List of German field marshals explained

Field marshal (de|[[Generalfeldmarschall]]) was usually the highest military rank in various German armed forces. It had existed, under slightly different names, in several German states since 1631. After the unification of Germany it was the highest military rank of the Imperial German Army and later in the Wehrmacht until it was abolished in 1945.

The vast majority of the people promoted to field marshal won major battles in wars of their time. Field marshals played a compelling and influential role in military matters, were tax-exempt, members of the nobility, equal to government officials, under constant protection or escort, and had the right to directly report to the royal family. In the Prussian military tradition, which set the tone for the 19th century and the German Empire, field marshals could only be promoted in wartime and the royal family was excluded, both resulting in the creation of the rank of colonel general with the rank of general field marshal (de|Generaloberst mit dem Range eines Generalfeldmarschalls) in 1854. Both restrictions would eventually end with the first royals being promoted during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and later honorary promotions to foreign monarchs would follow. Adolf Hitler effectively disregarded the wartime prerequisite by two promotions in 1936 and 1938, though all subsequent promotions were during wartime.

Electorate (1356–1806) and Kingdom of Saxony (1806–1918)

NameDate of promotionBirth and DeathPortraitReference
Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg1583–1641[1]
Francis Albert of Saxe-Lauenburg1598–1642
Rudolf Graf von Marzin1585–1645[2]
Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein1605–76
Joachim Rüdiger of Goltz1620–88[3]
Heino Heinrich Graf von Flemming1632–1706
Hans Adam von Schöning1641–96
Jeremias of ChauvetUnknown–1699[4]
Heinrich VI Reuß zu Obergreiz1649–97
Adam Heinrich von SteinauUnknown–1712
Georg Benedikt von Ogilvy1651–1710
Jacob Heinrich von Flemming1667–1728
Christoph August of Wackerbarth1662–1734[5]
Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels1685–1746[6]
Frederick Augustus Rutowsky1702–64
Johann Georg, Chevalier de Saxe1704–74[7]
Frederick of Anhalt-Dessau1705–81
Albert of Saxony1828–1902[8]
Georg of Saxony1832–1904

Brandenburg-Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1870)

NameDate of promotionBirth and DeathPortraitReference
Otto Christoph von Sparr1599–1668
John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau1627–93
Georg von Derfflinger1606–95
Alexander Hermann, Count of Wartensleben1650–1734[9]
Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau1676–1747[10]
Carl Philipp, Reichsgraf von Wylich und Lottum1650–1719[11]
Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten1661–1728[12]
Dubislav Gneomar von Natzmer1654–1739
Albrecht Konrad Finck von Finckenstein1660–1735[13]
Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow1678–1739
Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin1684–1757[14]
Caspar Otto von Glasenapp1664–1747[15]
Samuel von Schmettau1684–1751[16]
Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst1690–1747[17]
Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau1700–51[18]
Friedrich Wilhelm von Dossow1669–1758[19]
Henning Alexander von Kleist1677–1749[20]
1682–1759
Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau1702–69
James Francis Edward Keith1696–1758[21]
Hans von Lehwaldt1685–1768[22]
Prince Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau1712–60[23]
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel1721–92[24]
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick1735–1806[25]
Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf1724–1816[26]
Alexander von Knobelsdorff1723–99[27]
Ludwig Karl von Kalckstein1725–1800[28]
Friedrich Adolf Graf von Kalckreuth1737–1818[29]
Wilhelm René de l'Homme de Courbière1733–1811[30]
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher1742–1819[31]
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington1769–1852[32]
Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf1762–1823[33]
Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg1759–1830[34]
August Neidhardt von Gneisenau1760–1831[35]
Hans Ernst Karl, Graf von Zieten1770–1848[36]
Karl Freiherr von Müffling1775–1851[37]
Hermann von Boyen1771–1848[38]
Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck1768–1848[39]
Karl Friedrich Emil zu Dohna-Schlobitten1784–1859[40]
Friedrich Graf von Wrangel1784–1877[41]
Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia1828–85
Prince Frederick William of Prussia1831–88

German Empire (1871–1918)

NameDate of promotionBirth and DeathPortraitReference
1796–1884[42]
1796–1877[43]
Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke1800–91[44]
Albert, Crown Prince of Saxony1828–1902[45]
1803–79[46]
1809–85[47]
1810–1900[48]
Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony1832–1904
Prince Albert of Prussia1837–1906[49]
Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen1817–95[50]
Franz Joseph I of Austria1830–1916[51]
1832–1904[52]
1836–1919[53]
1833–1912[54]
1828–1908[55]
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn1850–1942[56]
Carol I of Romania1839–1914[57]
1833–1913[58]
George V of the United Kingdom1865–1936
Constantine I of Greece1868–1923[59]
1847–1934[60]
1846–1921[61]
Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen1856–1936[62]
1849–1945[63]
Ludwig III of Bavaria1845–1921[64]
1852–1925[65]
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria1861–1948[66]
Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire1844–1918
William II of Württemberg1848–1921[67]
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria1869–1955[68]
Prince Leopold of Bavaria1846–1930[69]
Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg1865–1939[70]
Charles I of Austria1887–1922[71]
1848–1918[72]
1847–1920[73]

Weimar Republic (1918–33)

After the loss of the First World War, Germany was transformed into what became known as the Weimar Republic, which was subject to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. It required the reduction of the German Army to 100,000 men, a reduction of the German Navy, and the abolition of the German Air Force. As a result of the new military arrangements, there were no field marshals created during the Weimar Republic.

See also

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Irmer 2005, pp. 5, 35.
  2. Guthrie 2003, p. 48.
  3. Roberts & Tucker 2005, p. 790.
  4. Glozier & Onnekink 2007, p. 209.
  5. Phillips 1871, p. 943.
  6. Long 1844, p. 360.
  7. Carlyle 2002, p. 709.
  8. Riley 2014, p. 232.
  9. Gruyter 2006, p. 355.
  10. Paret & Morgan 2014, p. 391.
  11. König 1789, p. 434.
  12. Johannes 2004, p. 34.
  13. Colby & Williams 1906, p. 620.
  14. Tucker 2009, p. 239.
  15. Ohm & Boehlke & Boehlke 1997, p. 6.
  16. Lund 1999, p. 182.
  17. Alexeevna 2007, p. 236.
  18. Siebigk 1883, pp. 352, 356.
  19. Siebigk 1883, pp. 364, 365.
  20. Anton Balthasar König, Henning Alexander von Kleist,Biographisches Lexikon aller Helden und Militärpersonen: T. G-L, A. Wever, 1789, pp. 275–276. Accessed 26 September 2015.
  21. MacKillop & Murdoch 2003, p. 103.
  22. Siebigk 1883, pp. 166, 167.
  23. Ross 1997, p. 134, 135.
  24. Ballard 2011, p. 54.
  25. Debrett 1836, p. 151.
  26. Stoker 2014, p. 52.
  27. Bruce & Stanard 1958, p. 88.
  28. Friedländer 1882, pp. 18-19.
  29. Phillips 1871, p. 378.
  30. Fischer 1907, p. 50.
  31. Leggiere 2014, p. 535.
  32. Book: James William Edmund Doyle. James William Edmund Doyle. The Official Baronage of England: Showing the Succession, Dignities, and Offices of Every Peer from 1066 to 1885 . 3 . 1886 . Longmans Green and Co. . London . 615–620 . Wellington . https://archive.org/stream/officialbaronag02doylgoog#page/n636/mode/2up .
  33. Siebigk 1883, p. 127.
  34. Droysen 1851, p. 158.
  35. Gneisenau & Marston 1815, pp. 1, 8.
  36. Veve 1992, p. 30.
  37. Muffling 1997, p. 174.
  38. Parkinson 2000, p. 259.
  39. Jensen & Rothstein 2000, p. 110.
  40. Siborne 1895, p. 96.
  41. Röhl 1996, p. 274.
  42. Chisholm & Garvin 1926, p. 405.
  43. Hughes 2009, p. 423.
  44. Heal 2012, p. 206.
  45. Maitland 1762, p. 24.
  46. Large 2007, p. 2.
  47. Marrs 2010, p. 25.
  48. Darmstaedter 2008, p. 414.
  49. Burke 2012, p. 17.
  50. Hakim 1995, p. 65.
  51. Murad 1968, p. 61.
  52. Clarke 2000, p. 12.
  53. Ross 1997, p. 452.
  54. Hahnke 2012, p. 47.
  55. Steinberg 2011, p. 407.
  56. Browne 2013, p. 105.
  57. Roberts & Tucker 2005, pp. 666, 667.
  58. Ehlert 2014, pp. 1, 2.
  59. Vatikiotis 2014, p. 1.
  60. Hargreaves 2010, p. 20.
  61. Roberts & Tucker 2005, p. 243.
  62. Riley 2013, p. 471.
  63. Sandler 2002, p. 523.
  64. Pawly 2012, p. 63.
  65. Rothenburg 1976, p. 143.
  66. Tague 2011, p. 359.
  67. Blumberg 1990, p. 238.
  68. Roberts & Tucker 2005, p. 1007.
  69. Roberts & Tucker 2005, p. 687.
  70. Roberts & Tucker 2005, p. 82.
  71. Wheatcroft & Keegan, 2014. p. 62.
  72. Roberts & Tucker 2005, p. 390.
  73. Pope & Wheal 2007, p. 476.

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