Alexander Rudolf Hammer
(04.08.1862 - 18.01.1926)
place of birth:  Dresden
Königreich Sachsen:  Div-Kdr,  Generalleutnant


Generalleutnant Rudolf Hammer was a Royal Saxon infantry officer who served as a division commander during the Great War. At the outbreak of hostilities, Hammer was initially in command of a regiment subordinate to 4. Infanterie-Division Nr. 40. Within a couple weeks of having pushed in to Belgium, the Saxon troops met both military and civilian resistance in the town of Dinant. This confrontation led to Hammer and his soldiers participating in the now infamous Dinant Massacre, where the town was almost completely destroyed and a total of 674 Belgian citizens were killed. As they continued their push toward the French border, Hammer was shot through his lower jaw and had to return to Germany for convalescent leave.

After a three-month hospital stay, Hammer was promoted to Generalmajor and returned to the Western Front. He was then put in command of Saxony's 8. Infanterie-Brigade Nr. 89 and remained engaged along the front lines in northern France for the subsequent year and a half. Hammer briefly headed up 3. Infanterie-Division Nr. 32 and then replaced Krug von Nidda as commander of 2. Infanterie-Division Nr. 24. His troops were engaged in the 1916 Battle of the Somme and were then entrenched in Flanders. His outstanding leadership while engaged on the front lines lead to his being awarded in 1917 Germany's highest military honor, the Pour le Merite.

For the final year of the War, Hammer's division was subordinate to Otto von Below's newly-formed 17. Armee-Oberkommando. For his exemplary leadership during the so-named Kaiserschlacht (German Spring Offensive), he was awarded the Kommandeurkreuz I. Klasse (Komtur I) of the Militär-St. Heinrich-Orden. He was promoted to Generalleutnant June 1918 conferring him the title of Exzellenz (Excellency.) His division thereafter remained entrenched on the Western Front until the Armistice was signed in November 1918. Hammer was then charged with marching his troops back to their homeland for demobilization, followed by his retiring from active duty in January 1919.

	Generalleutnant	17.06.1918
	Pour le Mérite	24.11.1917
	Militär-St. Heinrich	15.10.1914  Ritter  (Kmdr II:  31.08.1916;  Kmdr I:  28.03.1918)