Service/branch Army Years of service 1876 – 1918 | Rank Field Marshal Name Franz von | |
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Born October 30, 1854
Arad, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Arad, Romania) ( 1854-10-30 ) Commands held Army Group Rohr
10th Army
11th Army
1st Army Battles/wars Isonzo
Tirol Offensive
Kerensky Offensive Died December 9, 1927, Vienna, Austria Battles and wars Battles of the Isonzo, Battle of Asiago, Kerensky Offensive Allegiance Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary Similar People Svetozar Boroevic, Archduke Eugen of Austria, Franz Conrad von Hotz, Alexandru Averescu, Luigi Cadorna | ||
Franz Freiherr Rohr von Denta (30 October 1854 – 9 December 1927) was an Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal and field commander who served as the last commander of the Austro-Hungarian First Army.
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Early life
Born in Arad, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (modern-day Romania), in 1854 as Franz Denta, son of an army NCO, he became a lieutenant in the 3 Galizisches Uhlanen-Regiment Erzherzog Carl in 1876 upon graduating from the Theresan Military Academy in Wiener-Neustadt. Having attained the rank of Colonel, he was appointed Chief of Staff of II Corps in September 1897, a position in which he served until April 1901. By 1903 Denta was commanding the 73 Landwehr-Brigade at Pressburg/Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) and in 1909 was made General Inspector of military educational establishments. In 1911 he was promoted to the rank of General der Kavallerie and appointed commander of the Hungarian Landwehr (Honved) in 1913.
War career
Responsible for the task of defending the southwestern frontier and historic heartlands of the Empire following the Italian declaration of war on May 23, 1915, Rohr was appointed commander of Armeegruppe Rohr on May 27 and took charge of all troops from Graz to Innsbruck.
Having overseen the successful defense of the Carinthian frontier, Rohr was promoted to the rank of Generaloberst on January 1, 1916, and made commander of the new 10th Army following the dissolution of his army-group in anticipation of the Tyrol Offensive. With the halting of all offensive operations on the Italian front by the Imperial army in the face of the Brusilov Offensive, the Tyrol effort was prematurely brought to an end and Rohr was transferred to command the 11th Army, also in the Trento district in June 1916.
In February 1917, and with the promotion of Gen. Arz von Straussenberg to the position of Chief of the General Staff, Rohr took charge of the 1st Army and for the first time served as a commander on the Eastern Front. On April 14, 1917, he was elevated to the nobility, taking the rank of Baron and the title Rohr von Denta.
Promoted to the position of Field Marshal on January 30, 1918, Rohr continued in command of the 1st Army until its disbandment following peace with Romania on April 15, 1918.
Retirement
Retiring from command at war’s end, Rohr was nevertheless appointed Field Marshal in the army of newly independent Hungary. Freiherr Rohr von Denta died in the village of Rodaun, near Vienna, on 9 December 1927.