Oskar Walther Gerhard Julius Freiherr von Watter (born 2 September 1861 in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

; died 23 August 1939 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German ''

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 ...

'' who came from an old Pomeranian noble family.

World War I

In April 1913, von Watter took over the command of the 10th Brigade of Field Artillery, which he kept until 3 March 1915. With that force, General von Watter took part in the early fighting of

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 ...

in France. Subsequently, he took over the 54th Infantry Division, which he commanded until 5 March 1918. The division was initially also deployed in France, but it was later sent to fight on the eastern front by the River

Narew The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vis ...

, and from September 1915, he was again at the western front. On 23 December 1917, he was awarded the

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 ...

for military bravery. Until 11 November 1918, he was commander of the XXVI Reserve Corps. On 3 November 1918, a few days before the end of the war, he was awarded the oak leaves of the "Pour le Mérite" (signifying a second award).

Post-war

On the orders of the Reich government, units of the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

and

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...

, under the command of von Watter, marched into the Ruhr area on 2 April 1920 and suppressed the Ruhr Uprising, which was taking place. After extrajudicial shootings resultedin more than a thousand dead, on 12 April 1920 Von Watter issued the order that "illegal behaviour" would be dealt with nine days after

Reich President ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...

Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Eber ...

had forbidden the summary trials that were taking place. On his initiative, to the south of Horst Castle, in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

in 1934 a monument was erected in memory of the Freikorps soldiers who died in 1920 during the suppression of the Ruhr Uprising. Von Watter died on 23 August 1939 in

and was buried in the

Invalids' Cemetery The Invalids' Cemetery (german: Invalidenfriedhof) is one of the oldest cemeteries in Berlin. It was the traditional resting place of the Prussian Army, and is regarded as particularly important as a memorial to the German Wars of Liberation ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watter, Oskar von 1861 births 1939 deaths Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) 20th-century Freikorps personnel German Army generals of World War I Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery People from Ludwigsburg People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Barons of Germany Lieutenant generals of Württemberg Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Lieutenant generals of the Reichswehr Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg