Ernst von Below was a German general who served in the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

and participated

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He also commanded several Sea Battalions and briefly headed the

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

Early life and early military service

Ernst von Below was born on 17 April 1863 in Königsberg as the son of Prussian Generalmajor Ferdinand von Below. After being a cadet he joined the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

in 1881 as a Fähnrich, and a year later was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry. He entered the

Prussian Staff College The Prussian Staff College, also Prussian War College (german: Preußische Kriegsakademie) was the highest military facility of the Kingdom of Prussia to educate, train, and develop general staff officers. Location It originated with the ''Ak ...

in 1890 and was promoted to premier lieutenant in the same year. In 1894, von Below was promoted to

Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...

. In 1899 he was commandeered to the Infantry Training Battalion, attached to the 1st Foot Guard Regiment. Later he transferred to the 4th Guards Grenadiers as a company commander. From 1 April 1903 von Below served as an adjutant to Prince Joachim Albert of Prussia. On 6 May 1903 he was assigned as his personal adjutant and on 27 January 1904 he was promoted to major. Von Below left the staff on 13 September 1906, when he was appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 91st Infantry Regiment. On 4 April 1908 he became commander of the 2nd Sea Battalion in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

, and later would lead his unit in

Tsingtao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 20 March 1911. After his return to Germany, from 22 March 1912 von Below was in command of the 3rd Sea Battalion in

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

. On 27 January 1913 he transferred to the 1st Guard Grenadier Regiment. With his promotion to colonel on 1 October 1913, he was appointed commander of the

153rd Infantry Regiment The 153d Infantry Regiment (First Arkansas) is a United States infantry regiment, currently represented in the Arkansas Army National Guard by the 1st Battalion, 153rd Infantry, headquartered at Malvern, Arkansas, and 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infan ...

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

. Six months later von Below moved to the

Reichskolonialamt The Imperial Colonial Office (german: Reichskolonialamt) was a governmental agency of the German Empire tasked with managing German colonial empire, Germany's overseas territories. Dissolved after World War I, on 20 February 1919 the Imperial Col ...

as nominal commander of the

World War I

After World War I broke out von Below became commander of the 27th Infantry Regiment, and shortly later successively of the 26th and 39th Reserve Infantry brigades. In May 1915 he was chosen to lead the new 2nd Jäger Brigade. In 1917 he was promoted to

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

and became the commander of 200th Infantry Division. He was awarded the prestigious

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, 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 Or ...

on 24 November 1917, and received the oak leaves on 13 October 1918.

Post war and death

After war he got the character of a

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...

. On the ''Tannenbergtag'', the commemoration day of the

Battle of Tannenberg The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russi ...

, in 1939 he got the character of a

General der Infanterie 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 Imper ...

. He died in 1955 in Schleusingen.

References

1863 births 1955 deaths Military personnel from Königsberg German Army generals of World War I Major generals of Prussia German untitled nobility Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class Schutztruppe personnel Below family {{germany-mil-bio-stub