Ministry of War (Prussia)

The Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaties of Tilsit. The War Ministry was to help bring the Army under constitutional review, and, along with the General Staff systematize the conduct of warfare. Gerhard von Scharnhorst, the most prominent and influential of the reformers, served as acting war minister from roughly 1808 until 1810 (he was also Chief of the General Staff).

History

The War Ministry was established on 25 December 1808, replacing the old military institutions.^[1] The Ministry consisted of two departments. The first department was responsible for the command and condition of the army, the second for its financial administration.

At first, no War Minister was appointed due to the resistance of Frederick William III. Gerhard von Scharnhorst became head of the first department (the General War Department; Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement) and Lieutenant Colonel Graf Lottum became head of the second department. Scharnhorst also functioned as acting War Minister, as long as no permanent appointment was made.

The first department in turn consisted of three divisions. The first division represented the continuation of the old Adjutancy-General and was also known as the "secret military cabinet". It in turn had control over the general war chancellery. The second division of the War Ministry dealt with general army matters: troop formations, replacements and turnover, housing, military exercises, and mobilization. A third division was also created: the artillery and engineering division. This in turn comprised the artillery section, which dealt with artillery equipment, rifle production, ordnance production, gunpowder factories, etc.; and the engineering section, which was responsible for maintaining the fortresses.

The second department, the military economy department, had four divisions. The first division was responsible for pay, the second for catering, the third clothing and the fourth invalids.

In 1919, it formed the basis of Weimar Germany's Ministry of the Reichswehr.

Location

For exactly one hundred years, from 1 January 1819 to 1 January 1919 (when the ministry ceased to exist) in the Friedrichstadt quarter of what is today Mitte:

Leipziger Straße 5 facing south, with the garden bordering on the Prinz-Albrecht-Palais (demolished in 1935 to erect the Ministry of Aviation building)

Additional office usage

1824 Wilhelmstrasse 81
1871 Old General Staff building, Behrenstraße 66

General Staff

after approximately 1820: Behrenstraße 66 (now the rear part of offices belonging to the Russian embassy)
1867/71 new building (Great General Staff) in the Tiergarten: Königsplatz (now the Platz der Republik), the western corner facing the Moltkestraße

Military cabinet

after approximately 1820: Hinter dem Gießhaus 2 (behind the Zeughaus)
around 1900: Behrenstraße 66

Prussian Ministers of War, 1808–1919

† denotes people who died in office.

No.	Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	von Scharnhorst, GerhardGerhard von Scharnhorst (1755–1813)	1 March 1808	17 June 1810	2 years, 108 days
2	von Hake, KarlKarl von Hake (1768–1835)	17 June 1810	August 1813	3 years, 1 month
3	von Boyen, HermannHermann von Boyen (1771–1848)	3 June 1813	26 December 1819	6 years, 206 days
4	von Hake, KarlKarl von Hake (1768–1835)	26 December 1819	20 October 1833	13 years, 298 days
5	von Witzleben, JobJob von Witzleben (1783–1837)	25 April 1835	April 1837	1 year, 341 days
6	von Rauch, GustavGustav von Rauch (1774–1841)	30 July 1837	28 February 1841	3 years, 213 days
7	von Boyen, HermannHermann von Boyen (1771–1848)	1 March 1841	6 October 1847	6 years, 219 days
8	von Rohr, FerdinandFerdinand von Rohr (1782–1851)	6 October 1847	2 April 1848	179 days
9	von Reyher, KarlKarl von Reyher (1786–1857)	2 April 1848	26 April 1848	24 days
10	von Kanitz, August Wilhelm GrafAugust Wilhelm Graf von Kanitz (1783–1852)	26 April 1848	16 June 1848	51 days
11	Ludwig Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein (1789–1858)	16 June 1848	7 September 1848	83 days
12	von Pfuel, ErnstErnst von Pfuel (1779–1866)	7 September 1848	2 November 1848	56 days
13	von Strotha, KarlKarl von Strotha (1786–1870)	2 November 1848	27 February 1850	1 year, 117 days
14	von Stockhausen, AugustAugust von Stockhausen (1791–1861)	27 February 1850	31 December 1851	1 year, 307 days
15	von Bonin, EduardEduard von Bonin (1793–1865)	31 December 1851	1854	3 years
16	von Waldersee, Friedrich GrafFriedrich Graf von Waldersee (1795–1864)	1854	6 November 1858	4 years
17	von Bonin, EduardEduard von Bonin (1793–1865)	6 November 1858	28 November 1859	1 year, 22 days
18	von Roon, AlbrechtAlbrecht von Roon (1803–1879)	5 December 1859	9 November 1873	13 years, 339 days
19	von Kameke, GeorgGeorg von Kameke (1817–1893)	9 November 1873	3 March 1883	9 years, 114 days
20	von Schellendorff, Paul BronsartPaul Bronsart von Schellendorff (1832–1891)	3 March 1883	8 April 1889	6 years, 36 days
21	von Verdy du Vernois, JuliusJulius von Verdy du Vernois (1832–1910)	8 April 1889	4 October 1890	1 year, 179 days
22	von Kaltenborn-Stachau, HansHans von Kaltenborn-Stachau (1836–1898)	4 October 1890	19 October 1893	3 years, 15 days
23	von Schellendorff, Walther BronsartWalther Bronsart von Schellendorff (1833–1914) ^[a]	19 October 1893	14 August 1896	2 years, 300 days
24	von Gossler, HeinrichHeinrich von Gossler (1841–1927)	14 August 1896	15 August 1903	7 years, 1 day
25	von Einem, KarlKarl von Einem (1853–1934)	15 August 1903	11 August 1909	5 years, 361 days
26	von Heeringen, JosiasJosias von Heeringen (1850–1926)	11 August 1909	7 June 1913	3 years, 300 days
27	von Falkenhayn, ErichErich von Falkenhayn (1861–1922)	7 June 1913	21 January 1915	1 year, 228 days
28	von Hohenborn, Adolf WildAdolf Wild von Hohenborn (1860–1925)	21 January 1915	29 October 1916	1 year, 282 days
29	von Stein, HermannHermann von Stein (1854–1927)	29 October 1916	9 October 1918	1 year, 345 days
30	Scheuch, HeinrichHeinrich Scheuch (1864–1946)	9 October 1918	2 January 1919	85 days
31	Reinhardt, WaltherWalther Reinhardt (1872–1930)	2 January 1919	13 September 1919	254 days

For further succession, see List of German defence ministers.

Notes

^ Younger brother of Paul Bronsart von Schellendorff.

References

^ Levinger, Matthew Bernard, 1960- (2000). Enlightened nationalism : the transformation of Prussian political culture, 1806–1848. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195131851. OCLC 41445771.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[2] Younger brother of Paul Bronsart von Schellendorff.

[1] Levinger, Matthew Bernard, 1960- (2000). Enlightened nationalism : the transformation of Prussian political culture, 1806–1848. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195131851. OCLC 41445771.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[1]

[a]