Upon mobilization he was in command of the IV Army
Corps from Magdeburg, and later the Fourth Army. Friedrich enlisted in
a Guards regiment as a Fahnenjunker in 1870. The Franco-
Prussian War began shortly thereafter, with young Friedrich
receiving serious wounds during the Battle for Saint-Privat.
He was later awarded the Iron Cross II and quickly promoted to
Leutnant. After hostilities ceased, Sixt continued his military service
in a wide variety of assignments, both as troop commander and as a
general staff officer.
By 1911, Sixt von Armin had risen to corps
level commander, replacing von Hindenburg as head of IV. Army Corps in
Magdeburg. He commanded this corps until early 1917. At mobilization,
his troops were attached to Kluck's First Army on the Western Front and
thus saw plenty of action during the First Battle of the Marne.
They also of course became bogged down in the subsequent years of
trench warfare, seeing action at Arras, Loretto
Heights, La Bassee, and on the Somme.
For his leadership in these engagements, Sixt von Armin received the Pour
le Merite. In 1917, he replaced Duke Albrecht as leader of
the Fourth Army in Flanders, which he commanded
until war's end. He later received the Order of the Black
Eagle (Schwarzer Adler-Orden), Prussia's highest honor for chivalry, along
with oak leaves for his Blue
Max award.
Following
the Armistice, Sixt von Armin continued his military service
as commander of
Heeresgruppe A, which he led back to the homeland. He retired after
demobilization in early 1919 and spent the remainder of his years in
Magdeburg.
He was often appeared as the guest of honor or keynote speaker at
post-War
social events. His hometown of Wetzlar made him an honorary citizen and
still
maintains a Sixt-von-Armin-Straße,
but the barracks there which had been named in his honor were closed in
1992.
During World War Two, Sixt's son Hans-Heinrich served as a
Generalleutnant for
Wehrmacht and was taken prisoner by the Soviets during the Battle
of
Stalingrad, 1942. General der Infanterie Friedrich Sixt von
Armin died in Magdeburg on 30 September 1936.
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