Heinrich Wilhelm Martin von Goßler (29 September 1841, in

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...

– 10 January 1927, in

Berlin-Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf (), an inner-city locality of Berlin, lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. History The vi ...

) was a

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 ...

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 Impe ...

and

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. He was a Knight of Justice (''Rechtsritter'') 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

He was descended from a family that probably originated from Gosel in the

Egerland The Egerland ( cs, Chebsko; german: Egerland; Egerland German dialect: ''Eghalånd'') is a historical region in the far north west of Bohemia in what is today the Czech Republic, at the border with Germany. It is named after the German name ''Eg ...

and emigrated to Gürth (now in

Bad Brambach Bad Brambach is a municipality in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany. It is the southernmost municipality in Saxony and also in what was formerly East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: ...

) before 1630. He was the son of Karl Gustav von Goßler (1810–1885), the ''Kanzler'' (in this case, provincial justice minister) of the province

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, legal advisor to the crown and President of the

Oberlandesgericht An ''Oberlandesgericht'' (plural – ''Oberlandesgerichte''; OLG, en, Higher Regional Court, or in Berlin ''Kammergericht'': KG) is a higher court in Germany. There are 24 OLGs in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They ar ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, and Sophie von Mühler (1816–1877), who was the daughter of the Prussian Justice minister Heinrich Gottlob von Mühler (1780–1857). This marriage produced four children: the Prussian Minister of State and Oberpräsident of the province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

(1838–1902), the Prussian Minister of War and General of the Infantry, Heinrich (1841–1927), the Prussian General of the Infantry, Konrad (1848–1933), and the Prussian Lieutenant General, Wilhelm von Goßler (1850–1928). On 31 August 1872, Gossler married Emma von Sperber (born 14 November 1848; died 3 October 1914), the daughter of the landowner Eugen von Sperber, and of Emilie Donalitius.

Military career

Goßler joined the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1860, became a

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 1861 and took part 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 ...

in 1866. He also fought in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871, with distinction. After the war, he was assigned to the Ministry of War as a

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 ...

until 1875. He then commanded a company in the 2nd Grenadier Regiment until 1878, when he was once again moved to the War Ministry, to the Department for Army Affairs. Here he was later made a member of the higher examination commission. In 1885 Goßler became a department head in the War Ministry. After being appointed a colonel in 1888, commander of the 3rd Guard Regiment in 1889 and a Major General and brigade commander in 1891, he was made Director of the General War Department in the War Ministry in October 1891 and simultaneously, representing the War Minister, a member of the Defence Commission. He was also the deputy plenipotentiary in the Bundesrat, chairman of the ''Reichsrayonkommission'' and a member of a disciplinary commission. Goßler was a Lieutenant General after 1895 and commanded the 25th Division in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

. On 14 August 1896 he was appointed Prussian Minister of War, and in September was also made the Prussian plenipotentiary in the Bundesrat. On 15 August 1903 he retired, having been made a General of the Infantry in 1899. § {{DEFAULTSORT:Gossler, Heinrich von 1841 births 1927 deaths German untitled nobility Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd 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 Military personnel from Saxony-Anhalt