Karl Ritter von Prager

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class="fn" colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Karl Ritter von Prager
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Birth name Karl Prager
Birth date 23 October 1875(1875-10-23)
Place of birth Warmensteinach, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Death date 31 January 1959 (aged 83)
Place of death Horn near Füssen (Allgäu), Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance File:Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire
File:Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).png Weimar Republic
File:Flag of the NSDAP (1920–1945).svg National Socialist Germany
Service/branch File:Fahne der Bayerischen Armee.png Royal Bavarian Army
File:Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
File:War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
File:Balkenkreuz.png Heer
Years of service 1894–1931
1939–1942
Rank General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry)
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
House Order of Hohenzollern
Pour le Mérite
Relations ∞ 16 March 1922 Fried(e)l Spitzweg

Karl Prager, with effect from 1917 Ritter[1] von Prager (1875–1959), was a German officer of the Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General of the Infantry in World War II. He must not be confused with Generalleutnant Karl Prager.

Career (chronology)

File:General Karl Ritter von Prager (far left) with Italian General Efisio Marras (centre).png
General Karl Ritter von Prager (far left) with Italian General Efisio Marras (centre)
File:Karl Ritter von Prager (center).png
File:Karl Ritter von Prager.png
  • 1875 Born as the son of the chief forest officer Heinrich Prager and his wife Ernestine, née Kroher.
  • Abitur at the Neues Gymnasium Bamberg
  • 14 July 1894 Joined the Königlich Bayerisches 11. Infanterie-Regiment „von der Tann“
  • 1 March 1895 to 6 February 1896 Studies at the War School (Kriegsschule München)
  • June 1899 Pioneer training course (Pionier-Übungskurs)
  • May 1900 Commanded to the military shooting school (Militär-Schießschule)
  • 1 October 1901 Commanded to the Bezirkskommando (Landwehr) in Regensburg
    • 15 November 1901
  • 1 October 1903 to 30 September 1906 Studies at the Bavarian War Academy
  • 1 October 1907 Central Office of the General Staff (Zentralstelle des Generalstabs)
  • 1 October 1908 to 30 September 1910 Detached to the Grand General Staff / Großer Generalstab
  • 22 April 1910 Central Office of the General Staff
  • 26 March 1911 to 22 January 1913 General Staff of the I. Armee-Korps as 3. Generalstabsoffizier (Ic)
  • 23 January 1913 General Staff of the Gouvernement der Festung Ingolstadt (other soures state Festung Germersheim)
    • He developed a new armor design here.
  • 19 March 1914 Commander of the 10. Kompanie/Königlich Bayerisches 2. Infanterie Regiment „Kronprinz“ in München[2]
  • 16 August 1914 General Staff of the I. Armee-Korps as intelligence officer (Nachrichtenoffizier)
  • 23/25 October 1914 Transferred to the Staff of the (Generalquartiermeister) in the Großes Hauptquartier Seiner Majestät des Kaisers und Königs.
  • 24/29 December 1914 First general staff officer of the newly formed Prussian 79th Reserve Division on the Eastern Front
    • On 8 February 1915, he fell in combat near Gehsen during the operation in Masuria with his horse and dislocated his right arm. He was then in the Rastenburg military hospital until 2 March 1915.
  • 5/6 March 1915 First general staff officer of the 52. Infanterie-Division
  • 3 August 1916 General Staff of the 6th Army
  • 28 August 1916 General Staff of the newly formed Heeresgruppe „Kronprinz Rupprecht“
    • 1. Juni 1917 1. Generalstabsoffizier (Ia)
      • Karl Ritter von Prager had distinguished himself in his function as general staff officer of the "Kronprinz Rupprecht" army group in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, in the spring battle of Arras in 1917 and in the Battle of Flanders in the summer and autumn of 1917. The Pour le Mérite was awarded following the conclusion of the Assault Battle of Cambrai.
    • On 30 November 1917, the Royal Bavarian Military Max-Joseph-Order was awarded, with which the personal nobility was connected.
  • February 1919 Central Office of the General Staff
  • Mid-February 1919 Bavarian military plenipotentiary at the main headquarters (Großes Hauptquartier) in Kolberg
  • 16 April 1919 Vorläufige Reichswehr
    • Chief of the General Staff of the Reichswehr-Gruppenkommando 4; took part in the fighting against the Bavarian Soviet Republic
  • 1 October 1920 Chied of the Staff of the 7. Division of the Reichswehr
  • 1 February 1921 Battalion Commander in the 19. (Bayerisches) Infanterie-Regiment in München, also on the regimental staff
    • In the meantime, from 1920 until the passage of the Defense Act of 23 March 1921, which formed the legal basis for the Reichswehr, von Prager was a member of the commission that drew up this law.
  • 15 June 1921 to 31 March 1922 Wworked on the regimental staff and was then transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry (RWM) in Berlin as head of the Army Training Department (T 4)
  • 1 February 1925 Commander of the 19. (Bayerisches) Infanterie-Regiment
  • 1 February 1927 RWM in Berlin as Inspekteur der Infanterie (In 2)
  • 31 January 1931 Retired from military service
    • After his departure, von Prager received the right to wear the general's uniform of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.[3]

WWII

  • 26 August 1939 At disposal (zur Verfügung) of the Wehrmacht
  • August 1939 to 6 November 1939 Commanding General of the XXVII. Armeekorps (27. AK)
  • November 1939 to May 1942 Commanding General of the XXV. Armeekorps (25. AK) as successor to Alfred Oskar Karl Wäger and predecessor of Wilhelm Fahrmbacher
  • 1 May 1942 Führerreserve OKH
  • 30 June 1942 Mobilization provision lifted (Mobilmachungsbestimmung aufgehoben); de facto retired

After retirement and the the heavy allied terror bombing against Munich, von Prager was bombed out in July 1944 and moved to Horn, where he died in 1959.

Promotions

  • 14.7.1894 Offizieraspirant (Officer Candidate)
    • 2 February 1899 rank renamed Fahnenjunker
  • 27.2.1896 Sekondlieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
    • 2 February 1899 rank renamed Leutnant
  • 28.10.1905 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 22.4.1910 Hauptmann with Patent from 7 March 1910
  • 11.1.1915 Major with Patent from 30 November 1914
  • 18.12.1920 Oberstleutnant with rank seniority (RDA) from 1 October 1920
  • 1.7.1922 Oberst
  • 1.2.1927 Generalmajor
  • 1.2.1929 Generalleutnant
  • 31.1.1931 Charakter als General der Infanterie with effect from 1.2.1931
  • 1.9.1940 General der Infanterie z. V.[4]

Awards and decorations

File:Staats-Anzeiger für das Großherzogtum Baden, 1915 issue, p. 478.png
BZ3a⚔ for Major Karl Prager

References

  1. ↑ Regarding personal names: Ritter (de) is a title of German nobility (Deutscher Adel), translated approximately as Knight, not a first or middle name, but connected with the surname, for example Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim, not Ritter Robert von Greim. There is no equivalent female form.
  2. ↑ Militär-Handbuch des Königsreich Bayern, 1914, p. 40
  3. ↑ Ritter von Prager, Karl, Lexikon der Wehrmacht
  4. ↑ General der Infanterie Karl Ritter von Prager
  5. ↑ Reichswehr Rangliste 1927
  6. ↑ Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden, Complete List of all WW1 Ritterkreuz MMJO recipients
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