Hugo Friedrich Philipp Johann Freiherr von Freytag-Loringhoven (May 20, 1855 – October 19, 1924) was a

Prussian 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 e ...

general and a writer on military matters, being awarded the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by 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 Order of the Red Eag ...

in 1916 for his work as a historian.

Biography

He was born on May 20, 1855 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, the son of a diplomat, Karl von Freytag-Loringhoven (1811–1882). His family was

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

and originated in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

. He entered the Imperial German army in 1877, a few years after German unification, as a lieutenant. From 1887 to 1896 he taught military history at the

Prussian Military Academy 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 ''A ...

in Berlin. He then worked for a while for

Alfred von Schlieffen Graf Alfred von Schlieffen, generally called Count Schlieffen (; 28 February 1833 – 4 January 1913) was a German field marshal and strategist who served as chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906. His name lived on in t ...

, later being described as "Schlieffen's favorite disciple",Robert E. Foley, Note 40, and in 1907 took command of the 12th Regiment of Grenadiers at

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

. In 1910 he became ''Oberquartiermeister'', and in December 1913 took command of the 22nd Division at Cassel. With the mobilisation of troops in 1914 for

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 became firstly a liaison officer with the Austro-Hungarian forces. He then returned to the Supreme Army Command as ''Stellvertretender Generalquartiermeister'' (Deputy Quartermaster-General), where he became an unofficial adviser to

Erich von Falkenhayn General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed on 29 August 1916 after t ...

although he bemoaned his lack of influence. He briefly led the 9th Reserve Corps, then the 17th Reserve Division, and in September 1916 went back to the Supreme Army Command. On April 18, 1918 he was promoted to General of the Infantry. He died on October 19, 1924 in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

Publications

His published works include: * ''Deductions from the World War'' the English translation of ''Folgerungen aus dem Weltkriege'' (1918)

Family

His son Leopold married the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

ist artist and poet

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven Elsa Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven (née Else Hildegard Plötz; (12 July 1874 – 14 December 1927) was a German-born avant-garde visual artist and poet, who was active in Greenwich Village, New York, from 1913 to 1923, where her radical self ...

References

Sources

* Antulio Joseph Echevarria, "General Staff Historian Hugo Freiherr von Freytag-Loringhoven and the Dialectics of German Military Thought", ''The Journal of Military History'', no 60, 1996. * * Bernd Freiherr Freytag v. Loringhoven, ''Freytag von Loringhoven: Eine Kurzgefasste Familiengeschichte'', Munich, 1986. 1855 births 1924 deaths German military historians Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) German male non-fiction writers German Army generals of World War I {{Germany-army-bio-stub

Biography

Publications

Family

See also

References

Sources