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Vestes Bellica Military history archive

Vestes Bellica

Official photo card before 1914. It shows von Einem in the parade uniform of the Cuirassier Regiment von Driesen (Westphalian) No. 4. Initially its commander, after his promotion to General of the Cavalry (1907) he retained the position à la suite of the Cuirassier Regiment “von Driesen” (Westphalian) No. 4, i.e., he was entitled to wear the regimental uniform but otherwise no longer held any official post at the regimental level.
Official photo card before 1914. It shows von Einem in the parade uniform of the Cuirassier Regiment von Driesen (Westphalian) No. 4. Initially its commander, after his promotion to General of the Cavalry (1907) he retained the position à la suite of the Cuirassier Regiment “von Driesen” (Westphalian) No. 4, i.e., he was entitled to wear the regimental uniform but otherwise no longer held any official post at the regimental level.
von Einem as army commander visiting the high command of the 7th Army Corps (second from the left). Original photo from a private photo album. Around 1916. He is wearing the field-grey coat of the cuirassiers.
von Einem as army commander visiting the high command of the 7th Army Corps (second from the left). Original photo from a private photo album. Around 1916. He is wearing the field-grey coat of the cuirassiers.

The person of Colonel General Karl Wilhelm Georg August Gottfried von Einem called von Rothmaler (* January 1, 1853 in Herzberg am Harz; † April 7, 1934 in Mülheim an der Ruhr) is particularly associated with the garrison Münster. He was not only, until 1895, commander of the Cuirassier Regiment von Driesen (Westphalian) No. 4 in Münster, but also Chief of the General Staff of the VII Army Corps (from 1896) and later Commanding General of the VII Army Corps (from 1909). In 1914 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Army and in 1915 was finally promoted to Colonel General. In the period from 1903 to 1909 he had been War Minister. He was already close to the young Emperor Wilhelm II, who also always protected him. In the preliminary remarks to the personal notes of Colonel General v. Einem about his time as an army commander in the First World War, the editor describes his five-year period as Commanding General of the VII: Army Corps as “all in all the happiest time of his life” (Junius Alter/ Hrgb., Ein Armeeführer erlebt den Weltkrieg. Persönliche Aufzeichnungen des Generalobersten v. Einem, Leipzig 1938, p. 22). On 07.04.April 1934 at around 4 o'clock in the morning von Einem died at the age of 81 in his then place of residence Mühlheim an der Ruhr. His grave is located in the Zentralfriedhof, namely in the Protestant Field West I. The funeral was also attended by Oskar, the son of the emperor living in Dutch exile.

The original photo shows von Einem (in the middle right) at the unveiling of the Cuirassier Monument at the Promenade, i.e. at the Ägidiitor, on August 31, 1930.
The original photo shows von Einem (in the middle right) at the unveiling of the Cuirassier Monument at the Promenade, i.e. at the Ägidiitor, on August 31, 1930.