Ernst Karl Ferdinand von Prittwitz und Gaffron (20 January 1833 – 24 February 1904) was a Royal

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n Lieutenant General and Knight of Justice of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

Family and private life

Von Prittwitz was born in Posen, Prussia (modern Poznań, Poland), he originated from the old noble house of ''von Prittwitz'' and was the son of Prussian General of the Infantry and Director of Fortifications

Moritz Karl Ernst von Prittwitz Moritz Karl Ernst von Prittwitz German source for this Article (9 February 1795, Gut Kreisewitz in Alzenau, Lower Silesia – 21 October 1885 in Berlin) is a Royal Prussian Lieutenant-General of Infantry, who supervised the building of the l ...

and of Domicilie von Colbe. On 26 November 1885 he married Franziska Freiin von Türckheim zu Altdorf (b. 14 June 1855 in Karlsruhe; d. 8 May 1936 ibidem), daughter of Grand Ducal Badenese

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Br ...

and land owner Hans Freiherr von Türckheim zu Altdorf, Lord of Altdorf and Orschweier (Lahr District, Baden), and of Fanny Freiin von Hardenberg (House of Ober-Wiederstedt). Von Prittwitz was a Knight of Justice in the

Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

. He died in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Military career

In 1851 von Prittwitz joined the Guard

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

in Berlin, became

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in 1853 and

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in 1861. In the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

against Denmark he was assigned to General

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Helmuth is both a masculine German given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name; *Helmuth Theodor Bossert (1889–1961), German art historian, philologist and archaeologist *Helmuth Duckadam (born 1959), Romanian forme ...

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of 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 ...

. Here he participated in

Wyk auf Föhr ( ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Wik'', ''a Wik'', or ''Bi a Wik''; da, Vyk på Før) is the only town on Föhr, the second largest of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. Like the entire island it belongs to the distric ...

in the capture of

Otto Christian Hammer Otto Christian Hammer (18 August 1822 – 10 March 1892) was a Danish naval officer who participated in the First Schleswig War and the Second Schleswig War. After a successful campaign along the west coast of the Duchy of Schleswig in the Firs ...

and on 29 June 1864 took part in the crossing of the sound to the isle of

Als Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

. Promoted to Captain with 32 years of age in 1865, he commanded a battery of Guard Artillery at Berlin since 1867. At the onset of 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 he was commander of a mounted Guard battery and as such participated in the campaign in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. This battery was assigned to the newly formed Hanoverian Field Artillery Regiment No. 10. Prittwitz was thus deployed to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

in autumn 1866 but only after three quarters of a year he returned to Berlin. After the war Prittwitz undertook a number of journeys abroad, including England, France, Spain and Italy, and in 1869 he went to Romania as counselor of Prince Frederick III of Hohenzollern with whom he travelled a part of the Orient. In the Franco-Prussian War Prittwitz took part in the battles of

Gravelotte Gravelotte (; german: Gravelotte) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, 11 km west of Metz. It is part of the functional area (''aire d'attraction'') of Metz. Its population is 827 (2019). From 1871 ...

, Sedan —here he was wounded by a grenade— and in the conquest of

Montmédy Montmédy (, german: Mittelberg) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Citadel of Montmédy In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy soon became the ...

. His battery was the first to reach the hill of St. Privat near Gravelotte and fiercely fought the French, which not only caused designated emperor Wilhem I, but also

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

to congratulate. He was promoted to Major in 1872, became Colonel in 1883 and was made commanding officer of the 7th field artillery brigade in 1886. A Major General since 1888, Prittwitz retired in 1890.

Honours

Prittwitz was made an honorary citizen of

Orders and decorations

References

Bibliography

Almanach de Gotha The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

, ''Adelige Häuser A Band. VI'' (in German), p 334, vol. 29 in total, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1962, . *Von Prittwitz, Robert: "''Das v. Prittwitz'sche Adels-Geschlecht''" (The noble House of von Prittwitz) (in German), p. 145f., Verlag Wilh. Gottl. Korn, Breslau 1870. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prittwitz Und Gaffron, Ernst Von 1833 births 1904 deaths Military personnel from Poznań Lieutenant generals of Prussia People from the Grand Duchy of Posen People from the Province of Silesia Silesian nobility Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 1st class Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Crosses of Military Merit