Karl Moyses

Karl Moyses
Company commander Captain Moyses in WWI
Birth name	Carl/Karl Alexander Moyses
Birth date	3 October 1882(1882-10-03)
Place of birth	Gresten-Markt, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary
Death date	8 May 1960 (aged 77)
Place of death	Zell near Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Lower Austria, Republic of Austria
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary Austria National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Austro-Hungarian Army Deutschösterreichische Volkswehr Austrian Bundesheer Heer
Years of service	1902–1943
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Austrian Order of the Iron Crown Iron Cross Karl Troop Cross War Merit Cross (1939)
Relations	∞ Vienna 30 March 1940 Stefanie, widowed Schotek, née Oppelt

Karl Alexander Moyses (1882–1960) was a German officer of Austria and the German Reich, finally Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht in World War II.

Life

Foreign military attaches during a visit of the Theresian Military Academy with deputy commandant Colonel Moyses (left) and German military attache in Vienna Lieutenant General Wolfgang Muff (center).

Walther von Brauchitsch visited the former Theresian Military Academy, now war school, on 21 June 1938; from left: Major General Bernhard Waber (bent over the display case in the Hall of Honor of the Military Academy), General Wilhelm List (partially obscured), Generaloberst von Brauchitsch (smiling), Karl Moyses (2 m tall), Richard Ruoff and Fritz Brand.

From left: Head of the war School Major General Karl Moyses, Major General Fritz Brand, as Inspector of the Inspection of War Schools (In 1) and Commander-in-Chief of the Army Colonel General Walther von Brauchitsch, who shakes the hand of Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Friedrich Franek (later Lieutenant General).

Karl Alexander Moyses was born in 1882 the son of Dr. med. Alexander Franz Moyses (1840–1914) and his wife Anna Monika, née Weninger (1857–1908). Moyses attended the Unterrealschule in Waidhofen, the Infantry Cadet School in Vienna and, as of 1 September 1898, the Pioneer Cadet School Hainburg. After graduation, he was transferred to the k. u. k. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 13 on 18 August 1902 (appointment ceremony on the Emperor Franz Joseph I's birthday). On 1 November 1907, he was transferred to the k. u. k. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 in Budapest and on 1 November 1909 to the k. u. k. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 2 in Linz, where he served as adjutant and platoon leader.

In WWI, he was commanded to a corps officer school and then commanded an engineer (Pionier) company of the Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 2 (Linz). From 11 December 1918 to 1 January 1919, he was demobilized in Linz, from 1 January 1919 to 1 August 1920, he served permanent member of the honorary committee of the state commander in Linz (ständiges Mitglied beim ehrenrätlichen Ausschuss des Landesbefehlshabers in Linz).

From 1 March 1921 to 1 June 1922, he commanded the 5th Spotlight Platoon (5. Scheinwerferzug). On 1 March 1929, he was transferred from the Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 2 to the Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 1 in Klosterneuburg and was appointed commander of the battalion on 1 February 1931. On 1 March 1931, he was appointed commander of the Niederösterreichisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 3. On 1 April 1937, he was appointed deputy commandant of the Theresian Military Academy (Theresianische Militärakademie) in Wiener Neustadt.

Wehrmacht

Moyses was transferred into the Wehrmacht on 14 March 1938. On 15 March 1938, Moyses was delegated with the leadership (mit dem Kommando betraut) of the Theresian Military Academy as successor of Generalmajor Rudolf Towarek. As such, in September 1938, he also dismissed the last graduating year of the former military academy, whose members, as senior officer cadets (Oberfähnriche) of the German Wehrmacht, took their vows with the addition "Loyalty unto death for Greater Germany".

On 6 April 1938, the “change in training at the Theresian Military Academy” was initiated in Berlin. The academy became a “war school” for the German Wehrmacht, and the infrastructure was expanded. In this context, for example, the park of the war school (“Academy Park”) was closed to the civilian population from 15 November 1938 because the military training area was being expanded. In addition, a residential building was built on the academy park grounds, which the new commander of the “war school” (Kriegsschule) in Wiener Neustadt, Rommel, his wife and son, was to live in.

Moyses retired from the war school on 30 September 1938 and was placed at disposal of the Military Replacement Inspectorate in Stettin. Erwin Rommel took over command of the war school on 10 November 1938 (another source states, Rommel took over on 1 October 1938). Moyses was appointed as the Inspector of Recruiting District Köslin (Wehrersatzinspektion Köslin) on 10 November 1938. He remained at Köslin until being placed in the Führerreserve OKH/XVII (Leader Reserve) on 1 October 1943 and then retiring on 31 December 1943 after a thickening of the right knee with restricted mobility and a slight limp.

Promotions

• 18.8.1902 Cadet Deputy Officer (Kadettoffiziersstellvertreter) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.9.1902
• 1.11.1903 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1.11.1909 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 1.1.1915 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1.1.1920 Major
• 27.6.1923 Oberstleutnant (Title as Lieutenant Colonel)
• 24.6.1930 Oberstleutnant (Rank as Lieutenant Colonel) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 27.6.1923
• 25.6.1934 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1.1.1938 Generalmajor (Major General)

Wehrmacht

• 14.3.1938 Generalmajor without RDA
  • 15.8.1938 received Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.8.1936
• 1.4.1939 Charakter als Generalleutnant (Honorary Lieutenant General)
• 1.2.1941 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)

Awards and decorations

Austria-Hungary

• 1908 Jubilee Cross on 2 December 1908
  • awarded for the anniversary of Emperor Franz Josef accession to the throne of the Habsburg Empire.
• Bronze Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military Merit Cross with Swords on 7 November 1914
• Bronze Medal for Services to the Austrian Red Cross in 1915
  • awarded by Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria
• Austrian Order of the Iron Crown, Knight III. Class with War Decoration and Swords (ÖEK3K⚔) on 7 September 1915
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), III. Class with War Decoration and Swords (ÖM3K⚔) on 15 March 1916
• Silver Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military Merit Cross on 13 January 1917
• Karl Troop Cross (Kaiser-Karl-Truppenkreuz) in 1917

German Empire

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd Class in 1915

Ottoman Empire

• Gallipoli Star (Eiserner Halbmond; TH) in 1917
• Order of the Medjidie

Post-WWI

• Hungarian World War Commemorative Medal (Ungarische Kriegs-Erinnerungs-Medaille) with Swords
• Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Silver on 17 March 1930
• Austrian War Commemorative Medal (Österreichische Kriegserinnerungsmedaille) with Swords
• Military Service Badge for Officers, 2nd Class on 8 October 1934
• Austrian Order of Merit (1934), Knight's Cross
• Military Service Badge for Officers, 1st Class (for 35 years) on 18 August 1937

Wehrmacht

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class (25-year Service Cross) on 1 January 1939
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 24 November 1939
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 2nd Class on 6 November 1940
  • 1st Class on 1 September 1942

Gallery

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Further reading

• Christian Frech / Markus Pichler / Peter Steiner / Iakovos Vlachos: Österreichs Generäle 1919–1955, 4 volumes, Verlag Militaria