Alexander von Linsingen

Alexander von Linsingen
Born	10 February 1850(1850-02-10) Hildesheim, Germany
Died	5 June 1935(1935-06-05) (aged 85) Hannover, Germany
Allegiance	Germany
Years of service	1868–1918
Rank	Generaloberst
Awards	Pour le Mérite mit Eichenlaub

Alexander Adolf August Karl von Linsingen (1850–1935) was one of the best German field commanders during World War I.^{[citation needed]}

Linsingen joined the Prussian Army in 1868 and rose to Corps Commander in 1909. He was one of the very few top German generals not to have served on the general staff.

At the beginning of World War I, Linsingen was a Corps commander in the First Battle of the Marne. Transferred to the Eastern Front where German and Austrian armies were threatened by a Russian offensive in Galicia, Linsingen took command of Army Group South (1915). He defeated the Russian armies in the Battle of Stryi in 1915, capturing 60,000 Russian prisoners. He was awarded the Pour le Mérite. In 1916 he faced the Brusilov offensive. After an initial retreat, he checked the Russian advance at the Battle of Kowel. He was promoted to Colonel-General, the highest rank for a general in the German Army. In 1917-1918 he led the German offense into the Ukraine. After the end of the war with Russia, he became the Military Governor of Berlin (1918). Alexander von Linsingen died on 5 June 1935 and is interned at the Neuen St. Nikolai-Friedhof in Hannover, Germany.

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• Short biography

Military offices
Preceded by New Formation	Commander, South Army 11 January 1915 - 8 July 1915	Succeeded by General der Infanterie Felix Graf von Bothmer
Preceded by New Formation	Commander, Army of the Bug 8 July 1915 - 31 March 1918	Succeeded by Dissolved