Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen  
(06.12.1849 - 08.11.1945)
place of birth:  Kreis Wittenberg  (Prussian Saxony)
Königreich Preußen:  OBH,  Generaladjutant SM,  Generalfeldmarschall  (Kav)


One of Imperial Germany's most successful field commanders during the Great War, the future Generalfeldmarschall was born in 1849 to the family of land agent Ludwig von Mackensen, said to be of Scots ancestry, and his wife Marie Rink. Per his father's wishes, young August first studied agriculture, but then entered the military at age 19 as a one-year volunteer. He stayed on and served with distinction during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 as Vizewachtmeister in the elite Death's Head Hussar regiment; his unit was engaged in major battles at Beaumont, Sedan and Orleans, and he thus earned das Eiserne Kreuz II. Klasse (Iron Cross 2nd Class.)

After the war with France ended, Mackensen returned to his home garrison and processed out of the army. Following a couple years of university studies in the field of agriculture, however, he returned to his military career as a cavalry specialist with his original Leib-Hussar regiment in Posen. Although he never studied at the Prussian War Academy, Mackensen was transferred in 1880 to the Great General Staff where he learned from the likes of Generals von Moltke and von Schlieffen. As a young general staff officer serving in Königsberg, Mackensen likewise found an important mentor in the person of War Minister Julius Verdy du Vernois. In 1892 Mackensen published a significant, two volume history of his cavalry regiment entitled "The Black Hussars."  In 1895, after twelve years serving with the general staff, Kaiser Wilhelm II. selected Oberst-Lieutenant Mackensen to be his orderly aide-de-camp in the palace, making Mackensen the first commoner to serve in this position. Four years later, the Kaiser elevated Mackensen into the Prussian aristocracy.

With a promotion to Generalleutnant in 1903, Exzellenz von Mackensen was given command of 36. Infanterie-Division in his beloved Danzig, and simultaneously promoted to General-Adjutant serving within the Kaiser's entourage. He continued in this role as in 1908 he was promoted to General der Kavallerie and chosen to replace von Braunschweig as commander of XVII. Armee-Korps headquarters in Danzig. He thus had over four years of experience heading up this formation when Germany mobilized in 1914 for war with France. The War found XVII. Armee-Korps initially active on the Eastern Front as part of Prittwitz's 8. Armee-Oberkommando. His troops suffered an initial humiliating defeat to the Russians (General Rennenkampf) at Gumbinnen, but they later took part in great successes during the battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes.

As commander of 9. Armee in late 1914, Mackensen successfully directed the siege of Warsaw and subsequent seizure of Lodz, for which he was awarded the Pour le Merite.  His 11. Armee-Oberkommando, which as part of the Army Group Mackensen-Kiev included Austro-Hungarian units, was based in the Dunajec sector of Galicia (1915) and successfully broke through the Russian lines at Gorlice-Tarnow, one of the greatest victories of the War. In June 1915, von Mackensen's troops were able to retake the Przemysl Fortress and help Austria recapture the city of Lemberg (L'viv, Ukraine.) He was then promoted to Generalfeldmarschall and decorated with Prussia's highest order of chivalry, the Schwarzer Adler-Orden (Order of the Black Eagle.) He spent much of 1915-1916 leading his soldiers in the Balkans, after which Supreme Command dispatched him to Romania where he would spend the entire second half of the Great War. With Romania declaring war on Germany in August 1916, he became commander of the multi-national force known as Heeres-Gruppe Mackensen-Romania (1916-18), a formation made up of German, Austrian, Bulgarian, and Turkish units. They were able to cross the Danube and march in to the Romanian capital of Bucharest, where Field Marshal Mackensen took up residence in the royal palace. For his leadership during this campaign he was decoration with the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, one of only five elite Prussian soldiers to receive it. He then became military governor of the Wallachia region of Romania, where he remained until War's end.

After the Armistice, von Mackensen was briefly held captive in Hungary and Salonika (Greece,) returning to Germany in 1919 and retiring from the Army one year later. The field marshal then served as a leader in the monarchist Stahlhelm forces and later became an important figurehead for the Nazi Party, ardently supporting Hitler. Nevertheless, as a member of the Confessional Church (die Bekennenden Kirche) he actually spoke out for the persecuted pastor Martin Niemöller. He was also more loyal to the monarchy than to Nazism and defied Hitler by being conspicuously present at Kaiser Wilhelm II's funeral. There, the last remaining WW1-era field marshal tearfully laid his cavalry cloak over his fallen leader's coffin. In 1945, the 95-year old field marshal spent his final days fleeing westward with millions of refugees escaping the onslaught of the Red Army. August von Mackensen, the last surviving Generalfeldmarschall from the First World War, passed away on 8 March in Schmiedeberg and is buried in Burghorn cemetery near Celle. His son Hans was a Nazi diplomat in Italy, while another son Eberhard served as a general in the Wehrmacht and was later convicted of war crimes.

	Generalfeldmarschall	22.06.1915
	Eisernes Kreuz II	Deutsch-Französischer Krieg  1870–1871
	Pour le Mérite	27.11.1914    (Eichenlaub:  03.06.1915)
	Militär-Max-Joseph	03.06.1915  Großkreuz
	Schwarzer Adler	28.08.1915
	Militär-St-Heinrich	06.12.1915  Ritter/Kommandeur I
	Großkreuz des EK	09.01.1917