Heinrich Scheüch

Heinrich Scheüch
Birth date	21 June 1864(1864-06-21)
Place of birth	Sélestat/ Schlettstadt, Alsace
Death date	3 September 1946 (aged 82)
Place of death	Bad Kissingen, Bavaria, Allied-occupied Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Army of Baden Prussian Army Imperial German Army
Years of service	1882–1914 1914–1919
Rank	General der Infanterie (Tannenberg-General)
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross Pour le Mérite

Heinrich Scheüch (sometimes also Schëuch and Scheuch; 21 June 1864 – 3 September 1946) was a German officer, finally honorary General of the Infantry of the Heer of the Wehrmacht. In 1919, he campaigned vehemently in the Reichstag for the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine to remain part of German Reich and protested against "brutal French hostility" to the expression of free will by the Alsace-Lorraine Germans. Scheuch was a board member of the Berlin "Aid Association for the Alsace-Lorrainians in the Reich" (Hilfsbund für die Elsaß-Lothringer im Reich) and was member of the organization "Old Alsace-Lorrainians in the Reich" (Alt-Elsaß-Lothringer im Reich). he also wrote for the magazine "Elsaß-Lothringischen Heimatstimmen" (1923–1940) and supported the Alsatian autonomy movement (Heimatbewegung) of 1924.

Military career

Rangliste 1909

Rangliste 1914, p. 8

• Attended Gymnasium (Lyceum) in Kolmar, then attended the Royal Prussian Cadet School in Berlin-Lichterfelde (Königlich Preußische Kadettenschule von Berlin-Lichterfelde)
• 15 April 1882 Transfer to the 4. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Wilhelm“ Nr. 112
• 30 August Adjutant of the IV. Bataillon/4. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Wilhelm“ Nr. 112
• 1 April 1890 Transferred to the 7. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 142 (Adjutant of the I. Bataillon)
• 1 October 1892 to 30 September 1893 Commanded to the War Academy (Preußische Kriegsakademie)
• 1 October 1893 to 11 September 1895 Regiment Adjutant
• 12 September 1895 Adjutant of the 58. Infanterie-Brigade
• 1897 Transferred to the 2. Oberrheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 99
• Mid-November 1897 Transferred to the War Ministry (Preußisches Kriegsministerium) in Berlin
  • Adjutant to the Director (Oberst von Heeringen) of the Military Economy Department (Militär-Ökonomie-Departement, later renamed Armee-Verwaltungs-Departemant; BD)
• 15 June 1900 Commander of the 12th Company/7. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 69
• 22 March 1902 Commanded again to the Ministry of War, one month later officially transferred here
  • until 17 October 1908 as budget officer in the 1st army department (1. Armee-Abteilung; A 1)
• 17 October 1908 Commander of the I. Bataillon/4. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß/Garde-Korps in Berlin
• 1909/10 Head of the Ministerial Department (1. Ministerial-Abteilung; Z 1) of the Zentral-Departement (Z D) of the War Ministry
• 7 July 1913 entrusted with the management of business of the Director of the Central Department (Z D) in the War Ministry
  • from 21 July 1913, at the same time Deputy Plenipotentiary to the Federal Council (Bundesrat)
• 2 August 1914 Head of the mobile staff of Minister of War Erich von Falkenhayn
  • at the same time director of the General War Department
  • On 8 August 1914, there was a meeting with Walther Rathenau, who suggested setting up a war raw materials department, which Scheuch implemented immediately. Rathenau said on 20 December 1915 during a lecture:
    • "Three days after the declaration of war I could no longer bear the uncertainty of our situation, I reported to the head of the General War Department, Colonel Scheüch, and was given a friendly welcome by him on the evening of 8 August 1914. I explained to him that our country could probably only be supplied with the essential materials for the war economy for a limited number of months [...] Very little had happened, and yet a lot happened; for the interest of the War Office was aroused. When I returned home, troubled and worried, I found a telegram from War Minister von Falkenhayn summoning me to his office for the following morning. It was Sunday, 9 August 1914. [...] At this crucial moment, the bold, responsible decision of the Prussian Ministry of War brought about the turning point in the field that I am allowed to speak to you about. [...] Through purchases in neutral states, we had brought some things into the country; but soon the English, through their counter-organization, through their terrorism on land and at sea, saw to it that the supply dwindled. [...] You know that the essential explosives of warfare are based on the nitrate compounds, that nitrate is a nitrogen compound, and so warfare is in a sense a nitrogen problem." Rathenau goes on to say that this danger could only be averted by acting quickly, because two to three months later there would have been a precarious situation in the supply of ammunition.
• 11 May 1916 Commander of the 29th Infantry Brigade (including the Battle of the Somme)
• 12 January 1917 Commander of the 33rd Division (including battles in the Argonne and double battle Aisne-Champagne)
• 15 August 1917 Head of the War Office as successor to Generalleutnant Wilhelm Groener
  • 13 October 1917 in personal union also at the same time the Plenipotentiary of Prussia in the Bundesrat
• 9 October 1918 Appointed Prussian Minister of War (replaced Hermann von Stein)
  • Scheüch tried in vain to prevent Reichskanzler Max von Baden from betraying the German Empire by announcing the Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication on 9 November 1918, although he had not yet been authorized to do so.
• 15 December 1918 Petition for dismissal submitted
• 2 January 1919 Retired with the statutory pension

Family

Heinrich's germanophile father Jean-Baptiste Scheüch (1820–1888), who decided after the Peace of Frankfurt (1871; → Franco-German War) to stay in the Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen, was a jurist and worked as a higher regional court councillor (Oberlandesgerichtsrat), judge and advisor at the court of appeal (Berufungsgericht) in Kolmar (among other things he was in 1882 a member of the delegation of the Alsace-Lorraine state committee) and lived on his lands in Herlisheim until his death. His mother Emilie Graeff, the daughter of Michel Ignace Auguste Graeff (1812–1884), an engineer and knight (1850), then officer (1861) of the French Legion (from 1871 to 1878 full member of the General Council for Roads and Bridges, latterly vice-president and general inspector 1st class), was born in Schlettstadt in 1831 and died in Herlisheim in 1879.

Promotions

• 15 April 1882: Charakter als Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 16 November 1882: Portepee-Fähnrich (with Patent)
• 17 October 1883: Sekonde-Lieutanant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 28 July 1892: Premier-Lieutanant (1st Lieutenant)
• 27 January 1897: Hauptmann (Captain)
• 18 August 1903: Major
• 20 April 1910: Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 22 March 1913: Oberst (Colonel)
• 27 January 1916: Generalmajor
• 9 October 1918: Generalleutnant
• 27 August 1939: Charakter als General der Infanterie (honorary General of the Infantry)

Awards and decorations

• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross 2nd Class with Oak Leaves (BZL3bmE/BZ3bmE)
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4)
• Crown to his Red Eagle Order 4th Class (as of Rangliste 1905)
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 3rd Class (BMV3)
• Saxon Albrechts-Orden, Knight 1st Class (SA3a)
• Prussian Order of the Crown (Kronenorden), 3rd Class (KO3) on 15 January 1907
• Württemberg Order of the Crown, Knight's Cross (WK3)
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Crown to his Saxon Albrechts-Orden Knight 1st Class (SA3a.mKr) as of Rangliste 1909 (p. 142)
• Order of Berthold the First, Knight's Cross (BBI.3)
• Württemberg Order of the Crown (Ehrenkreuz des Ordens der Württembergischen Krone), Honour Cross (WK2c)
• Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow on 31 March 1911
• Lippe House Order (Lippischer Hausorden), Cross of Honor 2nd Class (LDH2)
• Mecklenburg Order of the Griffon (Großherzoglich Mecklenburgischer Greifenorden), Commander's Cross (MGrO2b/MG2b)
• Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure, Commander (JZ3)
• Order of the Star of Romania, Commander (RumSt3)
• Crown to his Red Eagle Order 3rd Class with the Bow
• Order of Saint Michael (Bavaria), 3rd Class (BM3)
• Bulgarian Order of Saint Alexander, Commander (BA3)
• Austrian Order of the Iron Crown, Knight II. Class (ÖEK2)
• Swedish Royal Order of the Sword, Commander II. Class (SS2b) on 20 October 1912
• Prussian Order of the Crown, 2nd Class
• Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Bremen Hanseatic Cross (Bremisches Hanseatenkreuz; BremH/BH)
• Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz; LübH/LüH)
• Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH)
• Pour le Mérite on 8 April 1918 as Generalmajor
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer

Further reading

• Jean-François Thull: Une carrière dans l’armée allemande - Heinrich Scheüch (1864–1946), un général alsacien dans l’armée de Guillaume II, 2013