Major Graf Siegfried v. Eulenberg

[Les]

Eulenberg was the last commander of the 1te G.R.z.F., recipient of the PlM (1917) and Eichenlauben (1918). The various Ranglisten only refer to his last name as "Eulenberg", although I'm not so certain that the full last name wasn't hyphenated. I'm asking because there were several "Eulenberg"s that were close friends or associates of the Kaiser. One was a member of the Royal Household (chamberlain), and another was a -close- friend (Philipp who was forced to resign from the Garde Kurassier over a pre-war scandal that threatened the Kaiser with a backlash). There were others. Is this all one big happy family, or is Siegfried unrelated to the Chamberlain by the same name, and the one that resigned?

Also...does anyone know the complete list of medals that Eulenberg was awarded? I've checked the pre-war Ranglisten, and the 1920's Ehrenranglisten, but the entries are far from complete.

I'm in the process of doing some research on another 1. G.R.z.F. officer killed in the Meuse-Argonne, and was interested to find that Eulenberg although likely to have been highly connected to the Court, and with Army connections never rose above the rank of Major (started the war as a Hauptmann in the same regiment), or given a higher command, despite being trusted with the command of a premier regiment in the Army.

Les

[PaulChep]

I believe that the 1914 is your only source for the medal list. The wartime RLs and Honor RL do not give awards.

[bhholst]

Hello Les.

I have tried to locate any officer in the pertinent rank lists with the name of " Eulenberg" but without success. Could you be referring to Graf zu "Eulenburg"? If so the 1913 ( I do not have the 1914) Rangliste shows a Major Graf zu Eulenburg in the mentioned regimen with date of rank as 1.Oct.1913 . The 1926 Ehrenrankliste sows him still with that rank at the end of the war and as "Fuehrer" of 1.Garde Regiment zu Fuss. Promotions were not rapid during WW I. To see Majors as regimental commanders was not unusual. Nor for that matter Hauptmann or even Oberleutnant as battalion commander
BTW: the 1944/45 Heeres Rankliste listing only regular (aktive) fieldgrade officers and up, shows four Grafen zu Eulenburg, three with rank of Oberst and one as Major. All but one rated to be eligible to command troops. Oberst Jonas Graf zu Eulenburg received the K.C. with date of 22.Mar.1945 as Kommandant of Fortress Glogau. He was killed during a breakout attempt on 8.Apr.1945.
Bernhard H.Holst

[Les]

Eulenb-u-rg

Hello Les.

I have tried to locate any officer in the pertinent rank lists with the name of " Eulenberg" but without success. Could you be referring to Graf zu "Eulenburg"? If so the 1913 ( I do not have the 1914) Rangliste shows a Major Graf zu Eulenburg in the mentioned regimen with date of rank as 1.Oct.1913 . The 1926 Ehrenrankliste sows him still with that rank at the end of the war and as "Fuehrer" of 1.Garde Regiment zu Fuss. Promotions were not rapid during WW I. To see Majors as regimental commanders was not unusual. Nor for that matter Hauptmann or even Oberleutnant as battalion commander
BTW: the 1944/45 Heeres Rankliste listing only regular (aktive) fieldgrade officers and up, shows four Grafen zu Eulenburg, three with rank of Oberst and one as Major. All but one rated to be eligible to command troops. Oberst Jonas Graf zu Eulenburg received the K.C. with date of 22.Mar.1945 as Kommandant of Fortress Glogau. He was killed during a breakout attempt on 8.Apr.1945.
Bernhard H.Holst

Bernhard, thanks you've got the correct man. My spelling was incorrect. I had looked him up in the 1926 Ehrenrangliste and knew what his retirement rank was, and that he'd won the PlM/Eichenlauben (PlM recipients have the award listed after their name) and checked that against Hamelman's listing of award recipients.

The name is usually listed simply as Eulenburg, but according to one of the "Adel" sources on-line that I was looking at, sometime in the 1880's there was a General by the same name that hypenated the last name (Hertefeld was added) and there may be a split in the family name, with cousins having similar but technically different last names as a result. I'm trying to figure out if Siegfried and Philipp were brothers, cousins, or not related at all. There is also another Eulenburg listed in the 1te G.z.F. and I am guessing that it's his younger brother perhaps?

Unfortunately, the army lists don't give any indication if two people in the same regiment with the last name are related or not. Tschade!

Les

[Glenn2438]

Eulenburg-Wicken

Les,

the man's full name was Siegfried Graf zu Eulenburg-Wicken. Born 10 Oct 1870 at Krangen in Pomerania, he died on 18 Oct 1961 at Lindau on Bodensee. He commanded the 1. G.R.z.F. from 7 Nov 1916.

Major: 1.10.13
Char. Oberstleutnant: 31.3.20
Char. Oberst: 27.8.39

Although retired after the war, the Graf zu Eulenburg was one of the dozens of so-called "Tannenberg" brevet (charakter) promotion recipients on the 25th anniversary of the the battle of Tannenberg.

Regards
Glenn