Max Stapff

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Max Stapff
Oberst Max Stapff.jpg
Birth name Georg Max Stapff
Birth date 7 September 1870
Place of birth Vieselbach, Landkreis Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, North German Confederation
Death date 1 November 1938 (aged 68)
Place of death Free City of Danzig, West Prussia
Allegiance Germany Prussian Eagle.jpg Kingdom of Prussia
 German Empire
 Weimar Republic
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
Years of service 1889–1921
Rank Colonel
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Pour le Mérite
Relations ∞ Johanne Pauline Pfeiffer

Georg Max Stapff (7 September 1870 – 1 November 1938) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army and the Reichswehr, finally Colonel The Pour le Mérite was awarded for the offensive battle against the British with their massive armored vehicles at Cambrai from 30 November to 6 December 1917, in the planning and execution of which Major Stapff played a key role.[1]

Life

Max Stapff was born in Viesebach near Altenburg on 7 September 1870, five days after the decisive Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. Stapff entered the Prussian Army in 1889 and served in the Rheinisches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 8[2] based in Metz, Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen. His younger brother Emil Otto Ludwig Stapff[3] would soon follow. He was commissioned in September 1890. After three years at the Royal Prussian War Academy, Max was transferred to the Niederschlesisches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 5 in Posen and was appointed commander of the 7th Company. As of the rank list 1905, he was commanded to the Great General Staff (Großer Generalstab) in Berlin. As of the rank list 1907, he served as an instructor at the Military Technical Academy (MTA) in Charlottenburg. As of the rank list 1909, he served as commander of the 6th Company/Fußartillerie-Regiment "von Dieskau" (Schlesisches) Nr. 6 in Neiße. As of the rank list 1911, he served with the general staff of the 35th Division in Graudenz. As of the rank list 1913, he served with the general staff of the Governorate Graudenz. In WWI, he served as Chief of Operations (Ia) and, as of December 1916, as Chief of General Staff in various corps and armies.

Stapff was still in Graudenz when the Great War began in August 1914. He participated in the decisive Battle of Tannenberg against the Russian “steamroller” later that month. In October 1914, Stapff was transferred to the headquarters of the Zastrow Corps (under Artillery Staff Officer Georg Bruchmüller). One month later, he became the head of the operations department of the Guards Reserve Corps commanded by Max von Gallwitz. Stapff held the same title (chief of operations) when Gallwitz became commander of the his own army group in February 1915. Three months later, Stapff participated in the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive against Tsarist Russia. Gallwitz’ troops gradually made their way south, engaging the Russians at Przasnysz, Mlawa, and Nowogeorgiewsk. In August 1915, Army Group Gallwitz was reorganized and became the German Twelfth Army. Stapff again became its chief of operations. One month later, Stapff continued his role as chief of operations… but now at the HQ of Gallwitz’ German Eleventh Army. In this capacity, he participated in the Austro-German invasion of Serbia … and later in fights on the Thessaloniki battlefield. As 1916 got underway, the German Eleventh Army (along with Gallwitz and Stapff) was sent to the Western Front and saw action against the French at Verdun. In July, Stapff became chief of operations at the headquarters of the reformed German First Army led by Fritz von Below. He participated in the Battle of the Somme against the BEF … and remained in his post until almost the end of the year. With the dawn of 1917, Stapff was Franz von Soden’s Chief of Staff with VII Reserve Corps. In May of that year, he became Friedrich Sixt von Arnim’s] Chief of Staff with the German Fourth Army. His time in that position lasted less than a month… and in June, Stapff served in Flanders as Otto von Below’s Chief of Staff with the German Sixth Army. Again, he did not stay in this post for long … and in August, Stapff was appointed Georg Cornelius Adalbert von der Marwitz’ Chief of Staff with the German Second Army. Under Marwitz, Stapff participated in the Battle of Cambrai on the Western Front against the British in November 1917. Cambrai was the first tank offensive in the history of modern warfare. After the BEF was repulsed, Stapff was promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 18, 1917. Five days later, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite, Imperial Germany’s highest military decoration. In late February 1918, Stapff returned to the Eastern Front, where he became Erich von Falkenhayn’s Chief of Staff with the German Tenth Army. By this time, Russia was under Bolshevik rule and nearly out of the war. The German Tenth Army staff and troops were primarily engaged in administrative tasks. They also oversaw the peaceful transfer of Russian POWs to their homeland. Stapff remained with the German Tenth Army until the signing of the armistice in November.[4]

For demobilization, Lieutenant Colonel Stapff was transferred to the 2. Pommersches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 15 in February 1919. In May 1919, he was appointed Chief of General Staff XVII. Armee-Korps. On 24 October 1919, he was appointed leader of the rest of the dissolved XVII. Armee-Korps. As of January 1920, he served as military representative to the Reich and State Commissioner in Danzig (Army Peace Commission) and was retired on 30 September 1921.

Promotions

  • 20.9.1890 Sekondelieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 25.11.1898 Premierlieutenant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 27.1.1904 Hauptmann (Captain) without Patent (ernannt)
    • 20.3.1906 received Patent
  • 1.10.1912 Major
  • 18.12.1917 Oberstleutant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 30.1.1920 Charakter als Oberst (Honorary / Brevet Colonel)

Awards and decorations

Max Stapff I.jpg

Sources

  • Die Ritter des Ordens „Pour le mérite", Part 2, Volume 3 (P-Z), Biblio Verlag, 2011

References

  1. ↑ Max Stapff
  2. ↑ Fußartillerie (foot artillery) was the branch of the German army armed with heavier guns, howitzers and mortars, designed principally for siege warfare, which now was assuming a role in field operations. The Feldartillerie (field artillery) carries the lighter cannons to guarantee speed in the field, whereas the foot artillery takes care of the larger (heavier) calibers.
  3. ↑ Ludwig Stapff was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 17 May 1892, to 1st Lieutenant on 18 January 1901, to Captain on 27 January 1908 and to Major on 27 January 1915. In WWI, he was the last commander of the 2. Pommersches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 15 and retired with the Charakter als Oberstleutnant (Honorary / Brevet Lieutenant Colonel).
  4. ↑ PEEBLES PROFILES EPISODE 142 Max Stapff
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