Heinrich Wilhelm Martin von Goßler (29 September 1841, in Weißenfels,

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

– 10 January 1927, in Berlin-Wilmersdorf) was a

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n General of the Infantry and

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

.Brose, Eric Dorn.
The Kaiser's Army: The Politics of Military Technology in Germany during the Machine Age, 1870-1918
'.

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, 2004. 81. He was a Knight of Justice (''Rechtsritter'') of the Order of Saint John.

Family

He was descended from a family that probably originated from Gosel in the Egerland and emigrated to Gürth (now in Bad Brambach) before 1630. He was the son of Karl Gustav von Goßler (1810–1885), the ''Kanzler'' (in this case, provincial justice minister) of the province

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, legal advisor to the crown and President of the Oberlandesgericht in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, and Sophie von Mühler (1816–1877), who was the daughter of the Prussian Justice minister Heinrich Gottlob von Mühler (1780–1857). This marriage produced four children: the Prussian Minister of State and Oberpräsident of the province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

, Gustav (1838–1902), the Prussian Minister of War and General of the Infantry, Heinrich (1841–1927), the Prussian General of the Infantry, Konrad (1848–1933), and the Prussian Lieutenant General, Wilhelm von Goßler (1850–1928). On 31 August 1872, Gossler married Emma von Sperber (born 14 November 1848; died 3 October 1914), the daughter of the landowner Eugen von Sperber, and of Emilie Donalitius.

Military career

Goßler joined the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1860, became a Second Lieutenant in 1861 and took part in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

in 1866. He also fought in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

in 1870–1871, with distinction. After the war, he was assigned to the Ministry of War as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

until 1875. He then commanded a company in the 2nd Grenadier Regiment until 1878, when he was once again moved to the War Ministry, to the Department for Army Affairs. Here he was later made a member of the higher examination commission. In 1885 Goßler became a department head in the War Ministry. After being appointed a colonel in 1888, commander of the 3rd Guard Regiment in 1889 and a Major General and brigade commander in 1891, he was made Director of the General War Department in the War Ministry in October 1891 and simultaneously, representing the War Minister, a member of the Defence Commission. He was also the deputy plenipotentiary in the Bundesrat, chairman of the ''Reichsrayonkommission'' and a member of a disciplinary commission. Goßler was a Lieutenant General after 1895 and commanded the 25th Division in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. On 14 August 1896 he was appointed Prussian Minister of War, and in September was also made the Prussian plenipotentiary in the Bundesrat. On 15 August 1903 he retired, having been made a General of the Infantry in 1899. §

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gossler, Heinrich von 1841 births 1927 deaths German untitled nobility Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class Grand Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Military personnel from Saxony-Anhalt