Hans Carl Adolph von Carlowitz (25 March 1858 – 9 July 1928) served as a German army commander during the

First World War 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 fig ...

Early life

Coming from an ancient noble family, Carlowitz studied rights at the

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. In 1879, he entered the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. From 1885 to 1888 Carlowitz studied at the Prussian military academy in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and afterwards served on the Imperial German General Staff. By 1913, he had become

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and in May 1914, he succeeded Max von Hausen as Minister of War of the Kingdom of Saxony.

First World War

Upon mobilization in August 1914, Carlowitz received command of the German XXVII Reserve Corps as a

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 I ...

. His Corps participated in the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (french: Première Bataille des Flandres; german: Erste Flandernschlacht – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the Fir ...

, in which Carlowitz, without any previous battle experience, couldn't handle the stress. On 27 October he was relieved of command and sent on sick leave. One month later he returned to service as commander of the 12th Reserve Division. In August 1915, he was sent to the Russian Front at the head of the III Reserve Corps with which he fought against the Russian Lake Naroch Offensive. In August 1917, he returned to the Western Front to lead the XIX (2nd Royal Saxon) Corps. He participated with success in the

Battle of the Lys (1918) The Battle of the Lys, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, was fought from 7 to 29 April 1918 and was part of the German spring offensive in Flanders during the First World War. It was originally planned by General Erich Ludendorff as O ...

, and became commander in August 1918 of the 9th Army until it was dissolved on 18 September 1918. He then took command of the 2nd Army, which fought against the Fourth British Army between Cambrai and Saint Quentin. After the end of the war, he retired from the army. He died in 1928 and was buried in the

Nordfriedhof (Dresden) The Nordfriedhof ("Northern Cemetery") in Dresden is the former military cemetery of the capital of Saxony, now used as a public cemetery. The Nordfriedhof is in the district of Albertstadt and is situated to the north-east of the inner city, nea ...

Esther von Kirchbach Esther von Kirchbach, (née von Carlowitz; 26 May 1894 – 19 February 1946) was a German journalist, poet and chaplain of the Confessing Church. Personal life Esther was the eldest daughter of four children of Adolph von Carlowitz, Saxon ...

was one of his 4 children.

Sources

SGVSachsen Digital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlowitz, Adolph von 1858 births 1928 deaths Saxon generals German Army generals of World War I Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) People from Riesa Military personnel from Saxony