Karl Friedrich Franz Victor Graf von Alten
(01.08.1833 - 24.09.1901)
place of birth:  Hannover
Königreich Preußen:  Div-Kdr,  Generaladjutant SM,  General der Cavallerie ch.

                            


General Karl von Alten was a Prussian divisional commander and adjutant general of Kaiser Wilhelm I.  Having enlisted with the Garde-Kürassier-Regiment, Karl was commissioned in 1854 as a Sekonde-Lieutenant. He was assigned duties at the Prussian Embassy in the Netherlands from 1862 to summer of 1865. Von Alten was transferred to 1. Garde-Ulanen-Regiment in 1866 and went to battle during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 (Deutscher Krieg). King Wilhelm I. selected him as an aide-de camp in 1868, and thus von Alten served in Wilhelm's headquarters during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 (Deutsch-Französischer Krieg). He was also present on 18 January 1871 at the Imperial Proclamation in Versailles (Kaiserproklamation).

Beginning in 1874, Graf von Alten was in command of first the 2. Garde-Ulanen-Regiment and then the elite Regiment der Garde du Corps. Following a short-lived command of 1. Garde-Cavallerie-Brigade, von Alten was promoted to Generalmajor on 13 September 1882 and elevated to General à la suite in His Majesty's court. With a promotion to General-Lieutenant on 8 March 1887, he took command of 16. Division headquarters, and was shortly thereafter transferred to take charge of Garde-Cavallerie-Division (15.11.1887 to 22.12.1889). Following Wilhelm I.'s death in March of 1888, General von Alten was retained as General à la suite by Wilhelm's successor Kaiser Friedrich III. In this role, he also served Military Governor of Fortress Ulm from December 1889 to May 1891, retiring from active duty (zur Disposition gestellt) on 24 November 1893. General Graf von Alten's brother-in-law was Wilhelm's Military Cabinet Chief Emil von Albedyll.

	General der Cavallerie	5.05.1891  ch.
	Erinnerungs-Kreuz	Deutscher Krieg 1866
	Eisernes Kreuz II	Deutsch-Französischer Krieg  1870–1871