Odd couple

[Glennj]

I referenced this chap in the Garde-Korps colours thread - Otto von Plüskow. Here we see "lofty" with his friend and Flügel-Adjutant, Major Hans von Boehn. Both Otto and Hans rose to very senior rank; General der Infanterie and General der Kavallerie respectively. They were both in their careers Flügel-Adjutants and in General von Boehn's case also a General à la suite. Although the then Major von Boehn looks rather diminutive in comparison to Major von Plüskow, one must remember that "der Lange Plüskow" stood at 6 feet eight inches (around 204 cm). I was amused to see a copy of the same photo captioned as the "Plüskow brothers". I should think about 1897

Regards
Glenn

 

[ccj]

Again I’m confused, on á la suite titles/appointments…. I thought Otto von Plüskow à la suite Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr.1

 

[Glennj]

Charles,

two different usages of the term à la suite:

1. A senior member of the Kaiser's entourage (Gefolge) ranking between a Flügel-Adjutant and a General-Adjutant usually in the rank of a Generalmajor - basically a very senior adjutant.

2. as an honorific. akin to a colonelcy in a specific regiment. Not quite as senior as a regimental "Chef" but very similar and with it the right to wear that regiment's uniform.

Two examples from the 1914 Rangliste:

Example 1. A page from the Kaiser's entourage. Here we see (unusually as a) Generalleutnant von Gontard ranking between the Flügel-Adjutants and the General-Adjutants.


Example 2.

Here, three generals honoured by being placed à la suite to the 3. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß.




Regards
Glenn

 

[ccj]

Thanks Glenn-

 

[IR 134]

Good evening.

Plüskow's height is indeed impressive, even by today's standards. In stark contrast is his human behavior:
Hans Wilhelm Fell, an officer in the Hessian IR 118, with distant family connections to Goethe, doesn't take kindly to Plüskow in his memoirs:

Book link:

Soldat im Kaiserreich 1904 - 1914: Erinnerungen des Grossherzoglich Hessischen Offiziers Hans Wilhelm Fell : Fell, Hans Wilhelm, Ippen, Dirk: Amazon.de: Bücher

Soldat im Kaiserreich 1904 - 1914: Erinnerungen des Grossherzoglich Hessischen Offiziers Hans Wilhelm Fell | Fell, Hans Wilhelm, Ippen, Dirk | ISBN: 9783959122474 | Kostenloser Versand für alle Bücher mit Versand und Verkauf duch Amazon.

www.amazon.de

Citation:
"What has always remained incomprehensible to me is the fact that a man like Plüskow, unsympathetic, even repulsive as a person and incapable as a higher leader, enjoyed the Kaiser's undiminished favor for many decades until his death. This rude commissary officer, devoid of any finer education and whose only outstanding quality was his gigantic stature, had no friend, not even among his comrades of the 1st Guards Foot, from which he had descended, bullied his unfortunate family so much that he drove his only son to suicide, and was hated by comrades, subordinates and superiors alike. Only imperial favor allowed him to rise to the rank of commanding general - how he earned it has always remained a mystery to everyone, even the initiates of the court, because his whole nature should have repelled the noble and sensitive mind of the monarch."

He even showed no mercy to the German aristocracy, such as when dealing with the later Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse.

"Ernst Ludwig was not very interested in military affairs,.....His lack of taste for military things was doubtless due to another factor. As a young hereditary prince, he was commanded to the Prussian 1st Guards Regiment in Potsdam for a year, and they made the serious mistake of assigning him to the life company, which at that time was under the command of Captain von Plüskow, who was generally feared and hated because of his brutal and ruthless severity was standing. Officers of the 1st Guards Regiment themselves told me that this company commander, whose sharpness often enough degenerated into outright rudeness, had harassed and downright insulted the young Hessian prince, who was perhaps not exactly a model soldier by the standards of the Prussian Guards, in such a way that There was great outrage throughout the regiment, since Ernst Ludwig was very popular with all his comrades at the time. Apparently, however, he was thoroughly driven out of any joy in being a soldier. But nothing could be done against this Plüskow, since he was a definite favorite of the Emperor and remained so until his death. He was known to the army as the longest officer of the entire German army, because he measured no less than 2.10 meters. Army corps, which he also led during the war, rose. At the same time, he lacked any strategic skills, indeed any leadership qualities at all, which one can expect from an officer as a soldier or as a human being. Anyone who has ever had anything to do with this monster, both physically and mentally, inevitably gets the impression that they are looking at a crude and uneducated mercenary officer from the Prussian army of the 18th century, who has risen from the grave and who only punishes his subordinates with a corporal cane knew how to treat. To officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted men, he used only the worst insults, which an officer, and later even a general, was not allowed to use. The only good thing is that, to the credit of the old army, this Herr von Plüskow was the only guy of this kind that both my father and I got to know in the course of our entire service. In 1910, the Kaiser appointed precisely this person to be the commander of the Grand Ducal Hessian Division, which, unfortunately, was his decision due to the military convention. Apart from the fact that General von Plüskow, as the dumbest recruit must have noticed, lacked any qualifications for such a high command post, it was also a tremendous tactlessness to force the commander of his troops on our Grand Duke the man of whom the Kaiser knew very well the relationship he had had with the hereditary prince, who was at his mercy. The outrage at this was so strong throughout Hesse, and especially in the officer corps, that various older officers toyed with the idea of retiring. As long as General von Plüskow was the division commander, the Grand Duke did not appear for any more parades or manoeuvres, and he also limited the gentleman's receptions to the absolutely necessary minimum. On this occasion the soft artist showed that he could be a prince and an upright man if necessary. We were delighted to hear from court circles that the Grand Duke never once asked the general to sit down, but always dealt with him standing. The relationship between the Grand Duke and the Emperor, which in itself was only very cold, naturally became irreversibly bad as a result of this quite incomprehensible blunder on the part of Berlin."

 

[Glennj]

Hi Stefan,

great stuff. Oh dear! “der lange Plüskow” does not seem to have been very popular

Regards
Glenn

 

[IR 134]

Hi Stefan,

great stuff. Oh dear! “der lange Plüskow” does not seem to have been very popular

Regards
Glenn

Not really.

One could say that Fell may have exaggerated, but there is one more eyewitness, this time even in the rank of general, who basically confirms things, albeit in a somewhat benevolent way. It is General Hugo von Freytag-Loringhoven, who was the divisional commander of 22nd Infantry-Division under Plüskow as corps commander. In his memoirs, published in 1922, he expresses himself as follows:


"Scheffer's place [as CO of XI. Army-Corps] was already taken on January 1, 1914 by General v. Plüskow. He came from the
1st Guards Regiment, had a full term of service spent with the Guard and was on duty for a longer period of time Aide-de-camp to the Emperor. He was in the army the tallest officer. In it received the XI. Army Corps to the commanding [general] a man of quite gentle disposition full of benevolence for his subordinates, with a thoroughly comradely disposition. Same as his amiable wife, born v. Seydewitz, had he delights in harmless companionship. The traffic between our houses soon became lively and friendly.
Official General v. Plüskow was not always an easy tolerable personality. He couldn´t let go his Potsdamer notions [in some other memoirs I read he was Potsdamerized ]
I often got carried away meaning that we both, he and I, really represent sentants of the type of the two guards regiments, which we came from. The requirements that Plüskow placed on the troop in formal terms, were not easy to fulfill, because the human material just wasn't there everywhere the same as with a former body company of the 1st Guards Regiment. Nevertheless, the troops was with commendable zeal and on the whole tried with success to suffice him, which he also acknowledged, It is significant for the obliging obedience that is in our old armies ruled that Plüskow was able to assert himself in this way. He could occasionally become abusive, without actually meaning it in a bad way. Same as some others
hidden in him under external brusqueness a friendly heart. He was basically a soft nature, who got on the nerves of the long war despite the greatest personal bravery. He doesn't have it to the last endured. The long man startled the men often in such a way that they doesn't say a word in reply to his question found, and the officers often had to be sent there comfort, the utterance of their commanding general not to be taken too tragically, you wouldn't even know which one excellent human being he is basically. General v. Plüskow stressed discipline as one over and over again, priority of our army over all others. I was in this one completely agree with him in that regard, just didn't think sot he nature of the discipline is that some externals on the were driven to the top, and I once offered him occasionally made aware that he himself
the laboriously erected work of the discipline most endangered if he even put senior officers in front of their censure, and how much he, despite the best of intentions, often interfere with willingness to serve. In the fact that he doesn't only answered calmly, but didn't take it amiss
revealed his fundamentally noble nature. The General had a thoroughly healthy look for the terrain and for combat conditions; nevertheless was tactics not his strongest side, here he was more than others depend on their general staff officers."