Allegiance German Empire Battles and wars World War I Years of service 1881-1919 Service/branch German Army | Battles/wars World War I Rank Major general Name Gunther Etzel | |
Born December 14, 1862
Magdeburg, Germany ( 1862-12-14 ) Died January 21, 1948, Wiesbaden, Germany | ||
Franz Hermann Günther von Etzel (December 14, 1862 – January 21, 1948) was a career soldier and general in the Imperial German Army, active in World War I.
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Biography
A native of Magdeburg, Etzel entered the Prussian Army in 1881. On September 19, 1901, he was promoted to the rank of major and was sent on May 29, 1902 as military attache to the German Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, he was embedded within the Imperial Japanese Army and an official military observer. He remained in Japan as a military attaché until 1906.
After his return to Germany, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 18, 1908 and assigned to the Kurmärkische Dragoon Regiment No. 14, a cavalry unit within the Prussian Army.
In the First World War, Etzel was made commander of the German 33rd Division, which participated in the initial German offensive on the Western Front. He was later commander of the Guards Cavalry Division and promoted to lieutenant general on January 27, 1918. From June 23, 1918, as a major general, he commanded the German XVII Army Corps, and from August 27 of the same year, the German XVIII Army Corps.
He resigned from service on April 4, 1919, and went into retirement. He died in Wiesbaden in 1948.