Walter von Hülsen

Walter von Hülsen
Walter von Hülsen in the uniform of a Reichswehr general
Birth name	Walter Rudolf Hugo Alexander Lobegott von Hülsen
Birth date	20 May 1863(1863-05-20)
Place of birth	Cosel, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation;
Death date	13 March 1947 (aged 83)
Place of death	Lindhorst Estate near Strasburg/Uckermark, Land Mark Brandenburg, Allied-occupied Germany
Allegiance	Kingdom of Prussia German Empire Weimar Republic
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Reichswehr
Years of service	1881–1921
Rank	General of the Infantry
Commands held	4. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß 43. Infanterie-Brigade 19. Infanterie-Division
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Red Eagle Order Prussian Order of the Crown Iron Cross Pour le Mérite
Relations	∞ 1893 Irmgard von Keudell

Walter Rudolf Hugo Alexander Lobegott von Hülsen (20 May 1863 – 13 March 1947) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army and the Reichwehr, finally General of the Infantry.

Life

Bernhard attended the cadet corps with honors and, because of his extraordinary achievements, was transferred to the 4th Guards Regiment of Foot/Garde-Korps as a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 16 April 1881.

• 4 December 1886 Appointed adjutant of the III. Battalion (Fusilier Battalion)
• 13 February 1888 Transferred to the 4. Garde-Grenadier-Grenadier-Regiment Königin Augusta
• 1 October 1889 Commanded for three years to the Royal Prussian War Academy
• 22 July 1892 Return to his regiment, now renamed to Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4
• 1 April 1893 Commanded to the Great General Staff (Großer Generalstab)
• 14 September 1893 Appointed commander of the 8th Company/3. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß
• 18 October 1901 Appointed adjutant of the Generalkommando X. Armee-Korps in Hanover
  • 27 January 1902 administratively transferred to the Grenadier-Regiment "Kronprinz" (1. Ostpreußisches) Nr. 1 in Königsberg
• 16 June 1905 Appointed commander of the II. Battalion/2. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß in Berlin
• 27 October 1908 Transferred to the staff of the Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 4 in Berlin
• 20 February 1912 Appointed commander of the 4. Garde-Regiments zu Fuß in Berlin
• 4 July 1914 Appointed commander of the 43. Infanterie-Brigade in Kassel
  • After the outbreak of the First World War, von Hülsen marched with this brigade into Belgium on 4 August 1914 as part of the 22nd Division. There, he was also given command of the 38th Infantry Brigade, with which he was to participate in the capture of Lüttich (Liège), forming the southern flank. During a night battle from 5 to 6 August 1914, von Hülsen was wounded by a bayonet thrust and was left behind unrecognized by his troops in the darkness. Belgians found and took him to Tilff during the day, but after a few days he escaped, fought his way back, and resumed command of his brigade. With this brigade, Hülsen participated in the capture of Namur from 22 to 25 August 1914, before being transferred to the Eastern Front, taking part in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes from 2 to 16 September 1914.
• 30 July 1916 Appointed commander of the 19. Infanterie-Division as successor to Max Philipp von Schmettau (1857–1929)
  • from 9 to 11 November 1916, the division was transported from the Eastern to the Western Front. This was followed by trench warfare in Champagne, fighting for the heights south of Ripont, the twin Battles of Aisne-Champagne, trench warfare near Reims, more trench warfare in Champagne, the defensive battle at Verdun, and trench warfare in front of Verdun until 5 March 1918. He was able to cross the Somme south of Péronne and advance as far as Amiens. In doing so, the British 50th Division was overrun, and sixty guns, seven tanks, and 1,000 prisoners were captured. For this achievement, von Hülsen was awarded the highest Prussian decoration for gallantry, the Pour le Mérite, by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 9 April 1918. After the German offensive ended, his division was engaged in continuous defensive battles from 17 April 1918, most recently in November 1918 in the Antwerp-Meuse Line.
• May 1919 Appointed commander of the small Brigade Nr. 10 in Hanover of the preliminary Reichswehr, subordinated to the X. Armee-Korps
• 1 October 1920 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of Group Command 2 or Group 2 in Kassel
• 3 August 1921 Discharged from active military service as a result of the London Ultimatum of May 5, 1921, and the implementing regulations of the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission, which led to changes in the organization of the Reichswehr.

Post-military

After his retirement, von Hülsen served as honorary chairman of the veterans' association for Kurhessen and Waldeck and was one of the co-founders of the Kurhessian Army Museum in Kassel in 1934/35.

Death

General (Ret.) Walter von Hülsen died at Lindhorst Manor near Strasburg/Uckermark, the estate (expropriated in 1945) of his daughter Auguste-Viktoria Madlene Irmgard Gottlobe Helene von Stülpnagel, née von Hülsen. The dispossessed Helene von Stülpnagel "generously" received 5 hectares of land as a "free farmer on free land", but four years later everything was lost. Helene and her son Siegfried were finally expelled by the communists of East Germany on 14 November 1949.

Family

Descent

Walter was the son of Prussian Lieutenant Colonel Karl Theodor Julius Ehregott Hermann von Hülsen (1816–1867) and his second wife (∞ Guhlen 13 July 1858) Helene Friederike Charlotte, née von Clausewitz. He had three siblings:

• Elisabeth Johanna Auguste Agnes (1843–1875); ∞ Breslau 15 November 1865 Major Wolff von Thümmel (d. 29 August 1897)
  • Elisabeth was the only child of Hermann von Hülsen with his first wife (∞ 1841) Agnes Pauline Therese, née von Walter (1822–1843) who died two weeks after Elisabeth's birth
• Ernst Karl Adolf Walter Ehregott (1860–1912), Lieutenant Colonel of the Prussian Army
• Bernhard Franz Karl Adolf Gottvertrau von Hülsen (1865–1950), Lieutenant General and Freikorps leader

Marriage

On 1 March 1893 in Dresden, 1st Lieutenant von Hülsen married his fiancée Irmgard Bernhardine Klara Florentine Madlene Gotthelfe von Keudell (1874–1955). They would have eight children:

• Helene Irmgard Helene Gotthelfe Waltraut (b. 1 January 1894 in Berlin)
• Heinrich-Hermann Franz Mario Walter Lobegott (1895–1982), Major General and divisional commander of the Wehrmacht
• Auguste-Viktoria Madlene Irmgard Gottlobe Helene (b. 22 October 1896 in Berlin); ∞ 29 September 1924 Siegfried Heinrich Karl von Stülpnagel-Lindhorst (1883–1927), jurist and lord of the manor
• Karl-Wilhelm Kasimir Ehregott Harald Walter (b. 29 March 1898 in Berlin)
• Ernst Franz Walter Gustav Bernhard Gottvertrau (b. 4 January 1900 in Berlin), 2nd Lieutenant, ⚔ on 18 June 1918 in France
• Irmgard Madlene Martha Helene Gottliebe Maria (b. 1 October 1901 in Hanover)
• Franziska Madlene Gustave Elise Helene Gotthelfe Irmgard (b. 23 March 1910 in Berlin)
• Anna Germania Helene Irmgard Gottraue Madlene (1912–2005); ∞ Franz Karl Bernhard Freiherr von Lepel (1905–1954), lord of the manor (estates Neuendorf [Usedom] and Netzelkow)

Promotions

• 16 April 1881 Seconde-Lieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 14 February 1888 received new and improved Patent from 16 November 1879
• 19 September 1888 Premier-Lieutenant (1st Lieutenant)
• 14 September 1893 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 27 January 1902 Major
• 18 August 1908 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 13 September 1911 Oberst (Colonel)
• 4 July 1914 Generalmajor (Major General)
• 22 March 1918 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
• 12 June 1921 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) with Patent from 1 October 1920

Awards and decorations

Signature as commander of the 19th Infantry Division

• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4)
• Dutch Orden von Oranien-Nassau, Officer's Cross (NN4)
• Order of Henry the Lion (Herzoglich Braunschweigischer Orden Heinrichs des Löwen), Knight's Cross 1st Class (BrHL3a/BrH3a)
• House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis, Knight of Honour 1st Class with the Golden Crown (OV3a)
• Cross of Military Merit (Spain), White Decoration, 2nd Class (SMV2/SpMV2)
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Order of the Crown (Prussia), 3rd Class
• Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, IV. Class (JVAS4/JV4)
• Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross I. Class with Oak Leaves (BZL3a.mE/BZ3a.mE)
• Princely Reussian Cross of Honor (Fürstlich Reußisches Ehrenkreuz), 1st Class (REK1/REKj1)
• Order of the Red Eagle, 3rd Class with the Bow (mit der Schleife)
• Order of the Crown (Prussia), 2nd Class in June 1914
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on the War Ribbon in c. September 1916
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 2nd Class with the War Decoration (ÖMV2mKD/ÖM2K)
• Swords and Star to his Prussian Order of the Crown 2nd Class in c. August 1917
• Pour le Mérite on 9 April 1918 as Lieutenant General and Commander of the 19. Division/2. Armee
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords

Writings (excerpt)

• Yorck als Erzieher unseres Heeres ("Yorck as educator of our army"), lecture on General Johann "Hans" David Ludwig Graf Yorck von Wartenburg for the Military Society of Berlin from 4 November 1908

External links

• Walter von Hülsen (military career), Prussian Machine (Archive)