PEEBLES PROFILES
EPISODE 207
Hermann Freiherr von Stein
FAMILY AND MILITARY RISE
Born February 11, 1859 in Ansbach (located in Bavarian Middle Franconia), Dietrich Karl Hermann Freiherr von Stein zu Nord und Ostheim was the son of wealthy landowner Bernhard Freiherr von Stein zu Nord und Ostheim and Luise (née Freiin Löw von und zu Steinfurth). Hermann was also the elder brother of politician Hans Karl von Stein zu Nord und Ostheim.
Nineteen-year-old Hermann began his military career in October 1878 as a one-year volunteer with the Royal Bavarian “King” Field Artillery Regiment Number Four in Augsburg. By the early spring of 1879, he was an officer cadet… and continued his military trek long after that first year!
In April 1881, Stein became a second lieutenant. After his marriage to Karoline (Lina) Marie Dorotheé Valentine Josepha von Heckel in October 1885, Stein entered the Military Riding Academy in Hanover. By 1890, he was an adjutant and battery commander with the Royal Bavarian “Prince Regent Luitpold” Field Artillery Regiment Number One in Munich.
In the next few years, two more promotions were given to Stein: first lieutenant in October 1890 and captain in June 1895. Then in 1902, he was made an artillery battalion commander with the Royal Bavarian “Prince Regent Luitpold” Field Artillery Regiment Number Seven in Munich. Stein rose to the rank of major in mid-July 1903.
A little less than three years later (May 1906), Stein was back with the unit where his military trek began, the Royal Bavarian “King” Field Artillery Regiment Number Four in Augsburg. This time, he was named commander. Five months later, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In 1907, Stein travelled to Berlin and joined the Great General Staff’s Field Artillery Drill Regulations Commission. Then in late April 1908, he went to Munich to join the Chief Artillery and Weaponry Section of the Bavarian War Ministry. After being made a full colonel in February 1909, Stein took command of Munich’s First Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade in the autumn of 1910. Less than two years later (March 1912), he attained the rank of major general.
WARRIOR ON MULTIPLE FRONTS
When Imperial Germany went to war in August 1914, Hermann Freiherr von Stein’s First Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade was attached to the new German Sixth Army led by Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Stein’s unit initially fought in Lorraine before moving on to northern France with the First Bavarian Army Corps. During the decisive First Battle of the Marne, Stein was promoted to lieutenant general. However by December 1914, he was placed on convalescent leave after suffering a minor injury.
Upon recovery in mid-January 1915, Stein took command of the newly-formed Eighth Royal Bavarian Reserve Division. His men fought skirmishes in the Vosges Mountains. Soon, the unit was transferred to the Eastern Front… but less than a month later, it was sent back to the Vosges.
During the summer of 1916, the Eighth Royal Bavarian Reserve Division (based at Maurepas) fought the Battle of the Somme. The unit was initially defeated by the French at Maurepas on July 30th. However, Stein managed to take back all the lost ground by mid-August 1916, assisting neighboring divisions in the process. For “his extraordinarily goal-conscious, far-sighted and successful, bold, far-reaching decisions” at the Somme, Stein was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order.
Later that fall, Stein’s men were sent to Wallachia in the eastern Carpathian Mountains via the Ojtoz Pass. There, they assisted in intercepting the Russians in the Gyorgyo Mountains and at the Gyimes Pass.
When the Rumanian front was finally secured, Stein was sent back west to replace Ludwig Freiherr von Gebsattel as commander of III Royal Bavarian Corps (attached to Ludwig von Falkenhausen’s German Sixth Army) in mid-January 1917. Four months later, the unit was sent to take part in the Battle of Arras. However, the fighting there had already begun to die down.
In June 1917, Stein was put in command of Gruppe Ypern (Ypres Group), which was subordinate to Friedrich Sixt von Armin’s German Fourth Army. Together, they fought the B.E.F. in Flanders. Stein withstood the British onslaught in the Third Battle of Ypres. As a result, he became the ninth Bavarian officer to receive the Commander’s Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order on August 22, 1917. Two days earlier, Stein was also awarded Imperial Germany’s highest military honor, the Pour le Mérite. By mid-September, his men were relieved from the Ypres campaign.
Weeks later, Stein and III Royal Bavarian Corps were sent to the Italian Front to assist the tired Austro-Hungarian forces. Together, they prepared for the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, also known as Karfeit (Caporetto). Stein’s men, now part of the new German 14th Army led by Otto von Below, attacked from both sides of Tolmein (Tolmino) on October 24, 1917. The Germans broke the Italian lines and advanced to the banks of the Tagliamento and Piave Rivers. With victory secured, the German 14th Army was disbanded.
Toward the end of the year, III Royal Bavarian Corps returned to the Western Front to support Otto von Below and the new German 17th Army on the Scarpe River and at Armentières. These men continued the fight in Artois as 1918 dawned.
Hermann Freiherr von Stein received further recognition for his service, as oak leaves were added to his “Blue Max” in November 1917. One month later, he was placed à la suite in the Royal Bavarian “King” Field Artillery Regiment Number Four. The term à la suite was a special honorary regimental command granted to deserving generals. Although Stein had no command authority, he was allowed to wear the regimental colors. He also had influence over promotions and awards.
DEFEAT AND DEATH
In late May 1918, the German were again threatening Paris… and Hermann Freiherr von Stein was promoted to General der Artillerie. But two months later, the legions of Kaiser Wilhelm II were being pushed back by Allied forces supported by fresh American troops. Stein watched his men conducted an orderly retreat toward the Antwerp-Maas line as autumn approached. With the November 1918 armistice ending hostilities, Stein led his corps back to Bavaria for demobilization. He retired from the defeated Imperial German Army by year’s end.
Hermann Freiherr von Stein lived out his final years at the family estate in Völkershausen, Lower Franconia. The highly-decorated general passed away on February 26, 1928 at the age of sixty-nine.