Alfred von Larisch
(20.10.1856 - 20.03.1952)
place of birth:  Danzig  (Gdansk, Pol)
Königreich Preußen:  KG-Genkdo,  General der Infanterie z.D.


Imperial German general officer Alfred von Larisch commanded Generalkommando 54 during the Great War. Alfred was born into an aristocratic West Prussian family with its roots in Upper Silesian, and his father Karl served in the Prussian military at the rank of General der Kavallerie. Young Alfred launched his soldiering career in 1874 as he was commissioned and joined Infantry Regiment Nr.93 in Dessau. He also saw duty with elite Guards, ultimately commanding 4th Foot Guards Regiment in Berlin. After a four-year stint as Inspector General of Prussia's Jäger und Schützen troops, von Larisch briefly commanded 1st Guards Infantry Division before retiring from active duty in 1912.

Two months after Germany mobilized for the Great War, Generalleutnant von Larisch was recalled to command 10th Division, which was engaged on the Western Front in support of Armee-Abteilung Strantz. He was then transferred to the Pripyat Marshes area on the Eastern Front as the leader of 81st Reserve Division. General von Larisch returned to the Western Front in April 1916 as commander of Guard-Ersatz Division, again under the overall command of General von Strantz. Larisch's troops were engaged at Verdun in 1916, then in Champagne and the Aisne River area. July 1917 had General von Larisch returning to the Eastern Theater with his soldiers to fight in the Riga area under 8th Army commander General von Hutier. After taking Riga, the division was sent back to Verdun before year's end. 

In early 1918, von Larisch was chosen to head up Generalkommando Nr. 54 located at Amiens. Having been promoted to General der Infanterie, he lead his soldiers in defending the region north of the River Somme during the large-scale Allied Offensive. His exemplary leadership that summer was cause for being awarded the Pour le Merite. From that point, his divisions remained on the defensive until the Armistice on 11 November, at which point von Larisch lead the troops back to Germany for demobilization. The general continued living until 1952, when he passed away in Obernkirchen at the age of 95.

	General der Infanterie	25.06.1918
	Pour le Mérite	25.08.1918