Hans Eberhard Sigismund von Förster

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Birth name	Hans Eberhard Sigismund von Förster
Birth date	23 June 1887(1887-06-23)
Place of birth	Alsen, Kreis Sonderburg, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	12 January 1959 (aged 71)
Place of death	Bremen, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	File:War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army File:Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army File:War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr File:Balkenkreuz.png Heer
Years of service	1907–1945
Rank	General der Infanterie
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern Order of the Crown of Romania Slovak War Victor's Cross German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1928 Ruth Steffen

Hans Eberhard Sigismund von Förster (23 June 1887 – 12 January 1959) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, at last General of the Infantry of the Army in WWII. His wife and he were members of the German Nobility Association or Deutsche Adelsgenossenschaft (D.A.G.).

Military career (chronology)

File:Sigismund von Förster (1887–1959) II.png

File:Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Teil A, 1939–1940, p. 152.png

File:Sigismund von Förster (1887–1959).jpeg

• Prussian Cadet Corps (Kadettenkorps)
• Entered Army Service (28 Feb 1907)
  • 1. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment "Graf Bose" Nr. 31
• Adjutant of the II. Battalion of the 31st Infantry-Regiment (15 Jan 1911-31 Mar 1914)
• In the Field as Regiments-Adjutant of the 31st Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (03 Aug 1914-15 Nov 1916)
• Temporary Adjutant of the 81st Infantry-Brigade (15 Nov 1916-02 Dec 1916)
• Delegated with the Leadership of the I. Battalion of the 31st Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (02 Dec 1916-07 Dec 1916)
• Officer of the Army and Assigned for use in General-Staff-Service to Army High Command 1 (07 Dec 1916-10 Dec 1916)
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of the 14th Bavarian Infantry-Division (10 Dec 1916-06 Feb 1917)
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of the 38th Infantry-Division (06 Feb 1917-10 Mar 1917)
• General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of the 18th Infantry-Division (10 Mar 1917-24 Mar 1917)
• Transferred into a General-Staff-Office of the 12th Infantry-Division (24 Mar 1917-26 Dec 1917)
  • At the same time, Detached as Battery-Leader to the 21st Field-Artillery-Regiment (09 Jul 1917-01 Aug 1917)
  • At the same time, Detached to the Staff of the II. Battalion of the 21st Field-Artillery-Regiment (02 Aug 1917-10 Aug 1917)
• Transferred to the Army General Staff (26 Dec 1917-28 Nov 1918)
• Transferred back into the 31st Infantry-Regiment (28 Nov 1918-08 Mar 1919)
• 1st General-Staff-Officer of the 33rd Reichswehr-Brigade (04 Aug 1919-01 Oct 1919)
• Transferred into the 2nd Reichswehr-Rifle-Regiment while retaining previous position (01 Oct 1919-18 Nov 1919)
• Signals-Advisor with Military-District-Command V (18 Nov 1919-30 Apr 1920)
• Detached to the RWM, Aviation Peace Commission [Luftfahrt-Friedens-Kommission; Luftfriko] (30 Apr 1920-16 May 1920)
• Transferred as Counterintelligence Officer [Abwehroffizier] into the Staff of the Reichswehr Group-Command 1 (16 May 1920-01 Oct 1920)
• Transferred to the Staff of the 1st Division (01 Oct 1920-01 Apr 1922)
• Transferred to the Staff of the 5th Division and Detached to the 5th Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Apr 1922-01 Oct 1923)
• Hauptmann with the Staff of the Training-Battalion of the 1st Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1923-01 Nov 1923)
• Commander of the 2nd Company of the 1st Infantry-Regiment (01 Nov 1923-11 Jan 1926)
• Detached to the Staff of Infantry-Leader II (11 Jan 1926-01 Apr 1926)
• Transferred to the Staff of Artillery-Leader II in Stettin (01 Apr 1926-01 Feb 1928)
• Detached to Artillery-Course for Night-Artillery in Jüterbog (04 Oct 1927-19 Oct 1927)
• Transferred to the Staff of Infantry-Leader III (01 Feb 1928-01 Oct 1930)
• Detached to Gas-Protection-Course in Berlin (25 Feb 1929-02 Mar 1929)
• Detached to Firing Course for Heavy Infantry Weapons in Döberitz (03 May 1929-02 Jun 1929)
• Commander of the I. Battalion of the 5th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1930-01 Oct 1932)
• Commandant of Deutsch-Krone (01 Oct 1932-01 Oct 1934)
• Commander of Border-Section-Command (Kommandeur des Grenzschutz-Abschnittskommandos) Deutsch-Krone (01 Oct 1934-15 Oct 1935)
• Commander of Army-Service-Office 2, Deutsch-Krone (15 Oct 1935-01 Jan 1936)
• Military-Replacement-Inspector (Wehrersatzinspekteur) Erfurt (01 Jan 1936-01 Apr 1938)
• Delegated with the Leadership of the 24th Division (01 Apr 1938-10 Nov 1938)
• Commander of the 26th Division (10 Nov 1938-26 Sep 1939)
• Commander of the 26th Infantry-Division (26 Sep 1939-15 Jan 1941)
• Commander of the 97th Light Division [97. leichte Infanterie-Division] (15 Jan 1941-15 Apr 1941)
• Führer-Reserve OKH (15 Apr 1941-01 Oct 1941)
• Detached to the Staff of the Commander Army-Area South (01 Oct 1941-07 Jul 1942)
• Commandant of Rear Army Area 550 [Kommandant des rückwärtigen Armeegebiets 550; Korück 550] (07 Jul 1942-20 Nov 1942)
• Führer-Reserve OKH, Placed to the Disposal of Army High Command 17 for the execution of Special Tasks (21 Nov 1942-24 Nov 1942)
• Commanding General Special-Purpose-General-Command (Kommandostab z. b. V.) von Förster (24/25 Nov 1942-1 Feb 1943)
  • At the same time, Commandant Taman [Kommandant der Halbinsel Taman] (26 Jan 1943-06 Feb 1943)
• Kommandierender General, Generalkommando z. b. V. von Förster (02 Feb 1943-15 May 1943)
  • At the same time, Commander of the Kerch Straight [Befehlshaber Straße Kertsch] (02 Feb 1943-15 May 1943)
• Recovery Vacation [Erholungsurlaub] (15 Mai 1943-15 Jun 1943)
  • His Representative was Colonel Carl Henke until Generalmajor Hermann Bacher (Higher Pioneer Leader for the Kerch Crossing) returned from his own vacation on 29 May 1943.
• Kommandierender General, Generalkommando z. b. V. von Förster (15 Jun 1943-31 Jul 1943)
  • Once again, at the same time, Commander of the Kerch Straight [Befehlshaber Straße Kertsch] (15 Jun 1943-09 Aug 1943)
    • Von Förster remained Befehlshaber Straße Kertschfor over two weeks until his successor Generalleutnant Walther Lucht arrived.
• Commander West Taurida [Westtaurien]
• At the same time, Commander Crimea [Befehlshaber Krim]
  • 24 July 1943 (Fernschreiben OKH) with effect from 22 July 1943
• Commanding General of LXXII. Special-Purpose-Army-Corps (13 Feb 1944-00 Sep 1944)
• Führer-Reserve OKH (10 Sep 1944-25 Sep 1944)
• Commanding General (Kommandierender General) of Higher Command Niederrhein (25 Sep 1944-20 Apr 1945)
• POW (20 Apr 1945-1947)
  • Bradley and LdW say that von Förster was captured by Allied (probably British) forces on 20 April 1945 or in "late April", but his Karteikarte shows that he was treated in Franziskushospital Flensburg on 13 May 1945. The exact date of his official captivity begin is not known without a doubt.

Family

Sigismund (baptized on 9 October 1887) was the son of General of the Infantry Arthur Sigismund von Förster (1856–1934) and his wife Betty Dorothea, née Eunike (1864–1910). He had two sisters:

• Dorothea (29 January 1885 – 23 Oktober 1886)
• Margarethe (1886–1969); ∞ 5 December 1919 Major a. D. and Regierungsrat (government council) Albert Jonas, divorced (o¦o) 6 December 1921

Marriage

On 10 January 1928 in Stettin (the church wedding, Garnisonsgemeinde Stettin, took place on 18 January), Major (in the staff of the Artillerieführer II) von Förster married his fiancée Ruth Alma Maria Steffen (1903–1992) from Duchow-Jasenitz (Province of Pomerania), daughter of the factory owner Werner Steffen and his wife Margarete, née Borchert. They had three children:

• Friedrich Sigismund (b. 23 October 1928 in Potsdam; d. 2 May 1935 in Schneidemühl)
• Hans Eberhard (b. 11 September 1930 in Potsdam; d. 8 December 1935 in Schneidemühl)
• Irmgard Margarethe Ruth (b. 20 March 1937 in Erfurt)

Promotions

• Fähnrich (Officer Cadet) on 28 February 1907
• Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) on 27 January 1908 with Patent from 22 June 1906
• Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) on 8 November 1914
• Hauptmann (Captain) on 18 December 1915
• Major on 1 February 1927
• Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) on 1 March 1931
• Oberst (Colonel) on 1 October 1933
• Generalmajor on 1 August 1936
• Generalleutnant on 1 April 1938
• General der Infanterie on 1 May 1943

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

File:Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres, 1931.png

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • EK II on 21 September 1914
  • EK I on 24 June 1915
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH) on 31 July 1916
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔) on 20 December 1917
• Austrian Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration (ÖM3K) on 19 January 1918
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer (FEK)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Awards (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
• Sudetenland Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938)
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class in 1940
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
• Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Officer with Swords on the Ribbon of Military Virtue
  • award ceremony by General de Armatâ Petre Dumitrescu, Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Romanian Army
• Order of the Crown of Romania (Orden der Krone von Rumänien), Grand Cross with Swords on 23 June 1943
• Romanian Commemorative Medal for the Crusade Against Communism on 31 July 1943
• Slovak War Victor's Cross (Slowakisches Kriegssiegerkreuz), 1st Class with Star on 6 September 1943
• German Cross in Gold on 22 July 1943 as General der Infanterie and Commander of the Kerch Strait
  • presentation by Generalfeldmarschall Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, Commander-in-Chief of Army Group A, in the headquarters building of Commander Krim on 5 August 1943