Rudolph Bodo Hans von Kirchbach (born 22 June 1849 in Auerbach (Vogtland) – died 23 July 1928 in Dresden) was a Royal Saxon army officer who was a Generaloberst in the First World War and awarded the Pour le Mérite.

Life and military career

He came from the Saxon nobility. Kirchbach and was the son of the Oberland Forest Master Carl von Kirchbach (1799–1893), Privy Council of Finance and Saxon royal chamberlain, and his second wife Josephine von Bodenhausen (1825–1898). Kirchbach attended private school in Auerbach and the higher secondary school of Bezzenberger and Opelt in Dresden. He joined the army on 1 April 1863, at the age of 14 years, spending 3 years as a cadet in the Royal Saxon Artillery School in Dresden. In May 1866, Kirchbach was assigned to the

19th (2nd Royal Saxon) Foot Artillery 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

and with this regiment took park 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 ...

. He was promoted in July 1866 to the rank of

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 ...

and in August joined the 12th (1st Royal Saxon) Field Artillery. He served with this regiment in the Franco-Prussian War and won the Iron Cross (1870). In 1872, he was promoted to first lieutenant and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1877. Between 1878 and 1881 he served as a regimental and brigade adjutant and as adjutant to the King Albert of Saxony. In 1881, he was appointed battery commander in the 19th (2nd Royal Saxon) Foot Artillery Regiment. He served from 1884 to 1889 as an instructor at the Artillery and Engineering School in Berlin, gaining promotion to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1887. In 1889 he returned to the 12th (1st Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Regiment as commander of the 1st '' Abteilung'' (equivalent to Battalion). There, in 1891, he was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Kirchbach was transferred to the Saxon War Department in 1893, and became a colonel in 1895, when he was placed in command of the 32nd (3rd Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Regiment. In 1899, now a

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 ...

, he was commander of the 40th (4th Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Brigade, and in 1901, commander of the 23rd (1st Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Brigade. In 1904 Kirchbach was promoted to Generalleutnant and appointed commander of the 32nd (3rd Royal Saxon) Division. In 1907 he was appointed General der Artillerie and commanding general of the XIX (2nd Royal Saxon) Corps. Thus, he held one of the three highest positions in the Saxon army during peacetime. Kirchbach received this post even though he had not previously held a general staff position. King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony appointed him in 1912 "à la suite" of the 32nd (3rd Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Regiment. After nearly six years as corps commander, Kirchbach retired at the end of November 1913.

World War I

Within months of retirement, the First World War broke out. Kirchbach was reactivated and was assigned as the commanding general of the XII (Royal Saxon) Reserve Corps, part of the predominantly Saxon 3rd Army on the right wing of the forces that invaded France as part of the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914. He served with this corps on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

over the next three years. He fought in 1914 in the First Battle of the Marne, in 1915 in the First Battle of Champagne, in 1916 in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

and at the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

at Ypres in 1917. For his service as a corps commander, he was decorated with the Pour le Mérite on 11 August 1916. In December 1917, Kirchbach moved to Eastern Front, where he became commander of '' Armee-Abteilung D'', replacing his cousin General der Infanterie Günther Graf von Kirchbach. In January 1918 he was promoted to the rank of Generaloberst. ''Armee-Abteilung D'' was dissolved in October 1918, at which point he retired again.

Later life

With the dissolution of '' Armee-Abteilung D'' in early October 1918, he retired after a total of 52 years of service. He lived in Dresden until his death on 23 July 1928. He is buried at the Nordfriedhof Cemetery.

Awards

* Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Saxony''Rangliste der Königlich Sächsischen Armee für das Jahr 1912'', Hrsg.: Sächsisches Kriegsministerium, Abteilung für die persönlichen Angelegenheiten, C. Heinrich, Dresden 1912, S.13 * Grand Cross of the Albert Order mit golden Star and Swords * Saxon Service award Cross * Grand Cross of the Bavarian Military Merit Order * Honorary Grand Commander of the Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis * Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle * Order of the Crown (Prussia) 2nd Class with Star * Iron Cross (1870) 2nd Class * Cross of Honour (Reuß Younger Line) 1st Class * Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Order of the White Falcon * Grand Cross of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order * Grand Cross of the Order of Frederick * Spanish Grand Cross of the Military Order of Merit * Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus * Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class * Iron Cross (1914) 1st Class *

Military Order of St. Henry The Military Order of St. Henry (''Militär-St. Heinrichs-Orden'') was a military order of the Kingdom of Saxony, a member state of the German Empire. The order was the oldest military order of the states of the German Empire. It was founded on O ...

** Knight's Cross on 9 September 1914 ** Commander 2nd Class on 9 October 1915 ** Commander 1st Class on 28 August 1916 * Pour le Mérite on 11 August 1916

Family

In Dresden on 29 September 1873, Kirchbach married Margaretha von Pawel-Rammingen (born 17 October 1852 in Braunschweig, died 13 September 1931 in Dresden), the daughter of the

Duke of Brunswick Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

's Chamberlain and Rittmeister, Albert von Pawel-Rammingen and his wife Elisabeth Martini. They had a son, Hans-Karl von Kirchbach (1876–1946), who died in late 1946 in Dresden in the Russian Central Prison, and a daughter, Elizabeth von Kirchbach (1874–1946).

Glossary

*''Armee-Abteilung'' or Army Detachment in the sense of "something detached from an Army". It is not under the command of an Army so is in itself a small Army. *''Armee-Gruppe'' or Army Group in the sense of a group within an Army and under its command, generally formed as a temporary measure for a specific task. *''Heeresgruppe'' or

Army Group An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...

in the sense of a number of armies under a single commander.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchbach, Hans von 1849 births 1928 deaths People from Auerbach (Vogtland) People from the Kingdom of Saxony Colonel generals of Saxony German Army generals of World War I Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Grand Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 2nd class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Grand Crosses of Military Merit Grand Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War People of the Austro-Prussian War Military personnel from Saxony