August von Mackensen

Mackensen was born in Haus Leipnitz, near the village of Dahlenberg (today part of Trossin) in the Prussian Province of Saxony, to Ludwig and Marie Louise Mackensen. His father, an administrator of agricultural enterprises, sent him to a Realgymnasium in Halle in 1865, seemingly in the hope that his eldest son would follow him in his profession.[3]

Mackensen began his military service in 1869 as a volunteer with the Prussian 2nd Life Hussars Regiment (Leib-Husaren-Regiment Nr. 2). During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, he was promoted to second lieutenant and won the Iron Cross Second Class for leading a charge on a reconnaissance patrol north of Orleans.[4] After the war, he left the service and studied at Halle University but returned to the German Army in 1873 with his old regiment.

He married Doris (Dorothea) von Horn, the sister of a slain comrade, in 1879. Her father, Karl von Horn, was the influential Oberpräsident of East Prussia; they had two daughters and three sons. In 1891, Mackensen was appointed to the General Staff in Berlin, bypassing the usual three-year preparation in the War Academy. His chief, Helmuth von Moltke, found him a "lovable character"[5] He was recalled from the regiment to serve as an adjutant to the next chief, Alfred von Schlieffen (in office 1891-1906), whom he regarded as a great instructor on how to lead armies of millions.[6]

Mackensen's coat of arms (uncolored)

He impressed Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ordered that Mackensen be given command from 17 June 1893 of the 1st Life Hussars Regiment (Leib-Husaren-Regiment Nr. 1) to which he became à la suite when he left its command on 27 January 1898 and so he often wore the distinctive death's head uniform thereafter.[7] Mackensen was surprised by his next posting, as adjutant to Wilhelm II, because he was the first commoner to hold that position. For the next three-and-a-half years, he shadowed the Kaiser, meeting the high and mighty of Germany, the rest of Europe, and the Middle East. His sons shared gymnastics classes with the Kaiser's. He was ennobled on the Kaiser's 40th birthday, 27 January 1899, becoming August von Mackensen.[8] Next, he received the command of the newly created Life Hussar Brigade (Leib-Husaren-Brigade) from 1901 to 1903, and from 1903 to 1908, he commanded the 36th Division in Danzig.[9] His wife died in 1905 and, two years later, he married Leonie von der Osten, who was 22 years old. When Schlieffen retired in 1906, Mackensen was considered as a possible successor, but the position went to Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. In 1908, Mackensen was given command of the XVII Army Corps, headquartered in Danzig.[10] The Crown Prince was placed under his command, and the Kaiser asked Mackensen to keep an eye on the young man and to teach him to ride properly.[11]

By 1920, Mackensen retired from the army. Although standing in opposition to the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles and the newly established parliamentary system of the Weimar Republic, he initially avoided public campaigns. Around 1924, he changed his mind and began to use his image as a war hero to support right-wing monarchist and nationalist groups. He routinely appeared in his old Life Hussars uniform and became very active in pro-military Conservative Revolutionary movement organisations, particularly Der Stahlhelm and the Schlieffen Society, advocating the stab-in-the-back myth and openly endorsing the murder of Minister Matthias Erzberger in 1921.

Mackensen and Hitler in 1935 during the Heldengedenktag in Berlin

During the German presidential election of 1932, Mackensen supported Paul von Hindenburg against Adolf Hitler, whose political skills he nevertheless admired. After Hitler gained power in January 1933, Mackensen became a visible, if only symbolic, supporter of the Nazi regime. One of his ceremonial visits brought him to Passau, where he received a hero's welcome.[20] Occasionally mocked as the "Reich Centrepiece", Mackensen's distinctive public profile, in his black Life Hussars uniform, was even recognised by the Hausser-Elastolin company, which produced a 7-cm figure of him in its line of Elastolin composition soldiers.[21] His fame and familiar uniform gave rise to two separate Third Reich units adopting black dress with Totenkopf badges: the Panzerwaffe, which claimed the tradition of the Imperial Cavalry, and the Schutzstaffel. In October 1935, the government vested Mackensen with the Brandenburg demesne of Brüssow in recognition of his merits.

Mackensen at the Kaiser's funeral

Mackensen's relationship to the Nazis remained ambiguous: embodying the Prussian traditions adopted by Hitler's regime, he appeared in his black uniform at public events organised by the German government or the Nazi Party, such as the Day of Potsdam on 21 March 1933. On the other hand, he objected to the killing of Generals Ferdinand von Bredow and Kurt von Schleicher during The Night of the Long Knives purge of July 1934, to the Nazi Kirchenkampf measures against the Confessing Church and to the atrocities committed during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. By the early 1940s, Hitler and Joseph Goebbels suspected Mackensen of disloyalty but refrained from taking action.[22] Mackensen remained a committed monarchist and in June 1941 appeared in full imperial uniform at Kaiser Wilhelm's funeral at Doorn, in the Netherlands.[23]

According to a radio news report dated 15 April 1945, filed by CBS News correspondent Larry LeSueur for World News Today, Mackensen was briefly captured by the British Second Army at his home during the closing weeks of the Second World War. Upon the arrival of the British, apparently not commenting whatsoever on the general rout, the 95-year-old Mackensen merely asked the new powers-that-be that "freed foreign workers" be prevented "from stealing his chicken".[24]

Mackensen died on 8 November 1945 at the age of 95, his life having spanned the Kingdom of Prussia, the North German Confederation, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, The Third Reich, and the post-war Allied occupation of Germany. He was buried in the Celle cemetery.

Mackensen's family at his 80th birthday

In November 1879, Mackensen married Dorothea von Horn (1854–1905), and they had five children:

• Else Mackensen (1881/2–1888)
• Hans Georg von Mackensen (1883–1947), diplomat
• Manfred von Mackensen (1886–1947)
• Eberhard von Mackensen (1889–1969), Generaloberst and convicted war criminal
• Ruth von Mackensen (1897–1945)

In 1908, after the death of his first wife, Mackensen married Leonie von der Osten (1878–1963).

Mackensen and his family were Lutheran Protestants in the Evangelical Church of Prussia.

On 4 February 1940, Mackensen wrote to Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch:

As a man becomes older, he has to watch carefully that age has not reduced his creativity. After reaching the age of 90, I have decided not to involve myself any longer with matters that are not concerned with my private life. However, I am still the most senior German officer. Many turn to me, sometimes with wishes, but more often with their concerns.

During these weeks our concern is with the spirit of our unique and successful Army. The concern results from the crimes committed in Poland, looting and murder that take place before the eyes of our troops, who appear unable to put an end to them. An apparent indifference has serious consequences for the morale of our soldiers and it is damaging to the esteem of our Army and our whole nation.

I am sure that you are aware of these events and that you certainly condemn them. These lines intend to convey my daily growing concern at the reports that constantly reach me, and I have to ask you to take up this matter with the highest authority. The messages I receive are so numerous, many come from high ranking persons and from witnesses. As the most senior officer I cannot keep them to myself. In transmitting them to you, I fulfil my duty to the Army. The honour of the Army and the esteem in which it is held must not be jeopardised by the actions of hired subhumans and criminals. Hail Victory.[25]

• Grand Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph (1900)
• Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves
  • Pour le Mérite (27 November 1914) - for his work on the Russian front
  • Oak Leaves (14 June 1915)
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph (4 June 1915)
• Grand Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern (1915)
• Order of the Black Eagle (August 1915)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary (September 1915)
• Military Merit Cross, 1st class with Diamonds (Austria-Hungary, 6 December 1915)
• Commander, First Class of the Military Order of St. Henry (6 December 1915)
• Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (9 January 1917)
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Alexander with Diamonds (Bulgaria)
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa (26 March 1918)

The University of Halle-Wittenberg appointed him to Honorary Doctor of Political Sciences and the Gdańsk University of Technology granted him the title Doktoringenieur.

Mackensen-class battlecruiser, named after Mackensen, was the last class of battlecruisers to be built by Germany in the First World War, the lead ship, SMS Mackensen, was launched on 21 April 1917.

Mackensen was an Honorary Citizen of many cities, such as Danzig, Heilsberg, Buetow, and Tarnovo. In 1915, the newly built rural village of Mackensen in Pomerania was named after him. In various cities, streets were named after him. In 1998 the Mackensenstrasse in the Schöneberg district of Berlin was renamed Else Lasker-Schüler-road, based on an erroneous claim that Mackensen was one of the "pioneers of National Socialism".[26]

• Cecil, Lamar. "The Creation of Nobles in Prussia, 1871-1918." In The American Historical Review, Vol. 75, No. 3. (Feb., 1970), pp. 757–795.
• DiNardo, Richard L. (2015). Invasion: The Conquest of Serbia, 1915. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
• Foley, Robert. German Strategy and the Path to Verdun. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
• Goda, Norman J. W. "Black Marks: Hitler's Bribery of His Senior Officers during World War II." In The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 72, No. 2. (June, 2000), 413-452.
• Hedin, Sven. Große Männer denen ich begegnete, Zweiter Band, Wiesbaden, F.A. Brockhausen, 1953.
• Mombauer, Annika. Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• Schwarzmüller, Theo. Zwischen Kaiser und "Führer." Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen. Eine politische Biographie. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1995.
• Silberstein, Gerard E. "The Serbian Campaign of 1915: Its Diplomatic Background." In The American Historical Review, Vol. 73, No. 1. (October 1967), pp. 51–69.
• Hausser Elastolin Spielzeug 1939-40' (toy catalog)
• Die Deutsche Wochenschau 16 December 1944 Danish language version. 2:42 min: celebration of 95th birthday of August von Mackensen on December 6, 1944.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to August von Mackensen.

• "Mackensen, August von" . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). 1922.
• Newspaper clippings about August von Mackensen in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW