Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen was born into a lower ranking Bavarian noble family in Laufen, Upper Bavaria on November 24, 1862. His father was a royal notary.
At eighteen, Konrad entered the Royal Bavarian Army as an officer candidate in August 1881… and was commissioned a second lieutenant in December 1883. He later served as a general staff officer in various units.
Through the pre-war years, Konrad proceeded up the ranks, generally alternating command and general staff assignments. On October 1, 1912, he became Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Bavarian Army, a position he would hold until Imperial Germany mobilized for war in the summer of 1914.
At the start of the Great War, Generalmajor Krafft von Dellmensingen became Chief of the General Staff of the German Sixth Army. He served in that capacity during the Battle of the Frontiers (August 1914) and the “Race to the Sea” (September to November 1914).
On May 27, 1915 (shortly after being promoted to Generalleutnant), Konrad took command of the newly formed Alpenkorps, a provisional mountain division. He would lead the division until the end of February 1917. The Alpenkorps witnessed fighting on the Italian Front, at Verdun, the invasion of Serbia, and the Battle of Sălătrucu in Rumania.
During that time, Konrad received the coveted Pour le Mérite (Imperial Germany’s highest military honor) on September 13, 1916. Nearly three months later, oak leaves were added to his Blue Max. Konrad also received honors from Bavaria and other German states… as well as awards from their Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman allies.
On March 1, 1917, Krafft von Dellmensingen became Chief of Staff of Army Group Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, where he served for six months. On September 11, 1917, he received the Commander’s Cross of the Württemberg Military Merit Order, the kingdom’s highest military decoration. Konrad then became Chief of Staff of the German Fourteenth Army under Otto von Below. Together, they planned the operation that would become the successful Battle of Caporetto. On October 24, 1917, he received the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph, Bavaria’s highest military decoration.
On February 2, 1918, the Fourteenth Army in Italy was dissolved, and von Below’s army staff took command of the Seventeenth Army, newly formed for the upcoming spring offensive in France. After helping with the army preparations, Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen was promoted to General der Artillerie. He took command of the II Bavarian Army Corps on April 18, 1918. Konrad led these men through the spring offensives and summer defensive battles that culminated in Germany’s defeat in November 1918.
By year’s end, Konrad had retired from the German Army. He became active in monarchist circles and sought a restoration of the Bavarian kingdom. During the Twenties, Konrad participated in the preparation of the official history of the Bavarian Army in the First World War. In 1926 and 1928, he edited a two-volume account of the Battle of Caporetto, Der Durchbruch am Isonzo (The Breakthrough on the Isonzo).
Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen died in Seeshaupt, Upper Bavaria on February 21, 1953 at the age of ninety.
In 1937, a barracks complex in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was named the “Krafft-von-Dellmensingen-Kaserne”. Eight years later, the Kaserne was taken over by the United States Army. The program of denazification was launched after the Second World War, and the name “Krafft-von-Dellmensingen-Kaserne” was deleted. On July 9, 1975, this decision was reversed; the barracks were named after Dellmensingen again. Today this building houses part of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. The name “Krafft-von-Dellmensingen-Kaserne” was again removed from the outside of the barracks on June 29, 2011.
DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
– Order of the Red Eagle, Third Class
– Pour le Mérite on September 13, 1916); Oak Leaves added December 11, 1916
– Commander of the Württemberg Military Merit (September 11, 1917)
– Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph
– Order of the Iron Crown (Austria), First Class