Seeking Biographical Information on Hans von Seeckt

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esolaro
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Seeking Biographical Information on Hans von Seeckt

#1

Post by esolaro » 23 May 2010, 05:48

I'm an author working on my second novel, this one about Hans von Seeckt, and at this point, I do not have access to either the Rabenau or Meier-Welcker biography.

I'm looking for some very basic biographical data on him that it not part of, say, Corum's work.

Was he Catholic or Protestant? (Since he was a member of the lay order of the Knights Hospitaller, I suspect Catholic.)

When did he leave for Turkey? I have found a statement that he arrived in Turkey a week after Allenby's entry into Jerusalem, which allows me to pinpoint a date, but can anyone confirm this?

Does anyone know why he was posted to Turkey, the Ottoman empire clearly coming apart?

I know that the ancestral estate of Nepzin had been lost. Would this have been after WWI, when the Polish Corridor was seceded to Poland? Or earlier? If Nepzin was not part of his property at the time, did he have an official (home of record or gov't provided) residence and perhaps a country home?

Many thanks for your time,
Erin Solaro

ljadw
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Re: Seeking Biographical Information on Hans von Seeckt

#2

Post by ljadw » 23 May 2010, 15:55

esolaro wrote:I'm an author working on my second novel, this one about Hans von Seeckt, and at this point, I do not have access to either the Rabenau or Meier-Welcker biography.

I'm looking for some very basic biographical data on him that it not part of, say, Corum's work.

Was he Catholic or Protestant? (Since he was a member of the lay order of the Knights Hospitaller, I suspect Catholic.)

When did he leave for Turkey? I have found a statement that he arrived in Turkey a week after Allenby's entry into Jerusalem, which allows me to pinpoint a date, but can anyone confirm this?

Does anyone know why he was posted to Turkey, the Ottoman empire clearly coming apart?

I know that the ancestral estate of Nepzin had been lost. Would this have been after WWI, when the Polish Corridor was seceded to Poland? Or earlier? If Nepzin was not part of his property at the time, did he have an official (home of record or gov't provided) residence and perhaps a country home?

Many thanks for your time,
Erin Solaro
1) Probably he was a protestant:the Joanniterorde is a protestant successor of the Order of Malta .
2)The "Spartacus" forum is giving hiswife as Jewish
3) He was born in Scleswig:his father was acaptain,later major general,of a Schleswigian regiment .
4) His family did not belong to the Prussian nobility
5)Do you know where Nepzin is situated ?


esolaro
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Re: Seeking Biographical Information on Hans von Seeckt

#3

Post by esolaro » 24 May 2010, 06:12

Thanks for your reply.

The Order of Malta is a Roman Catholic order, so your clarification is helpful--I assumed he was Protestant and quite baffled.

According to Harold T. Gordon, his wife was not Jewish, her foster parents were--although that is so unusual, it points to an extremely close relationship, probably by blood as well as affection. However, that does not mean Jewish according to halakha. (A can of worms in itself.)

Although Seeckt was born in Schleswig, his family was Pomeranian---which was part of Prussia. I've found Nepzin in Mecklenburg, and although that became East Germany, it was almost certainly not in the Polish corridor so I'm guessing that the estate was probably lost in the wave of agrarian upheaval in the mid-1800s.

All that said, I am most interested in what he was doing in Turkey. Thoughts?

c1951
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Re: Seeking Biographical Information on Hans von Seeckt

#4

Post by c1951 » 23 Oct 2014, 12:21

I am researching rocket development in Germany for a forthcoming book called Sonic to Standoff. I have written about German helicopters in a book called the sycamores seeds. This book has been well received. Germany and Turkey were allies during the Great War and had cordial relations with each other. Emperor Wilhelm II had visited Turkey
I was very interested in your post because of the work Generaloberst Hans von Seeckt did after Versailles. I can conclude the work he did laid the foundation for the Luftwaffe and research and development at Rechlin. He understood the mechanics of command and secrecy. He was an officer of the outmost integrity and maintained cordial relations with politicians. He did indeed distance himself from Hitler and many of his staff were anti-Nazi. When he died in Berlin in December 1936, the service in his apartment was conducted by Army Bishop Julius Schlegel. At Monte Cassino in 1943 Catholic Lt. Col. Julius Schlegel oversaw the rescue of religious works of art. You can draw your own the conclusion of the faith that this highly professional and popular soldier.

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AJK
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Re: Seeking Biographical Information on Hans von Seeckt

#5

Post by AJK » 24 Oct 2014, 00:50

According to von Seeckt's biography (Seeckt - Aus Seinem Leben) written by General der Artillerie Dr. Friedrich von Rabenau and published in 1941, von Seeckt left Budapest by train for Turkey in the middle of December 1917, arriving in Constantinople on 17 December. In the same book it is stated that Seeckt was not sent to Turkey by the High Command in order to get him away from Berlin, as some have hinted, but to replace the Chief of the General Staff to the Turkish High Command, General von Bronsart, who requested to return home. Initially it was planned to replace von Bronsart by Liman von Sanders, head of the German Military Mission in Turkey, but Enver Pasha declined this appointment. Groener and Hentsch were also suggested as candidates, but were not approved, and in the end Seeckt was chosen as a compromise.

His wife was Dorothee Fabian, but there is no mention in the book about her background. Neither is there any mention (as far as I can see without checking all 741 pages!) of von Seeckt's religion.

I hope this helps a little...

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