Hans von Hößlin

Hans von Hößlin
Birth name	Hans Wilhelm von Hößlin
Birth date	20 September 1880(1880-09-20)
Place of birth	Erbach im Odenwald, Kreis Erbach, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Death date	18 August 1947 (aged 66)
Place of death	Ljubljana, People's Republic of Slovenia, constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Royal Bavarian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1898–1932 1938–1945
Rank	Generalleutnant z. V.
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Silver War Merit Cross
Relations	∞ 1909 Lilly Schmid ∞ 1933 Ursula Festner

Hans Wilhelm von Hößlin (1880–1947) was a German officer of the Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Lieutenant General of the German Army (Heer) in World War II.

Miltary career (chronology)

Hans von Hößlin with his second wife Ursula

• Entered Army Service after his Abitur as a three-year volunteer (Dreijährig-Freiwilliger) and officer candidate of the Königlich Bayerisches 3. Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Karl von Bayern“ (01 Aug 1898)
• Battalion-Adjutant in the 3rd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (01 Apr 1907-01 Oct 1912)
• Detached to the Bavarian War Academy (01 Oct 1912-02 Aug 1914)
• In the Field as Company-Leader with the 3rd Bavarian Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (02 Aug 1914-12 Sep 1914)
• 2nd General-Staff-Officer in the Staff of the 1st Bavarian Reserve-Division (12 Sep 1914-23 Jan 1915)
• Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of the 1st Bavarian Reserve-Division (23 Jan 1915-09 Sep 1915)
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of South-Army (09 Sep 1915-24 Oct 1915)
• Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of the 5th Bavarian Reserve-Division (24 Oct 1915-10 Feb 1916)
• General-Staff-Officer (Generalstabsoffizier) in the Staff of the 6th Bavarian Reserve-Division (10 Feb 1916-31 Dec 1916)
• Chief of Operations (Ia) in the Staff of the 2nd Bavarian Landwehr-Division (31 Dec 1916-05 Oct 1918)
• Leader of I. Battalion of the 3nd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (05 Oct 1918-19 Nov 1918)
• Commander of I. Battalion of the 3rd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (19 Nov 1918-29 Nov 1918)
• Delegated with the Leadership of the 3rd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (29 Nov 1918-27 Dec 1918)
• Adjutant of the 3rd Bavarian Infantry-Brigade (27 Dec 1918-21 Feb 1919)
• Delegated with the Leadership of the 3rd Bavarian Infantry-Brigade (21 Feb 1919-28 Apr 1919)
• Chief of Operations (Ia) in the Staff of Group Bogendörfer (28 Apr 1919-08 Jun 1919)
  • The Freikorps or Freiwilligen-Detachement Bogendörfer with 1,500 men became a part of the Freikorps Epp (with the Gruppe West and the Schützenbrigade 21) on 28 April 1919 and fought againt the terror of the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of Dissolution-Staff 103 (08 Jun 1919-01 Oct 1919)
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of the 23rd Reichswehr-Brigade (01 Oct 1919-01 Oct 1920)
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of Military-District-Command VII or Generalstab der 7. (Bayerischen) Division (01 Oct 1920-01 Oct 1924)
• Commander of II. Battalion of the 9th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1924-01 Feb 1927)
• Detached to Transport & Equipment Course (28 Feb 1926-07 Mar 1926)
• Transferred to the Staff of the 19th Infantry-Regiment (01 Feb 1927-15 Nov 1927)
• Transferred into the RWM (15 Nov 1927-01 Apr 1928)
• Chief of Staff of the 7th Division (01 Apr 1928-01 Oct 1929)
• Commander of the 19th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1929-01 Feb 1931)
• Detached to Firing-Course for heavy Infantry Weapons (07 Oct 1930-30 Oct 1930)
• Infantry-Leader (Infanterieführer) VII (01 Feb 1931-31 Mar 1932)
• Retired (31 Mar 1932)
• Placed to Disposal (Army) (01 Jul 1938)
• Commander of Replacement-Troops in Military-District XVIII, Salzburg (26 Aug 1939-05 Nov 1939)
• Commander of Division 188 (05 Nov 1939-01 Oct 1942)
• Commander of Division 188 (23 Oct 1942-31 Mar 1943)
• Führer-Reserve OKH (15 May 1943-22 May 1943)
• Deputy Commander in Military-District XVIII (22 May 1943-06 Sep 1943)
• Führer-Reserve OKH (06 Sep 1943-20 Nov 1943)
• Commander of the 188th Reserve-Mountain-Division (20 Oct 1943-01 Mar 1945)
• Commander of the 188th Mountain-Division or 188. Gebirgs-Division (01 Mar 1945-08 May 1945)
• In Yugoslav Captivity (8 May 1945)

Death

With the German surrender in 1945, von Hößlin and his troops were taken prisoner by criminal partisans under Tito. Between 10 and 19 July 1947, the show trial against 14 German officers took place before the military criminal chamber in Ljubljana, including Gauleiter Dr. jur. Friedrich Rainer, SS-Sturmbannführer Josef Vogt and General der Gebirgstruppe Ludwig Kübler, as well as Lieutenant General Hans von Hößlin. Von Hößlin was sentenced to death for alleged war crimes and murdered by execution.

18 August 1947 is the official date of death, there is a possibility, he was actually executed or died sometime later. By declaration of death by the Munich District Court on 12 August 1948, before his fate was known, the date of death was legally set as 31 December 1947. The communists did not disclose the dates of death of their victims; these only became known after the Fall of the Iron Curtain.

Family

Hans was the son of senior engineer Gustav Adolf Heinrich Balthasar von Hößlin (1848–1917) and his wife Eugenie Luise Charlotte, née Vischer (1859–1929).

Marriages

On 3 June 1909 in Hof, Lieutenant von Hößlin married his fiancée Lilly Emmy Luise Schmid (1889–1961), They had two sons before they divorced on 28 February 1928 in Berlin:

• Walter Alfred Wilhelm Balthasar (1910–1996), set designer, director of the Max Reinhardt Seminar, Vienna
• Winfried Hans Gustav Balthasar (b. 6 May 1914 in Munich)

On 6 April 1933 in Görlitz, the retired general married Ursula Festner (1906–1980). They had one son:

• Hans Rüdiger Balthasar (1935–1987)

Promotions

• 1 August 1898 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 10 March 1899 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 24 October 1900 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 25 June 1910 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 20 October 1914 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1 December 1920 Major with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 18 May 1918
• 15 February 1923 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1 February 1928 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1 April 1931 Generalmajor
• 31 March 1932 Charakter Generalleutnant
• 1 July 1938 Charakter als Generalleutnant (Ergänzungsoffizier) z. V.
• 1 February 1941 Generalleutnant z. V. (z. V. = zur Verfügung = at disposal)

Awards and decorations

• Königlich Bayerische Prinz-Regent-Luitpold-Jubiläums-Medaille mit Krone
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords and Crown (BMV4⚔mKr/BM4⚔mKr)
• Hessian Bravery Medal (Hessische Tapferkeitsmedaille; HT)
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (HH)
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K)
• Bavarian Long Service Cross (Königlich Bayerisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz), II. Class for 24 years (BD2)
• Johanniter Order, Knight of Honor (Ehrenritter)
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
• German Cross in Silver on 31 August 1943 as Generalleutnant z.V. and Commander of the Division Nr. 188