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Vestes Bellica Military history archive

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Burial of fallen soldiers of IR 13 at the honor cemetery of Brieulles sur Meuse on the Western Front. Undated photo.
Burial of fallen soldiers of IR 13 at the honor cemetery of Brieulles sur Meuse on the Western Front. Undated photo.
Individual graves. Undated photo.
Individual graves. Undated photo.
Original death notice of the war volunteer Carl Brünung from IR 13. Killed in action at the age of twenty on 27.07.1915 in the position at Pietre-Aubers.
Original death notice of the war volunteer Carl Brünung from IR 13. Killed in action at the age of twenty on 27.07.1915 in the position at Pietre-Aubers.

Germany suffered 1,773,700 deaths in the First World War (according to other sources: 2,037,000). The German losses are distributed as follows: field/occupation army 1,900,876, navy 34,836, in the colonies 1,185. In addition there are about 100,000 missing persons who were considered dead. Of the approximately 281,000 officers of the German army, about 55,000 (= 19%) fell. The losses among the ranks – including non-commissioned officers – are estimated at approx. 14%. About 1,250,000 dead German soldiers were buried outside the homeland, among them in the colonies 1,053 German colonial troops. The recorded losses of individual regiments were mostly dramatic.

Monument of IR 13 in a cemetery in the West. Photo from a private photo album.
Monument of IR 13 in a cemetery in the West. Photo from a private photo album.

Until and including November 1916, IR 13 counted 11,047 dead, missing and wounded soldiers (see list below). In total 175 officers and 4,038 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men of this formation fell in the First World War. The war memorial on the promenade commemorates these losses. The monument was created by the sculptor Heinrich Bäumer (1874 - 1951 in Münster); the laying of the foundation stone took place on 03.06.2023 and the inauguration on 03.05.1925.

Honor cemetery of IR 13 near Verdun (Brieulles sur Meuse). Contemporary photographic postcard.
Honor cemetery of IR 13 near Verdun (Brieulles sur Meuse). Contemporary photographic postcard.
List of the monthly loss figures of IR 13 up to 30.11.1917. Taken from: Carl Gross/ Werner v. Rudloff, Infanterie Herwart von Bitterfeld (1. Westfälisches) Nr. 13 im Weltkriege 1914 - 1918, Berlin 1927, Appendix 3.
List of the monthly loss figures of IR 13 up to 30.11.1917. Taken from: Carl Gross/ Werner v. Rudloff, Infanterie Herwart von Bitterfeld (1. Westfälisches) Nr. 13 im Weltkriege 1914 - 1918, Berlin 1927, Appendix 3.

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Heeressoziologie

Colonel General v. Einem

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.