Generalleutnant Erich von Tschischwitz

[bob lembke]

I am interested in this officer. Early in the war (I believe) he was made the Chief of Staff (Ia) of the III. Reservekorps. I believe that someone else served in this post for a couple of months, and then von Tschischwitz took over this position, at the rank of major, with the dor of 10. 9. 08. (There is a slight chance that this was reversed; that he was the Ia on day one and left in late 1914.) When the war started he was the CO of the II. Battalion, IR 157, but in 1910 he was the Chief of Staff of ID 36.

In 1926 he was a Generalleurnant in the Reichwehr and the CO of the 2nd Infantry Division.

He also was the author of the Schlachten des Weltkrieges volume on the siege of Antwerp, which was a great fit, as he ran the besieging army corps as its Ia. He was one of the two officers that my grandfather, the Id of the III. RK, reported to. I have a letter from the latter which I think refers to my grand-father (Feuerwerk=Hauptmann d. Landwehr Heinrich Fuchs) having dinner with him in Belgium, at which dinner the CoS told grand-father that the whole Generalkommando were to be awarded the EK I and EK II, and von Beseler the Pour le Merite. I have a photo of the whole Generalkommando sporting their new medals.

Any help here would be appreciated. Specific questions:

1. Biographic info; where he was from, etc. I can track him thru my Ranglisten to some degree (I have about 15 covering 1888 thru 1918), but of course that info is thin. It is amazing that I actually have his first name!

2. When did he take over Ia of III. RK and when did he leave?

Any help at all will be appreciated.

Bob Lembke

[Paul Hederer]

I am interested in this officer. Early in the war (I believe) he was made the Chief of Staff (Ia) of the III. Reservekorps. I believe that someone else served in this post for a couple of months, and then von Tschischwitz took over this position, at the rank of major, with the dor of 10. 9. 08. (There is a slight chance that this was reversed; that he was the Ia on day one and left in late 1914.) When the war started he was the CO of the II. Battalion, IR 157, but in 1910 he was the Chief of Staff of ID 36.

In 1926 he was a Generalleurnant in the Reichwehr and the CO of the 2nd Infantry Division.

He also was the author of the Schlachten des Weltkrieges volume on the siege of Antwerp, which was a great fit, as he ran the besieging army corps as its Ia. He was one of the two officers that my grandfather, the Id of the III. RK, reported to. I have a letter from the latter which I think refers to my grand-father (Feuerwerk=Hauptmann d. Landwehr Heinrich Fuchs) having dinner with him in Belgium, at which dinner the CoS told grand-father that the whole Generalkommando were to be awarded the EK I and EK II, and von Beseler the Pour le Merite. I have a photo of the whole Generalkommando sporting their new medals.

Any help here would be appreciated. Specific questions:

1. Biographic info; where he was from, etc. I can track him thru my Ranglisten to some degree (I have about 15 covering 1888 thru 1918), but of course that info is thin. It is amazing that I actually have his first name!

2. When did he take over Ia of III. RK and when did he leave?

Any help at all will be appreciated.

Bob Lembke

Bob,

He was born in Kulm, West Prussia in 1870. That's about all I can add to what you've written.

Paul

[Borys]

Ahoj!

Is this any help:

http://www.1914-18.info/erster-weltkrieg.p...A1%3B&hl=de

I discovered that an Eleonora Tschischwitz married a certain Krzysztof Teofil Luck in 1722.

http://www.bkpan.poznan.pl/htbins/osoby.pl?03242702

And some ancestor of Tschischwitz was probably spelt Czyżewicz ...

Borys

Edited 12 December , 2006 by Borys

[Borys]

Ahoj!

Another hit - in the area of Glatz in 1472 the local duke - Henry the Elder of Podiebrad gave Mittelwalde to Baltazar von Tschischwitz (also spelt Schischwitz on that site - either typo or spelling not fixed yet). So you have another lead - Silesia.

Borys

[bob lembke]

Borys and Paul;

Many thanks for the information. I have tracked him through my 15-odd Ranglisten and have got a lot of detail of a limited sort.

I have come across a question that someone may understand. I found, as I summarized it:

"The 1910 Dienstaltersliste (p. 29) has him on the General Staff, with a dor for captain of 22. 3. 02., for 1st. lieutenant of 22. 3. 95., and for lieutenant of 17. 1. 88. The 1912 Dienstaltersliste has the same info, described as assigned to the General Staff. The 1918 Dienstaltersliste associates him with the IR 157 (correct, this was his unit on the outbreak of the war), Gives his rank as Colonel of the Infantry with a date of his Patent des Dienstgrades of 18. 4. 17. (Letter code “L”), and the similar date for his patent as a lieutenant of 22. 3. 89."

There seems to be two different dor's ("date of rank"). For example, von Tschischwitz, for his dor as a 2nd lieutenant, of 17. 1. 88. from the 1910 and 1912 Dienstalterslisten, but the 1918 volume lists the date of his Patent des Dienstgrades of 22. 3. 89., or over 14 months later.

I have seen officers' Patents for sale on e-Bay, a nice certificate. Was the first dor the day the officer actually was promoted, and the second date the day he got his Patent, or it was signed, or what? 14 months is a long time. Was the Patent something like tenure? (And, is the signature the true signature of the Kaiser? I would guess that they are.)

My other Ranglisten give the date on which the state of the army was represented; the "long" Rangliste was generally a day in early May. My 1888 Rangiste does not seem to have such a date. I also notice that von Tschischwitz is not in the 1888 volume, although he seemingly made lieutenant on 17. 1. 88. Does this suggest that at this earlier time the day of status for that year's Rangliste was in January, possibly 1. 1. 88.?

Is anyone interested in my posting what I found across the various Ranglisten for this officer?

Bob Lembke

[Glenn J]

Bob,

it is certainly unusual for a Leutnant's Patent of seniorty to be changed so late in his career so perhaps a mistake in the 1918 Dienstaltersliste? Prior to 1901 the seniority of officers in the rank of Hauptmann and below was not published in the annual army list (Rangliste). However Captains' and Subaltern officers' seniority dates were published in the separate Dienstalterslisten and unofficial "Vollständige-Dienstalterslisten"

The date of seniority on the Patent is the effective day of the promotion. It was not uncommon for captains to receive an "improved" Patent in that rank usually on transfer to another regiment in order to even out the overall seniority across the branch of service but as noted above certainly unusual for a Leutnant.

I will check out General von Tschischwitz's career for you this evening.

Regards

Glenn

[Borys]

Ahoj!

Now that Glen mentioned it - reading about Polish officers I have come several times across mentions of "promoted to rank X with seniority counting from day Y". So maybe these two dates could be distinct?

The Austrians did use this system:

http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/gen9016.htm

"If more than one general received the rank on the same day they were further distinguished by a date of seniority which is shown in the following list by a separate date in brackets. "

BTW Glenn J. - are you THAT Glenn J.?

Borys

[Glenn J]

Hi Borys,

yes, same Glenn J

From around the turn of the century Leutnants in the Prussian Army if they were holders of the Abitur would have their seniority backdated up to two years on first commissioning. However I don't believe this to be the case here as General v. Tschischwitz was commissioned some considerable time before this practice was introduced.

Regards

Glenn

[Borys]

Ahoj!

I grovel in the dust before You!

I love your site. And through it's forum I found warships1 and discovered the world of AH stories and other nice things.

Borys

[SiegeGunner]

Could Glenn J perhaps introduce himself, for the benefit of those of us not fortunate enough to know his site already.

[Glenn J]

Bob,

everything I have shows a Sekonde-Lieutenant's Patent of 22.03.89. This makes perfect sense for a former cadet who invariably were commissioned in late March if directly commissioned from Groß-Lichterfelde.

He was born in Kulm, West Prussia on the 17th of May 1870. Following initial education in his parents' house he attended the Gymnasiums at Metz and Coblenz and then the cadet schools at Bensberg and Groß-Lichterfelde. He was commissioned into Grenadier-Regiment Graf Kleist von Nollendorf (1. Westpreußisches) Nr. 6 on 22 March 1889. From 2 Oct 1893 to 24 Sep 1895 he was the Battalion Adjutant and Legal Officer of II./G.R. 6. He attended the War Academy in Berlin from 1 Oct 1895 to 21 Jul 1898 being promoted to Premier-Lieutenant (without Patent) on 18.7.96, his Patent of seniority effective on 1.9.96. Gazetted on the 20th of March to be effective from the 1st of April 1899, he was attached for service for a year with the General Staff which was extended for a further year on the 22nd of March 1900 (effective 1st of April 1900). Again extended the following year on the 22nd of March 1901 he was definitively assigned to the General Staff on the 22nd of March 1902 with promotion to Hauptmann on the same date.

From 22 March 1901 to 30 Sep 1904 he was employed as a director of survey in the trigonometrical department of the mapping bureau. From 7 to 12 Sep 1902 he was an umpire attached to Kavallerie-Division B in the Kaiser Manouvres and from 11 to 15 September 1904 the intelligence officer on the staff of the 2. Garde-Infanterie-Division in that years Kaiser Manouvres. From 15 Sep 1904 effective 1 Oct 1904 he was assigned to the General Staff of the XV. Armeekorps until 31 Mar 1905 followed by a further tour as a director of survey in the trigonometrical department of the mapping bureau until 19 Mar 1906.

On the 20th of March 1906 he was transferred as a supernumery officer to the 4. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 becoming the company commander of 1./I.R. 72 on 10 Apr 1906. He returned to the General Staff (mapping bureau) on 1 Oct 1907 being promoted to Major on 10.9.08. He was assigned to the General Staff of the 36. Division on 1 Oct 1909. Assigned to the General Staff of the XVII. Armeekorps on 18 October 1911 and to the Staff of the Inspector General of Transport on 13 Feb 1912 he became the battalion commander of II./4. Schlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 157 on 17 Feb 1914.

He assumed the appointment of 1st General Staff Officer of III. Reserve-Korps on mobilisation until appointed as Chief of Staff of XXIII Reserve-Korps on 27 October 1914. Already promoted to Oberstleutnant on 19 Aug 14 (19.8.14 Aa) he remained with XXIII Reserve-Korps until 27 Feb 1918 being awarded the Orden pour le mérite on 9 Nov 1917. Appointed as COS of 2. Armee he was awarded the oakleaves to his OPLM on 23 Mar 1918. His final wartime appointment was that of commander of the 172. Infanterie-Brigade from 1 Sep 1918 until 26 Feb 1919. On the 4 May 1919 he became commander of the reinforced East

Prussian Volunteer Brigade which was formed as a reserve by OHL at Graudenz for offensive

tasks. Following the dissolution of this brigade he became commander of the 1. Landesjäger-Regiment (Landesjägerkorps) in Halle. Definitively accepted into the Reichsheer on 1 Oct 1919 he was appointed as inspector of transport until August 1921 when he became president of the Air Peace Commission. Promoted to Generalmajor on 1 Apr 1921 he was further promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 Feb 1923 on appointment as commander of the 2. Division and commander of Wehrkreis II in Stettin. Appointed as commander in chief of Group I in Berlin on 1 Feb 1927 he was promoted to General der Infanterie on 1 Nov the same year. He retired with the right to wear the uniform of the 8. (preuß.) Infanterie-Regiment on 31 Mar 1929.

The general died on the 26 Sep 1958 in Berlin.

Mick,

I don't usually "plug" my own site on other people's forums but it can be found at:

My Webpage

The link to the forum is on the title page.

Regards

Glenn

[bob lembke]

Glenn;

Absolutely fantastic!

I only saw this now; I am deep in do-do with a serious computer problem, and have limited use of my wife's lap-top until I sort the problem out.

I had thought that the chief of staff and the 1st general staff officer were one and the same, but recently saw something that suggested that this might not be the case. Which of these was the "Ia" or "I(a)"? I may have fallen a'foul of using a non-German source on the organization of a Generalkommando.

These two posts on the staff, may be the reason why I thought that there were two chiefs of staff of III. RK during this period.

If Tschischwitz was the 1st general staff officer, do you know who was the chief of staff? I have a picture of the staff, standing, I believe, on the steps of the city hall of Ghent; about 18 are wearing two new medals, I think the EK I and EK II; von Beseler is sporting his pour le merite. Von Beseler and one other officer standing next to him clearly, by "body English", seem to be the top dogs. (The second guy sort of looks like Kirschner in the famous poster, a really proud, strutting pose.) My grand-father and his aide are also in the photo and recognizable. My father told me that g-f's aide was the district attorney (US speak for public prosecutor) of Thorn, but I do not know his name. Only about five of the say 25 are wearing swords, including my g-f's aide; even less, including my g-f, is wearing a pistol.

Bob Lembke

[Glenn J]

Bob,

an "instruction concerning the management of Prussian Troops dated the 12th of July 1828 regulated the division of responsibilty of higher formation staffs. As such, the staff of a Prussian Corps consisted of 4 main sections:

Section I or General Staff: Under the 1st General Staff Officer (Ia)

Section II or Adjutancy: Under the senior adjutant (IIa)

Section III or Judge advocates department (III)

Section IV or Intendance including the:

Intendant (IVa)

Corps Medical Officer (IVb)

Padre (IVc)

The Chief of Staff was responsible for the direction of the entire staff whereas the 1st General Staff officer headed up the General Staff Section of the staff (I) with responisibility for movement, quartering and exercises (and of course in war - operations).

The Chiefs of Staff of III. Reserve-Korps in 1914 were:

Oberst Paul Meister from 2 Aug 1914 followed by Oberst Ernst Kabisch on 29 Sep 1914.

Regards

Glenn