Friedrich von Scholtz

Friedrich von Scholtz
Friedrich von Scholtz
	;
Birth name	Boje Friedrich Nikolaus Scholtz
Birth date	24 March 1851
Place of birth	Flensburg, Duchy of Schleswig (German fief of Denmark)
Death date	30 April 1927 (aged 76)
Place of death	Ballenstedt, Harz, Free State of Anhalt, German Reich
Allegiance	Kingdom of Prussia; North German Confederation; German Empire
Service/branch	Prussian Army ; Imperial German Army
Years of service	1870–1919
Rank	General of the Artillery
Commands held	XX Corps; 8th Army; Armee-Abteilung Scholtz; Heeresgruppe Scholtz
Battles/wars	Franco-German War; World War I
Awards	Pour le Mérite

Boje Friedrich "Fritz" Nikolaus Scholtz, since 1913 von Scholtz (1851–1927), was a German officer of the Prussian Army and the Imperial German Army, finally General der Artillerie and Knight of the order Pour le Mérite in World War I. At the beginning of the Great War, he distinguished himself extraordinarily in the defense of East Prussia as commanding general of the XX. Armee-Korp subordinated to the 8th Army under General Paul von Hindenburg in the Battle of Tannenberg (1914).

Career (chronology)

The 1st heavy Battery Schleswig-Holsteinisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 9 near St. Hubert from 4 September to 13 October 1870 during the Franco-German War.

General der Artillerie von Scholtz

Rangliste 1914

Some of the leading German commanders at Tannenberg meeting in Königsberg in 1924.

1851 Born as the son of preacher and until Sunday school provost (Probst) Friedrich Scholtz (b. 7 October 1809 in Schleswig; d. 14 February 1886) and his wife Ingeburg Emilie, née Möller (b. 22 May 1818 in Flensburg; d. 24 May 1863 in Ballenstedt).
- Friedrich Scholtz was since 1845 pastor in Glücksburg, had to flee from the Danish police in 1851 (due to his "pro-German sermons") to Bernburg (Saale) in the Duchy of Anhalt, where he became curate, in the same year became pastor of the Evangelische Kirche Sankt Nikolai in Ballenstedt (also Anhalt), was promoted to chief preacher (Oberprediger) in 1855, served as court preacher (Schloßprediger) from 1875 to 1886 and served at the same time as a superintendent of the Protestant Church from 1875 to 1885.
1870 Young Friedrich volunteered while he was still at school at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, but had to take an emergency exam (Notabitur) to obtain a school-leaving certificate.
19.7.1870 Joined the 1st heavy (schwere) Battery/Schleswig-Holsteinisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 9 (Corps-Artillerie) in Rendsburg (founded on 27 September 1866) as an officer candidate and Kanonier during the war; Scholtz was assigned to the same artillery unit as Max von Gallwitz (de).
- later renamed Schleswigsches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 9 and finally Feldartillerie-Regiment „Generalfeldmarschall Graf Waldersee“ (Schleswigsches) Nr. 9

Between wars

1.10.1873 Student of the Artillerie- und Ingenieur-Schule in Berlin (Artillery and Engineers Academy)
10.6.1875 Returned to his regiment and served in the 1st and 2nd Battery
1.10.1879 Commanded for three years to the War Academay (Preußische Kriegsakademie) in Berlin
21.7.1882 After successful graduation, he returned to his regiment Nr. 9 and served with the 2nd mounted Battery with the Reitende Abteilung in Neumünster
1.4.1886 Great General Staff (Großer Generalstab) in Berlin (detached for duty from his regiment)
22.3.1887 XI. Armeekorps in Kassel (on Ludwig von Schlotheim's general staff)
19.11.1889 21. Infanterie-Division in Frankfurt am Main (on Oskar von Lindequist's general staff)
27.1.1891 Commander of the 6th Battery/Schleswigsches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 9
14.3.1893 XIV. Armeekorps - Karlsruhe (on Sigismund von Schlichting's general staff)
18.10.1896 Commander of the III. Abteilung/Westpreußisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 16 in Königsberg
25.3.1899 Chef des Generalstabes of the XVIII. Armeekorps in Frankfurt am Main (Oskar von Lindequist's Chief of Staff)
17.2.1903 Commander of the 25. Feldartillerie-Brigade (Großherzoglich Hessische) in Darmstadt with the uniform of the General Staff of the Army
23.2.1906 Großer Generalstab, Oberquartiermeister in Berlin (as such Deputy Chief of the Great General Staff)
5.3.1908 Commander of the 21. Infanterie-Division in Frankfurt am Main (replaced Georg Freiherr von Gayl)

WWI

1.10.1912 to 18.9.1915 Commanding General of the XX. Armee-Korps
- At the beginning of the First World War, the XX. Corps (37th and 41st Infantry Divisions) under General der Artillerie von Scholtz, part of the 8th Army on the Eastern Front in East Prussia. Before the Battle of Tannenberg began, General von Scholtz withdrew his corps across the Usdau-Mühlen line in front of the superior numbers of the advancing Imperial Russian 2nd Army. On August 25, von Scholtz had instructions to keep his front between Gilgenburg and Tannenberg on the defensive until the advance of the I. Reserve Corps and the XVII. army corps in the rear of the enemy. The XX Corps attracted the bulk of the Russian XXIII. and XV. Corps and could only withstand the pressure with difficulty. On the left, he was supported by General von Morgen's 3rd Reserve Division in the Hohenstein area. Before the German attack, General Hermann von François' 1st Army Corps positioned itself on the right wing in the Neidenburg area after the long train journey via Eylau. After the victory at Tannenberg, which was achieved by the end of August, the corps was also instrumental in the Battle of the Masurian Lakes, in which the Russian 1st Army was pushed back to the Angerapp. At the end of September 1914, the corps moved to East Silesia to the newly formed 9th Army and, after advancing via Czestochowa, took part in the Battle of the Vistula, which had to be broken off before Warsaw due to Russian counterattacks. In November 1914, the corps in the center of the 9th Army advanced from the Thorn area to the south-east, fought at Kutno in mid-November and at the end of November after advancing on Stryków in the Battle of Łódź. Here, too, the retreat had to be started as a result of strong Russian counterattacks. Already at the beginning of December 1914, the 9th Army launched a new approach to Łowicz, the XX. Corps followed this advance up to Rawka. At the beginning of 1915 the XX. Corps ("Scholtz" group) transferred back to the 8th Army in the Johannesburg area. It held the front against the enemy forces stationed on the Narew in the area north of Lomscha and had subordinated the 41st Infantry Division, the 1st Landwehr Division and the 3rd Reserve Division. The old Army High Command 8 was pulled out of the front, renamed the "Njemenarmee" and took over the leadership of the German forces in Kurland from Tilsit on May 26, 1915. On September 18, 1915, the XX. Corps (thus simultaneously the deputy 8th Army) was dissolved and the staff used to form the "Scholtz" Army Group, whose units advanced east towards Grodno in the autumn of 1915 and were liberated there by the 12th Army.
8.10.1915 Armeeabteilung Scholtz (formed from XX. AK, aka Armeeabteilung D)
2.1.1917 Supreme commander (Oberbefehlshaber) of the newly formed 8. Armee (aka Nieman-Armee)
22.4.1917 Heeresgruppe Scholtz (formed from Heeresgruppe Below)
14.1.1919 Retired

Promotions

Grabmal Friedrich von Scholtz 1851-1927 (Ballenstedt).jpg

19.7.1870 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
9.3.1871 Portepée-Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
9.3.1872 Sekondeleutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
22.3.1881 Premierleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
22.3.1887 Hauptmann (Captain)
31.5.1892 Major
17.12.1898 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
18.4.1901 Oberst (Colonel)
27.1.1905 Generalmajor
27.1.1908 Generalleutnant
13.9.1912 General der Artillerie

Awards, decorations and honours

Order of Albert the Bear, Knight 2nd Class with Swords (AAB3b⚔/AB3b⚔)
War Commemorative Medal of 1870–1871 (Kaiserliche Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71; KD70/71)
Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class
Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross I. Class (BZL3a/BZ3a) on 15 January 1895 as Major in the Generalstab des XIV. Armeekorps (General Staff)
Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
Prussian Order of the Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 3rd Class
Crown to his Red Eagle Order, 4th Class (as of Rangliste 1900)
Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow
Order of Philip the Magnanimous (Verdienstorden Philipps des Großmüthigen), Cross of Honour (HP3)
Commander's Cross of the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (JM3)
Prussian Order of the Crown, 2nd Class
Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves
Order of Philip the Magnanimous (Verdienstorden Philipps des Großmüthigen), Commander 1st Class (HP2a)
Star to his Prussian Order of the Crown, 2nd Class
Star to his Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves
Prussian Order of the Crown, 1st Class
Red Eagle Order, 1st Class with Oak Leaves
Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
Frederickscross of Anhalt (Friedrich-Kreuz) in July 1915
Order of Albert the Bear, Grand Cross with Swords (AAB1⚔/AB1⚔) in July 1915
Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz; LübH/LüH) on 11 December 1915
Bremen Hanseatic Cross (Bremisches Hanseatenkreuz; BH) on 25 January 1916
Grand Cross of the Saxon Albert Order (Albrechts-Orden) with the Golden Star with Swords (SA1mgSt⚔) on 28 October 1916
Grand Cross of the Austrian-Hungarian Imperial Order of Leopold with War Decoration or Kriegsdekoration (ÖL1.KD)
Knight of the Austrian-Hungarian Order of the Iron Crown, 1st Class with War Decoration or Kriegsdekoration (ÖEK1.KD)
Pour le Mérite (military) with Oak Leaves
- Pour le Mérite on 3 September 1915
- Oak Leaves on 1 June 1917

Honours

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Kaiser Wilhelm II's reign, Scholtz was raised to hereditary Prussian nobility on 16 June 1913.^[1]
Honorary doctorate (Dr. phil. h. c.) of the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena on 29 July 1918
The von Scholtz-Kaserne in Belgard, Pommern (Körliner Straße) was named after him.
The former Scholtz barracks (Scholtz-Kaserne) in Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein) were named after him:
- Wehrmacht (1937–1945)
- Bundeswehr (1957–1997)