Otto Ritter von Schmidt
(21.07.1856 - 21.02.1929)
place of birth:  Ingolstadt, Bayern
Königreich Bayern:  Komdt Munich, Div-Kdr, General der Kavallerie z.D.


Royal Bavarian general Otto von Schmidt was cavalry officer who commanded a Landwehr Division for the latter half of the Great War. His father, General der Infanterie Otto von Schmidt, took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, for which he received Bavaria's prestigious Militär-Max-Joseph-Order. Son Otto entered military service in 1874 and worked his way up to brigade-level commander. For his meritorious leadership during peacetime, he was awarded in 1904 the Ritter (Knight class) of the Bavarian crown's order of merit - the Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone. The official presentation of the decoration elevated him into Bavarian nobility with the title of "Ritter von Schmidt." Prior to World War One, he was assigned to head up the military government of Munich.

Although retired from active duty in 1913, General von Schmidt was reactivated at War's outbreak in August 1914 to once again oversee the Kommandantur in Munich. In early 1915, he was transferred to a line unit and commanded Bavaria's 6th Landwehr Division in France's Vosges Mountains. In the summer of 1915, despite being wounded during especially heavy engagements, Ritter von Schmidt and his troops were able to prevent the French from breaking through to the city of Colmar. For his bravery and meritorious leadership in battle, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) of Bavaria's highest military order - the Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden, just as his father had been in 1871. He was officially presented with the decoration on 28.01.1916.

Although his wounds eventually forced him into convalescent leave, Schmidt returned to the Western Front to serve as acting commander of Wilhelm Herzog von Urach's Generalkommando zbV Nr. 64.  Soon thereafter, with the Armistice of Compiègne, General von Schmidt was charged with heading up the withdrawal of German troops from the Alsace-Lothringen region.

	General der Kavallerie	17.03.1913  ch.
	Verdst-Ord Bayr-Krone	04.03.1904  Ritter
	Militär-Max-Joseph	20.07.1915  Ritter