Ludwig Otto Max Graf von Bothmer

Ludwig Graf von Bothmer
Birth name	Ludwig Otto Max Graf von Bothmer
Birth date	13 July 1889(1889-07-13)
Place of birth	Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	17 May 1973 (aged 83)
Place of death	Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Royal Bavarian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr
Years of service	1909–1931
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross Military Order of Max Joseph
Relations	∞ 1933 Maria Wenig
Other work	Lord of the Manor Pastor

Ludwig Otto Max Graf von Bothmer (13 July 1889 – 17 May 1973) was a German officer of the Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army and the Reichswehr as well as lord of the manor (Schloß Bothmer).

Life

• Royal Bavarian Cadet Corps (Kadettenkorps), six years (last rank: Fahnenkadett)
• 7 July 1909 Joined the 3rd Company/Königlich Bayerisches Infanterie-Leib-Regiment
  • The Royal Bavarian Infantry Life Guard Regiment was a household, life guard (bodyguard) regiment of the Bavarian Kings from the end of the Napoleonic Wars until the fall of the Wittelsbach monarchy and the subsequent disbanding of the Bavarian army.
• 26 October 1911 Commissioned in the 11th Company/Königlich Bayerisches Infanterie-Leib-Regiment
• 1914 to 1918 World War I
  • Graf von Bothmer fought first with his regiment, was appointed platoon leader on 7 August 1914, was wounded for the first time on 12 August 1914 ( shot to the left arm), again on 17 December 1914, was appointed regimental adjutant of the Infanterie-Regiment „Großherzog Friedrich Franz II. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin“ (4. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 24 on 19 May 1915, was severely wounded on 8 June 1916 during the Battle of Verdun, later returned to his Infanterie-Leib-Regiment and was appointed leader of the 11th Company on 20 March 1917. On 13 July 1918, he was once again severely wounded. It is not known, if he returned to regiment and battlefield before the end of the war.
• 1919 Freikorps Epp
• 1 June 1919 1. bayerisches Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 41/Reichswehr-Brigade 21 (München)
• 1 January 1921 19. (Bayerisches) Infanterie-Regiment
  • commander of the 10th Company in Kempten (Allgäu)
  • 1929 Staff/III. ([Gebirgs-]Jäger-)Battalion in Kempten (Allgäu)
• 31 July 1931 Retired
• 1934 to 1945 Owner of Schloß (Castle) Bothmer and the vast estates in Klütz, Mecklenburg
  • At the beginning of the 20th century, Castle Bothmer and its associated estates still comprised more than 7,800 hectares of land. However, major changes occurred during Captain (ret.) Alfred Felix Graf von Bothmer's (1859–1934) time. Triggered by the First World War, the estate fell into a financial depression, which was exacerbated by the consequences of the Great Depression. The family entails were abolished, giving Bothmer unrestricted ownership, which could also be sold. The extensive castle library was auctioned in Hamburg in 1928, and the debt led to the sale of numerous properties. In 1934, Ludwig Max Otto Graf von Bothmer, the second nephew of Alfred's wife Mary Gräfin von Bothmer, née Collingwood Taylor (1859–1939), took over the reduced estate after the childless Mary adopted him (12 April 1934). The last lord of the manor at Bothmer was, like his late father, an officer and later a pastor of the Christian Community. Mary was an author, she wrote poems but also the book The Sovereign Ladies of Europe (1899).
  • From 1943 onwards, the side wings of the huge castle housed bombed-out refugees, and the Wehrmacht also used parts of the castle as storage space. The castle survived the actual fighting unscathed, and a military hospital was eventually set up. Fearing the advancing, murderous, and raping Red Army, almost the entire von Bothmer family fled on 27 April 1945, taking only a few possessions with them. However, the Western Allies reached the castle on 3 May 1945. English troops set up a command post in the castle. Ludwig's nephew, Hans Caspar Moritz Ludwig Werner Graf von Bothmer (b. 31 January 1919 in München), who had studied medicine and served as a medical officer in the Wehrmacht, went from Lübeck to Klütz after the surrender in 1945 to help in the military hospital. Until June 1945, the family was even able to retrieve some of their possessions from the castle, which had been partially plundered by the English. Then, following the resolutions of the Yalta Conference, West Mecklenburg was handed over to the Red Army on 1 July, and the family was expropriated without compensation on 25 July 1945. In September 1945, the castle was set up as a hospital for typhus and spotted fever patients. Only Hans Caspar Graf von Bothmer stayed, not wanting to leave his patients but he infected himself and died there on 12 February 1946.

Family

Ludwig was the son of Colonel Otto Moritz Graf von Bothmer (1845–1895) and his wife (⚭ 1877) Sophie Luise, née Edle von Taeuffenbach (1851–1920). He was a nephew of Generaloberst Felix Ludwig Graf von Bothmer. Ludwig had three siblings:

• Marie-Luise (1879–1962); ⚭ München 7 November 1905 Major, lord of the manor and author Dr. phil. Siegfried Ludwig Johannes Graf von Pückler, Graf und Herr zu Limpurg-Gaildorf, Freiherr von Groditz (1871–1963), their only child was daughter Waltraud Margarete Sophie Cäcilie Gräfin von Pückler und Limpurg (1913–2003).
• Sophie Klothilde (b. 10 November 1880 in München); ⚭ Reisach 10 July 1922 Rittmeister Walther Ritter und Edler von Sedelmair (d. 11 January 1937 in Reisach)
• Friedrich "Fritz" Eduard Maximilian (b. 21 December 1883 in München; d. 13 November 1941 in Salzburg), Captain in WWI, teacher and sports educator. In 1922, he developed, together with Dr. phil. Rudolf Steiner, the "Bothmer gymnastics"; ⚭ Patenkirchen 22 October 1913 Hildegard Freiin von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen (1888–1955), 4 children.

Marriage

On 11 November 1933 in Stuttgart, Graf von Bothmer married his fiancée Maria Wenig (1904–1989). They would have three children:

• Gudrun Sophie Maria (b. 10 August 1934 in Stuttgart)
• Guntram Georg Alfred Moritz (b. 7 April 1936 at Schloß Bothmer)
• Hans-Kaspar Volkmar Moritz (b. 6 September 1938 at Schloß Bothmer)

Promotions

• 7 July 1909 Fähnrich with Patent from 13 July 1909
• 26 October 1911 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 9 July 1915 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 27 January 1918 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1 February 1931 Major

Awards and decorations

• Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross II. Class (BdZL5/BZL3b/BZ3b); permission to wear: 21 April 1914
• Bavarian Prince Regent Luitpold Medal (Prinzregent-Luitpold-Medaille) in Bronze (PL) on the ribbon of the Anniversary Medal for the Army (am Bande der Jubiläumsmedaille für die Armee)
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 22 December 1914
  • 1st Class on 31 December 1916
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔/BM4⚔) on 17 May 1915
• Crown to his Military Merit Order (Bavaria) 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔mKr/BM4⚔mKr) on 28 December 1916
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K); published by the War Ministry on 26 September 1917
• Wound Badge (1918) in Silver (Mattweiß)
• Military Order of Max Joseph, Knight's Cross (BMJ3) on 1 April 1919 (postwar) with effect from 6 January 1917
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords (FEK)