PEEBLES PROFILES
EPISODE 173
Hermann von Staabs
MILITARY RISE
Hermann Friedrich von Staabs was born in Aachen (in Prussian Württemberg) on March 11, 1859. Barely seventeen years old, he entered the Imperial German Army in April 1876 as a cadet with the rank of second lieutenant. One year later, Staabs was transferred to the Third Upper Silesian Infantry Regiment Number 62 based in Cosel.
In October 1879, Staabs became a battalion adjutant in his unit. Then in February 1884, transferred to the “Baron Hiller von Gaertringen” (Fourth Posen) Infantry Regiment Number 59 in Deutsch Eylau. Staabs also entered the Prussian War Academy and became a first lieutenant in the autumn of 1886.
Staabs was promoted again to captain in March 1891. During that period, he served with the Great General Staff in Berlin. Staabs also was named company commander of the Second Upper Rhine Infantry Regiment Number 99 based in Zabern.
In the early spring of 1897, Staabs became a major. Exactly three years later, he was on Friedrich von Lignitz’ general staff with III Corps in Berlin. Then in September 1901, Staabs served as battalion commander of the Fourth Silesian Infantry Regiment Number 157 based in Brieg.
Back in Berlin two years later with the Great General Staff, Staabs was made railways sections chief with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He became a full colonel in May 1906. Then in October 1908, Staabs was given command of the Third Thuringian Infantry Regiment Number 71 in Erfurt.
Further posts and promotions soon followed for Staabs. He was named director of Berlin’s Army Administrative Department in April 1910 and was soon promoted to major general. Within three years, Staabs rose to lieutenant general. Then on the 25th anniversary of the ascension of Kaiser Wilhelm II (June 15, 1913), Staabs was elevated into the German nobility, making him Hermann von Staabs. Weeks later, he was given command of the 37th Infantry Division based in the heart of East Prussia in Allenstein.
THE GREAT WAR
When Imperial Germany went to war in August 1914, Hermann von Staabs was still head of the 37th Infantry Division, but it was now linked with the German Eighth Army on the Eastern Front. His men fought as part of XX Corps (under Friedrich von Scholtz) in the victorious Battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes.
In the spring of 1915, the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive was slowly pushing the Russian forces back to the East. In mid-June, Staabs was named commander of the Third Infantry Division. His unit fought and broke the Cossacks at Przasnysz in July 1915… and then pursued the retreating remnants to the lower Narew. In September, they advanced to Wolkowysk before establishing the front between Naroch and Dryswjatysee. For his service in the offensive, Staabs received the swords of the Order of the Red Eagle (Second Class) and the royal crown in August 1915.
On July 7, 1916, Staabs succeeded the ailing Otto von Lauenstein as commander of the XXXIX Reserve Corps. Also based in the East, the unit was soon transferred to Transylvania after Rumania declared war on the Central Powers. As part of the German Ninth Army (under Erich von Falkenhayn), Staabs’ men quickly distinguished themselves at the Battle of Kronstadt in October 1916. Together with the I Reserve Corps, Staabs held out against the Rumanians on the ridge of the Fagaras Mountains until the end of November. Soon, oil-rich Ploesti and the Rumanian capital of Bucharest were in German hands. For his participation, Staabs was awarded Imperial Germany’s highest military honor, the Pour le Mérite, on December 11, 1916.
Almost a full year later, Staabs was was given the title of General of the Infantry. XXXIX Reserve Corps was transferred to the West and (as part of the German Second Army) participated in the decisive 1918 spring offensive. From March 17th to May 22nd , Staabs commanded both his unit and the XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps. For the latter, he replaced the ailing Theodor Freiherr von Watter as a provisional leader. On May 15, 1918 (with the Germans pressing towards the Aisne River), Staabs was awarded the oak leaves for his Pour le Mérite.
Unfortunately, the fate of Imperial Germany was sealed with the abdication of the Kaiser and the armistice at Compiegne in November 1918. That Christmas, Hermann von Staabs was named Offizier von der Armee. But less than two months later, he retired from military service.
POSTWAR
After the war, Staabs later wrote a book on the possibility of a single-front war with Tsarist Russia. He contradicted Moltke’s claim to the Kaiser of stringent railway plans prohibiting the alteration of the Schlieffen Plan, thus being unable to quickly shift German troops from west to east during the 1914 July Crisis.
Hermann von Staabs died in Kassel on September 7, 1940 at the age of eighty-one.
He was the father of Gerdhild von Staabs (1900–1970), the founder of the Scenotest.