Eckhard von Geyso

Eckhard von Geyso
Birth date	25 May 1891
Place of birth	Charlottenburg near Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	16 July 1982 (aged 91)
Place of death	West Berlin
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1910–1945
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment 121 Infanterie-Regiment 489 709. Infanterie-Division Division Nr. 193
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Poland Campaign Battle of France Balkans Campaign Operation Barbarossa Defence of the Reich (Reichsverteidigung)
Awards	Iron Cross Princely House Order of Hohenzollern German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1935 Marianne von Kahlden

Eckhard Alfred Constantin von Geyso (25 May 1891 – 16 July 1982) was a German officer, finally Major General and divisional commander in World War II. As of 9 May 1945, he was a POW of the Soviets and was repatriated on 8 October 1955 as one of the last German captives.

Life

Eckhard received his education at home and then attended the humanistic Gymnasium until Unterprima (one year before achieving his general Abitur) in Jauer (Lower Silesia) learning French, Latin and Greek. On 18 June 1910, he joined the Queen Elisabeth Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 3 in Berlin (Charlottenburg) as a "two-year volunteer with the prospect of promotion". He was sworn-in on 2 July 1910. He soon excelled as an officer candidate, he had found a home for his career goals. After attending war school, he was commissioned in November 1911. In 1914, at the beginning of WWI, he went into the field with his regiment. On 18 January 1915, he was transferred to the Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 262 where he was appointed adjutant of the I. Battalion on 3 September 1916 and regimental adjutant on 20 February 1917. On 8 February 1918, he was appointed leader of the 10th Company, on 3 March 1918, he was commanded to the General Command XIV Army Corps and was appointed orderly officer.

On 19 April 1919, he was transferred to the Volunteer Grenadier Regiment "King Wilhelm I" (2nd West Prussian) No. 7 with the Grenzschutz Ost in Upper Silesia. On 9 July 1919, he joined the Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 57 in Görlitz and was newly sworn-in on 17 November 1919. On 5 January 1920, he was commanded to the Infantry Shooting School in Wünsdorf for one month. On 20 February 1920, he was transferred to the Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment as a company officer. On 1 January 1921, he was appointed company officer in the 8th (Machine Gun) Company/8. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Liegnitz. He later served in the 6th Company in Glogau, was appointed regimental adjutant in Frankfurt an der Oder on 1 October 1923 and was appointed commander of the 4th Company on 1 April 1927. In October 1930, he was commanded to a shooting course for heavy infantry weapons.

On 1 October 1932, he was transferred to the staff of the 10th Cavalry Regiment in Züllichau. On 1 October 1933, he was transferred to the staff of the 2nd Cavalry Division, where he was promoted to Major on 1 January 1934. Simultaneously, he was appointed adjutant to the staff of the VIII Army Corps General Command in Brelsau. During the expansion of the Reichswehr into the Wehrmacht, he was appointed commander of the II Battalion of the Crossen Infantry Regiment on 1 May 1935. Following the renaming of the Wehrmacht on 15 October 1935, he became commander of the II Battalion of the 29th Infantry Regiment.

Wehrmacht

• 15 October 1935 Commander of the II. Battalion/Infanterie-Regiment 29
• 10 November 1938 Commander of the I. Battalion/Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment 121
  • With his regiment, he participated in the Polish Campaign as part of the 50th Infantry Division.
• 24 October 1939 Commander of the Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment 121 succeeding Colonel Rudolf Pilz
  • 10 November 1939 the regiment was officially designated Infantry Regiment 121
    • During the mobilization for World War II in late summer 1939, the regiment was reinforced to 18 companies and divided. Nine companies were transferred to Border Infantry Regiment 121, and nine companies to Border Infantry Regiment Crossen. The regiments were then subordinated to the 50th Infantry Division. The regiment was first deployed in the Polish Campaign at the beginning of World War II. On 10 November 1939, the two regiments were reunited and now jointly bore the designation Infantry Regiment 121.
  • The Western Campaign followed in 1940, and in January 1941, the unit was transferred to Romania. In April 1941, he and his regiment participated in the Balkans Campaign against Greece, and from June 1941 onward, in the Russian Campaign.
• 20 February 1942 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 12 April 1942 Commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 489
  • This regiment was deployed on the encirclement front near Leningrad.
• 1 September 1942 Commandant of the Döberitz military training area
• 1 July 1943 Commander of the 709. Infanterie-Division (occupation force in Normandy)
• 10/12 December 1943 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve (he had fallen severely ill)
• 10 May 1944 Commanded to the Military District Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia for the purpose of training (induction phase) as a division commander
• 1 June 1944 Commander of Division No. 193, a replacement unit in Prague
  • At the end of March 1945, the division was mobilized and deployed to Silesia. In April 1945, the division was subordinated to the corps group under Willi Moser (Korpsgruppe "Moser").

Family

Eckhard was the eldest son of the privy government councillor at the government of Liegnitz, as of 1896 district administrator of the Jauer district and as of 1 February 1923 privy government councilor in Breslau, Major (Ret.) Constantin Viktor August Moritz von Geyso (1861–1927), a Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) of the Johanniter-Orden, and his wife Elisabeth Marie Ottilie Ida, née Freiin von Hohenhausen und Hochenhaus (b. 16 January 1866). He had three younger siblings:

• Joachim Ernst Friedrich August (b. 10 July 1895 in Kassel), 1st Lieutenant of the Prussian Army, later Reichsbank manager and Major of the Wehrmacht
• Constantin Friedrich Viktor Helmuth (b. 15 June 1898 in Jauer), 2nd Lieutenant of the Prussian Army, studied philosophy
• Dorothea Elisabeth (b. 2 July 1901 in Jauer)

Marriage

On 19 September 1935 in Breslau, Major von Geyso married his young fiancée Marianne von Kahlden (b. 29 November 1911), daughter of the late Lieutenant Colonel Hans Heinrich Friedrich Henning von Kahlden (1874–1933), a knight of the order "Pour le Mérite", and his wife (∞ 25 June 1910) Elisabeth Anna Marie, née Beck (1889–1942). They would have two children:

• Ilsabe (b. 29 July 1936 in Crossen an der Oder)
• Peter-Johannes (b. 24 October 1941 in Berlin), joined the Bundeswehr, was commissioned on 1 April 1962, Brigadegeneral (Brigadier General; one-star General) on 1 April 1991, Generalmajor (Major General; two-star general) on 1 July 1999, Commander Multinational Division Central (AIRMOBILE) in Mönchengladbach-Rheindahlem from 1 July 1999 to 31 March 2002, member of the Clausewitz-Gesellschaft

Promotions

• 18 June 1910 Zweijährig-Freiwilliger und Fahnenjunker (Two-year volunteer and Officer Candidate)
• 18 September 1910 Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter (Officer Candidate with Lance Corporal rank)
• 30 October 1910 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (Officer Candidate with Corporal/NCO/Junior Sergeant rank)
• 21 February 1911 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 18 November 1911 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 27 January 1917 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 1 July 1922 received Reichswehr Rank Seniority (RDA) from 27 January 1917 (3)
• 1 May 1924 Hauptmann (Captain) with RDA from 1 May 1924 (4)
  • 1 October 1932 reclassified as Rittmeister
• 1 January 1934 Major (5)
• 2 August 1936 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 August 1936 (4)
• 30 January 1939 Oberst (Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 February 1939 (4)
• 16 September 1942 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 October 1942 (2)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 10 October 1914
  • 1st Class on 29 April 1917
• Lippe War Merit Cross (LK) on the ribbon for combatants on 8 December 1917
• Princely House Order of Hohenzollern (Fürstlich Hohenzollern'sches Ehrenzeichen), Cross of Honour III. Class (HEK3⚔/HE3⚔) on 16 April 1918
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Silesian Eagle Order, II. Grade
• Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) of the Johanniter-Orden on 15 July 1926
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 18 December 1934
• Hungarian World War Commemorative Medal (Ungarische Kriegs-Erinnerungs-Medaille) with Swords
• Bulgarian War Commemorative Medal 1915–1918 (Kriegserinnerungsmedaille 1915/1918) with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class on 2 October 1936
• Sudetenland Medal
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 27 September 1939
  • 1st Class on 2 November 1939
• Certificate of Recognition of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army on 4 October 1941
• German Cross in Gold on 18 October 1941
  • he had been nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 August 1941, but only received the GCiG
• Bulgarian Order of Bravery, 3rd Class, I. Grade (Militärorden für Tapferkeit, III. Klasse, I. Stufe)
• Crimea Shield (Krimschild)
• Romanian Order of the Star, Commander's Cross with Swords and Swords on Ring

Gallery

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Sources

• German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/1285 and PERS 6/299709