Hermann von François

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Hermann von François
Hermann von François (2).png
Birth name Hermann Karl Bruno von François
Birth date 31 January 1856(1856-01-31)
Place of birth Luxembourg City, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, German Confederation
Death date 15 May 1933 (aged 77)
Place of death Berlin-Lichterfelde, Province of Brandenburg, German Reich
Allegiance  German Empire
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
Years of service 1875–1918
Rank General der Infanterie
Commands held 49th (Hessian) Brigade
13th Division
I Corps
8th Army
XXXXI Reserve Corps
VII (Westphalian) Corps
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Red Eagle Order
Black Eagle Order
Iron Cross
Pour le Mérite
Relations ∞ 1878 Elisabeth Emma Olga von Besser
Other work Memoirist, historian

Hermann Karl Bruno von François (31 January 1856 – 15 May 1933) was a German officer of the Prussian Army and the Imperial German Army, finally a highly decorated General of the Infantry in World War I.

Life

Hermann von François IV.jpeg
Hermann von François III.jpg
Hermann von François, Gedenkmünze.jpg

Hermann's father, Bruno von François (at his birth a captain and governor's adjutant of the Prussian command in Luxembourg), fell in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 as a major general during the Battle of Spichern and was buried in the cemetery of honor in the Franco-German Garden in Saarbrücken. François's younger brother Hugo, who later became a general staff officer, died in German South West Africa during the fighting against the Herero. François' older brother Curt played a leading role in the acquisition and cartographic recording of the colony of German South West Africa. Hermann von François visited the cadet institute in Wahlstatt and the main cadet institute in Berlin. He served as a page for Kaiser Wilhelm I and joined the 1st Guards Regiment of Foot of the Guard Corps of the Prussian Army as a second lieutenant on 15 April 1875.

At the beginning of the First World War, he led the 1st Army Corps in the battles of Gumbinnen, Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. In October 1914, he took over Paul von Hindenburg's 8th Army and repelled the 2nd Russian invasion. At the beginning of 1915, his troops fought in Picardy against the French, then in the summer in Galicia against the Russians (breakthrough battle at Gorlice, Radynmo, Wisma and on the Groddek Line) and in the autumn against the English and Indians on the Somme.

Military career (chronology)

Paul Ritter von Kneußl and Hermann von François inspect French prisoners of war
Poem by Georg Johannes Friedrich Freiherr von Eppstein in honour of Hermann von François
  • 15.4.1875 Sekonde-Lieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
    • 5.3.1884 Transferred to the 1. Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 89 in Schwerin versetzt.[2]
    • 1.10.1884 Commanded to the Prussian War Academy in Berlin
  • 14.10.1884 Premier-Lieutenant (1st Lieutenant)
    • 1.4.1888 Commanded to the Great General Staff in Berlin
  • 22.3.1889 Hauptmann (Captain)
    • 23.4.1889 General staff officer in the XV. Army Corps in Strasbourg (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen)
    • 27.1.1891 General staff officer in the 31. Infanterie-Division in Saarbrücken
    • 29.3.1892 Commander of the 6th Company/2. Lothringischen Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 131 in Metz
    • 1.2.1894 Chief of Operations (Ia) in the 8. Division in Erfurt
  • 18.10.1894 Major
    • 17.12.1896 Ia in the IV. Armeekorps in Magdeburg
    • 25.3.1899 Commander of the 1st Battalion/2. Badischen Grenadier-Regiment „Kaiser Wilhelm I.“ Nr. 110 in Mannheim
    • 25.6.1900 Chief of Staff of the IV. Armeekorps in Magdeburg
  • 18.4.1901 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 18.4.1903 Oberst (Colonel)
    • 24.8.1904 Commander of the „Königin Elisabeth“ Garde-Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 3 in Charlottenburg
    • 18.11.1907 Commander of the 49. Infanterie-Brigade (1. Großherzoglich Hessische) in Darmstadt
  • 27.1.1908 Generalmajor (Major General)
  • 20.3.1911 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General )
    • 20.3.1911 Commander of the 13. Division in Münster
    • 1.10.1913 Commanding General of the I. Armeekorps in Königsberg
  • 19.8.1914 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry)
    • 8.10.1914 Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Army (as successor to Richard von Schubert)
    • 7.11.1914 Offizier von der Armee (Reserves)
    • 24.12.1914 Commanding General of the XXXXI. Reserve Corps
    • 29.6.1915 Commanding General of the VII. Army Corps
      • 16.7.1916 at the same time leader of the Verdun-West attack group
    • 6.7.1918 Offizier von der Armee (Reserves)
  • 14.10.1918 Placed at disposal (z. D.)

Family

Hermann was the son of Major General Bruno Hugo Karl Friedrich von François and his wife Marie Amalie Helene, née von Wentzel (1829–1909). He had six siblings:[1]

  • Karl Wilhelm Bruno (1848–1850)
  • Alfred Karl Bruno (1849–1911), Major General; ⚭ 1892 Elisabeth Luise Erdmute Emilie von Petery (b. 20 October 1863), three sons
  • Olga Marie Friederike (1851–1879)
  • Curt Karl Bruno (1852–1931), military cadet, veteran of the Franco-Prussian War, Major in the General Staff, Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) of the Johanniter-Orden, later officer of the Schutztruppe and founder of the city of Windhoek in German Southwest Africa
    • ⚭ Amalia Gereses, daughter of a Damara king; one daughter (Josephine)
    • ⚭ 1897 Amalie Gertrud Margarethe "Margret" Meyer zu Bohmte (b. 17 July 1880); four children
  • Hugo Karl Bruno (1861–1904), officer of the Prussian Army (Captain) and the Schutztruppe as well as farmer in German Southwest Africa, ⚔ during the Hottentot War; ⚭ Else Goedecke, two children
  • Helene (1867–1869)

Marriage

On 5 January 1878 in Potsdam, 2nd Lieutenant von François married his fiancée Elisabeth Emma Olga von Besser (b. 30 March 1859 in Breslau; d. 9 September 1927 in Berlin). A son was born from the marriage:[2]

  • Bernhard “Hardy” Bruno Hermann Louis (1879–1956), German actor and artistic director
    • ⚭ Cottbus 10 September 1902 (later divorced) Hedwig Wagner (d. 1937)
    • ⚭ Berlin 8 March 1926 Gerda Falke (b. 15 August 1899 in Elsterberg)

Awards, decorations and honours

  • Saxe-Ernestine House Orden, Knight's Cross 2nd Class (HSEH3b/HSH3b/EH3b)
  • Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4)
  • Reussian Cross of Honor, 2nd Class (REK2/REKj2)
  • Princely Schwarzburg Cross of Honor, 2nd Class (SEK2)
  • Saxe-Ernestine House Order, Commander 2nd Class (HSEH2b/HSH2b)
  • Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
  • Order of Albert the Bear, Commander 2nd Class (AAB2b/AB2b)
  • Prussian Order of the Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 3rd Class
  • Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz; DA)
  • China Commemorative Medal (China-Denkmünze) in Steel for non-combatants in 1901
  • Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Commander (JM3)
  • Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow (mit der Schleife)
  • Order of the Redeemer (Greece), Commander (GE2b)
  • Prussian Order of the Crown, 2nd Class
  • Commemorative Badge for the Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1906 (Erinnerungszeichen zur Silbernen Hochzeit 1906)
  • Southwest Africa Commemorative Medal (Südwest-Afrika Denkmünze) in Steel for non-combatants in 1907
  • Princely House Order of Hohenzollern (Fürstlich Hohenzollern'sches Ehrenzeichen), Commander's Cross of Honour (HEK2a)
  • Bavarian Military Merit Order, II. Class (BMV2)
  • Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Commander 1st Class (BZ2a)
  • Order of Philip the Magnanimous (Verdienstorden Philipps des Großmüthigen), Commander 1st Class (HP2a)
  • Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and the Crown
  • Star to his Prussian Order of the Crown 2nd Class
  • Lippe House Order (Lippischer Hausorden), Cross of Honor 1st Class (LDH1/SLH1)
  • Star to his Red Eagle Order 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and the Crown (as of Rangliste 1913)
  • Chilean Order of Merit (Chilenischer Verdienstorden), 1st Class (CV1)[3]
  • Prussian Order of the Crown, 1st Class

WWI

  • Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • Swords to his Lippe House Order, Cross of Honor 1st Class (LDH1⚔/SLH1⚔)
  • Lippe War Honour Cross for Heroic Deeds (LKEK/LKEKr)
  • Red Eagle Order, 1st Class with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves
    • Pour le Mérite on 14 May 1915
    • Oak Leaves on 27 July 1917
  • Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH)
  • Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz; LübH/LüH)
  • Bremen Hanseatic Cross (Bremisches Hanseatenkreuz; BremH/BH)
  • Bavarian Military Merit Order, I. Class with Swords (BMV1⚔)
  • Princely Waldeck Cross of Merit (Fürstlich Waldeck’sches Verdienstkreuz), 1st Class with Swords (WVK1⚔)
  • Württemberg Order of the Crown, Grand Cross with Swords (WK1⚔)
  • Order of the Iron Crown (Austria), 1st Class with the War Decoration (ÖEK1K)
  • Black Eagle Order
  • Red Eagle Order, Grand Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 14 October 1918

Honours

  • Honorary doctorate (Dr. phil. h.c.) from the University of Tübingen on 20 May 1925

Writings (excerpt)

References

  1. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen Häuser, Gotha 1907, p. 188
  2. ↑ Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der adeligen Häuser, Teil B, 1941, p. 164
  3. ↑ Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1914, p. 52
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