Alexander August Wilhelm von Pape (2 February 1813 – 7 May 1895) was a

Royal Prussian The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: C ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

Colonel-General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

with the special rank of

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...

Biography

Pape was born in Berlin. He started his military career in 1830 as

Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, en, officer cadet; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was establi ...

of the 2nd Guards Infantry Regiment. In 1856, as a Major, he was appointed to head the cadet school in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, and in 1860 he became a battalion commander. In the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866, Pape was a Colonel commanding the 2nd Guards Infantry Regiment, which he had led since 1863, and then the 2nd Guards Infantry Brigade. On 17 September 1866, Pape was awarded the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Ea ...

for his services during the war. On 31 December 1866 he was promoted to Generalmajor. On the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, he was given command of the 1st Guards Infantry Division which took St.-Privat-la-Montagne on 18 August, then successfully fought in the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies ...

, leading to the Siege of Paris and the final victory. In 1880 Pape was promoted to

General of the Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German I ...

and given command of the

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

. In 1881 he led the III Corps and in 1884 he was appointed to the lead of the Guards Corps. In September 1888, Pape was relieved of this position and promoted to the rank of Colonel General with the rank of Field Marshal. He held the position of Governor of Berlin and was in charge of the military within the

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

. By 1885 he was a member of the Landesverteidigungskommission. Pape retired in January 1895. He died shortly thereafter on 7 May in his hometown of Berlin. Pape was highly respected to that by Emperor

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

, who called him "The role model of a traditional Prussian military leader". The street "General-Pape-Straße" in

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park call ...

was named in honor of Pape by a decree of the emperor. A train station of the

Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ring ...

was named "Station Papestraße" until 27 May 2006, when it was renamed

Berlin Südkreuz Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this status ...

to match with similar names like Ostkreuz and Westkreuz.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:

Literature

Kurt von Priesdorff Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

: ''Soldatisches Führertum.'' Band 8, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, ohne Jahr, pp. 258–266. * Bernhard von Poten: '' Pape, Alexander von''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 749 f.

References

External links

*http://www.pourlemerite.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Pape, Alexander August Wilhelm von 1813 births 1895 deaths German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Prussian people of the Austro-Prussian War Military personnel from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Colonel generals of Prussia 19th-century Prussian military personnel Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 1st class Grand Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Knights Commander of the Military Order of William Recipients of the Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg-Schwerin), 1st class Grand Crosses of the Order of Aviz Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword