Kuno von Moltke

Lieutenant General Kuno Augustus Friedrich Karl Detlev Graf von Moltke (13 December 1847 – 19 March 1923), adjutant to Kaiser Wilhelm II and military commander of Berlin, was a principal in the homosexual scandal known as the Harden-Eulenburg Affair (1907) that rocked the Kaiser's entourage. Moltke was forced to leave the military service.

Biography

In 1896 Moltke, a 'confirmed bachelor', married Nathalie von Hayden ('Lilly'), a woman more than twenty years his junior.[1] The couple soon became estranged, with Moltke's physician later alleging that Lilly had physically attacked Moltke several times.[2] The couple were eventually divorced in 1902 (the formal divorce proceedings took several years to conclude).[1]

The Harden–Eulenburg affair

In 1907 the journalist Maximilian Harden publicly accused Moltke and Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg-Hertefeld of a homosexual relationship. At this time, homosexual acts between men were illegal per Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code.

Accusations and counter-accusations quickly multiplied. Later that year, Moltke sued Harden for libel. His ex-wife Lilly (who had since remarried and was now called Lilly von Elbe) voluntarily testified against him.[1] Magnus Hirschfeld, a physician and sexologist who supported the legalization of homosexuality in Germany, also testified that he believed Moltke to be homosexual.[1] The court sensationally acquitted Harden and concluded that he had been telling the truth about Moltke's sexuality.[3] However, the verdict was voided due to faulty procedure.[3]

In 1908 Harden was retried, and this time he was found guilty of libel against Moltke.

German Press reaction

After the first trial, the German press were sympathetic to Moltke. Newspapers condemned the tactics of the defense and expressing condolence with Count von Moltke, who was declared to have presented a dignified figure in court. Taggeblat condemned Harden for his salacious articles, and argued that they amounted to the unnecessary hunting down of an old soldier.[4]

Later life

Moltke played little further part in public life after the Harden-Eulenberg affair.[5] He died in Berlin in 1923.[6]

Further reading
  • Isabel Hull, The entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Cambridge 1982.
  • John Röhl, Des Kaisers bester Freund, in: Kaiser, Hof und Staat. Wilhelm II. und die deutsche Politik, Munich 1988, pp. 35–77, v.a. 64 ff.
  • Nicolaus Sombart, Wilhelm II. Sündenbock und Herr der Mitte, Berlin 1996.
  • Olaf Jessen: Die Moltkes. Biographie einer Familie, C. H. Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-604997

References
  1. Domeier, Norman. (2015). Eulenburg Affair A Cultural History of Politics in the German Empire. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 95–113, 297. ISBN 9781782044581. OCLC 957277664.
  2. Domeier, Norman (2014). "The Homosexual Scare and the Masculinization of German Politics before World War I". Central European History. 47 (4): 737–759. doi:10.1017/s0008938914001903. ISSN 0008-9389.
  3. Dynes, Wayne R. 1934- éd. Donaldson, Stephen, éd. (1992). History of homosexuality in Europe and America. Garland. p. 344. ISBN 0815305508. OCLC 757692776.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "HERR HARDEN ACQUITTED. PRESIDENT'S JUDGMENT. THE SCENE COURT". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 7 October 1907.
  5. "Death of Count Moltke". The West Australian. 26 April 1923. p. 7.
  6. "German Court Scandal. Count Cuno von Moltke Dead". Chronicle (Adelaide, South Australia). 21 March 1923. p. 35.
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