Erich von Tschischwitz

Erich von Tschischwitz
Birth name	Wilhelm Ludwig Erich Felix von Tschischwitz
Birth date	17 May 1870(1870-05-17)
Place of birth	Culm, West Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, North German Confederation
Death date	26 September 1958 (aged 88)
Place of death	West Berlin, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr
Years of service	1889–1929
Rank	General of the Infantry
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Pour le Mérite
Relations	∞ 1902 Margarete von Steinbach
Other work	Military historian and author

Wilhelm Ludwig Erich Felix von Tschischwitz (17 May 1870 – 26 September 1958) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps and the Reichswehr, finally General der Infanterie and knight of the order "Pour le Mérite" with oak leaves.

Military career (chronology)

• 1882 to 1885 Cadet House in Bensberg
• 1885 to 1889 Main Cadet Institution in Lichterfelde (Königlich Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt in Groß-Lichterfelde)
  • Hans von Brandenstein and Friedrich von Pirscher also belonged to the same class of cadets.
• 22 March 1889 Transfer to the Grenadier-Regiment „Graf Kleist von Nollendorf“ (1. Westpreußisches) Nr. 6 in Posen
• 1 October 1893 Battalion adjutant (II. Bataillon)
• 1 October 1895 Commanded to the War Academy (Preußische Kriegsakademie)
• August 1898 Return to his regiment
• 1 April 1899 Commanded (kommandiert) to the Prussian Great General Staff (Großer Generalstab) in Berlin
  • 22 March 1902 permanently assigned
• 1 October 1904 XV. Armneekorps in Straßburg (on Ritter Hentschel von Gilgenheimb's General Staff)
• 1 April 1905 Commander of the 1st Company/4. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 in Torgau
• 1 October 1907 Return to the Großer Generalstab
• 1 October 1909 36. Infanterie-Division in Danzig (on von Brixen's General Staff)
• 1911 XVII. Armeekorps in Danzig
• 27. January 1912 Return to the Großer Generalstab in Berlin
• 13 February 1912 General Inspectorate of Military Transportation (Generalinspektion des Militär-Verkehrswesens) in Berlin (on Karl von Hänisch's General Staff)
• 17 February 1914 Commander of the 2nd Battalion/4. Schlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 157 in Brieg
• 2 August 1914 In the General Staff of the III. Reservekorps (Ia on Hans von Beseler's General Staff)
• 27 October 1914 Chief of the General Staff of the XXIII. Reservekorps (von Kleist and von Kathen's Chief of Staff)
• 20 September 1918 to 31.10.1917 Chief of Staff of the Oesel Landing Corps
• 27 February 1918 Chief of the General Staff of the 2nd Army under Georg von der Marwitz
• 9 August 1918 Transferred to the officers of the army (zu den Offizieren von der Armee versetzt)
• 1 September 1918 Commander of the 172nd Infantry Brigade
• 26 February 1919 Commander of the Infantry Regiment No. 157 and leader of the Infantry Brigade Rastenburg
• 6 May 1919 Leader of the Ostpreußische Freiwilligenbrigade (East Prussian Volunteer Brigade), also known as Ostpreußisches Freiwilligenkorps
• 17 July 1919 Commander of the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 10
• 1 October 1919 Inspector of the Traffic Troops in the Reichswehr Ministry (Inspekteur der Verkehrstruppen im Reichswehrministerium)
• 1 February 1923 Commander of the 2nd Division and Commander in Military District II (Wehrkreis II)
• 1 February 1927 Commander-in-Chief of Group Command 1 (Oberbefehlshaber des Gruppenkommandos 1)
• 31 March 1929 Retired

Family

Erich was the son of Oberstleutnant a. D. Hans Hermann Richard Ludwig von Tschischwitz (b. 1 May 1840 in Glatz) and his wife Marie Luise Mathilde, née Hirschfelder (b. 16 April 1841 in Pleß). His uncles were Generalleutnant Wilhelm Karl Ludwig Friedrich von Tschischwitz (1831–1911) and Oberstleutnant a. D. Fedor Gustv Julius von Tschischwitz (1833–1918).

Marriage

On 9 October 1902 in Berlin, Hauptmann von Tschischwitz married his fiancée Margarete von Steinbach (b. 22 June 1880 in Colmar, Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen). They had four children:

• Heinz Ludwig Eduard (b. 20 September 1903 in Deutsch-Wilmersdorf; d. 25 August 1905 in the clinic Berliner Charité)
• Maria Margarete Klara Mathilde (b. 13 October 1905 in Halensee); Reinhold Gothsche (1893–1945), Generalmajor
• Hans Erich (b. 30 January 1907 in Torgau), Major of the Wehrmacht in WWII; ∞ 6 January 1934 Meta Wittmeyer, daughter (b. 1935), son (b. 1937), stillbirth of a son (3 March 1943)
• Anneliese Ruth Irmgard (b. 5 June 1908 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf); ∞ 26 May 1928 (civil) and 2 June 1928 (church) Gustav Dietrich Adolf Heisterman von Ziehlberg (1898–1945), Generalleutnant of the Wehrmacht, four daughters and two sons, Georg (b. 11 March 1929), another one died early

Wife and mother Margarete von Tschischwitz died on 25 April 1953 at Kurstraße 11 in Berlin-Nikolassee of abdominal cancer and dropsy, cachexia, cardiac and circulatory weakness. Erich von Tschischwitz would follow five years later.

Promotions

• 22 March 1889 Sekondeleutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1 September 1896 Premierleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 22 March 1902 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 10 September 1908 Major
• 19 August 1914 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 18 April 1917 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1 April 1921 Generalmajor
• 1 February 1923 Generalleutnant
• 1 November 1927 General der Infanterie

Awards and decorations

• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class with the Crown
  • 4th Class as of Rank Seniority List 1910
  • Crown as of Rank Seniority List 1911
• Prussian Order of the Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 3rd Class
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with the Crown (BMV4mKr)
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz; DA)
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 11 September 1914
  • 1st Class on 10 October 1914
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (HH)
• Hanseatic Cross of Lübeck (LübH/LüH)
• Military Merit Cross (Großherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinsches Militärverdienstkreuz), 2nd Class (MMV2/MK2)
• Friedrichs-Orden, Commander's Cross (Kommenturkreuz), 2nd Class with Swords (WF2b⚔)
• Saxon Albrechts-Orden, Officer's Cross with Swords (SA3⚔)
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, Officer's Cross with Swords (BMV.O⚔/BM.O⚔)
• Order of the Iron Crown (Austria), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖEK3K/ÖE3K)
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Prussian Order of the Crown, 2nd Class with Swords (PKO2⚔)
• Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves
  • Pour le Mérite on 9 November 1917
  • Oak Leaves on 23 March 1918
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords

Works (excerpt)

• Antwerpen 1914, in: "Schlachten des Weltkrieges" (Volume 3), Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg i. O. / Berlin 1921 (2nd Edition 1925)
• Armee und Marine bei der Eroberung der baltischen Inseln im Oktober 1917 – Erfahrungen und Betrachtungen, Berlin 1931 (reprint 2007)
• Deutsche Infanterie – Das Ehrenmal der vordersten Front, Verlag Bernhard Sporn, Zeulenroda 1933 (together with Ernst von Eisenhart-Rothe)
• Blaujacken und Feldgraue gen Oesel – Walter Flex' Heldentod, Buchdruckerei Carl Krüger (Mylau im Vogtland), Walter Bacmeister Nationalverlag, Berlin-Charlottenburg 1934 (2nd Edition, Essen / Leipzig 1937)
• General von der Marwitz – Weltkriegsbriefe, Berlin 1940 (together with General der Kavallerie Georg Cornelius Adalbert von der Marwitz)