Otto Hermann Theodor von der Decken
(17.08.1858 - 28.07.1937)
place of birth:  Verden, Provinz Hannover
Königreich Sachsen:  Div-Kdr,  Generalleutnant  (Kav)


Cavalry officer Otto von der Decken served as a Royal Saxon division commander during the Great War. Otto was born into a military family in the province of Hanover, father Friedrich having served as a regimental commander. After time in the Kadettenkorps, Otto launched his military career in 1879 as a soldier in his father's Prussian Hussar regiment in Aschersleben. A few years later, as a Sekonde-Lieutenant, Otto officially transferred to a Royal Saxon Uhlan regiment.

Generalmajor von der Decken was in command of 23. Kavallerie-Brigade as Imperial Germany mobilized for the War. After initial deployment to the Alsace-Lorraine area, his brigade was transferred to East Prussia, where they were engaged at the Battle of Masurian Lakes. The brigade then pushed further east toward Warsaw as part of Germany's 9. Armee-Oberkommando. For his exemplary leadership as a brigade commander during the campaign to destroy Russian lines of communication and secure the Warsaw area, Generalmajor von der Decken was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) of Saxony's highest military order - the Militär-St. Heinrich-Orden. He then received command of 8. Kavallerie-Division, with his troops remaining engaged on the Eastern Front. For these efforts, Saxon King Friedrich August III. personally presented Generalmajor von der Decken with the Kommandeurkreuz II. Klasse of the Militär-St. Heinrich-Orden.