World War I, German Army Groups, 1914-1919, The Eastern Front

German Army Groups, 1914-1919,
The Eastern Front

Commanders of the German Army Groups, Numbered Armies and Named Armies, 1914-1919
A list of all German Army Group, numbered Army, and named Army commanders for the war followed by birth-death dates and the dates of a general's tenure of command. Many generals had several commands, thus if one comes across an officer whose name simply has the dates of the command, that officer likely held a previous army command and appears somewhere else on the list. Keep in mind his initial command may have been on another front or at a lower level. From, 'Führer des Kaiserl. Dt. Feldheeres im Ersten Weltkriege,' Deutsches Soldatenjahrbuch, 1968), 92ff.

Abbreviations:
GFM=Generalfeldmarschal (Field Marshal)
GO= Generaloberst (General)
GdI (or Kav or Art)= General der Infanterie (Kavallerie, Artillerie) Lieutenant General
GLT=Generalleutnant (Major General)
GM=General Major (Brigadier General)

ARMY GROUPS, EASTERN FRONT

Oberbefehlshaberost (OBOST): (Commander-in-Chief, East)

GFM v. Hindenburg (2 October 1847 - 4 August 1934), 1 November 1914 - 29 August 1916.
GFM Prinz Leopold v. Bayern (9 February 1846 - 28 September 1930), 29 August 1916 - 21 January 1919.

Heeresgruppe Linsingen: (Army Group Linsingen)

GdInf v. Linsingen (10 February 1850 - 6 May 1935), 18 September 1915 - 31 March 1918.

Heeresgruppe Hindenburg (Riga): (Army Group Hindenburg, called Army Group Riga at one point).

GFM Hindenburg, 5 August 1915 - 30 July 1916.
GO v. Eichhorn (13 February 1848 - 30 July 1918) 30 July 1916 - 31 March 1918.

Heeresgruppe Eichhorn (Kiev): (Army Group Eichhorn, after August 1918 'Kiev')

GO Eichhorn 31 March - 30 July 1918.
GO Graf v. Kirchbach (9 August 1850 - 6 November 1925), 31 July 1918 - 7 February 1919.

Heeresgruppe Woyrsch: (Army Group Woyrsch)

GO v. Woyrsch (4 February 1847 - 6 August 1920), 28 August 1916 - 31 December 1917.

Heeresgruppe Mackensen: (Army Group Mackensen, often also called Army Group East, Balkans, and Rumania)

GFM v. Mackensen (6 December 1857 - 6 November 1945), 30 September 1915 - 2 December 1918.

Heeresgruppe Below: (Army Group Below)

GdInf Otto v. Below, 10 October 1916 - 22 April 1917.

Heeresgruppe Scholtz/Macedonia: (Army Group Scholtz/Macedonia)

GdArt Scholtz (23 March 1851 - 2 May 1927), 22 April 1917 - 14 January 1919.

Heeresgruppe (Yildirim) Palestina: (Army Group Palestine)

GdI v. Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 - 8 April 1922), 7 September 1917 - 25
February 1918.
GdCav Liman v. Sanders (18 February 1855 - 22 August 1929), 25 February 1918 - 31 October 1918.

NUMBERED ARMIES, EASTERN FRONT

8th Army

GO v. Prittwitz und Gaffron (27 November 1848 - 29 March 1917), 2 August 14 - 22 August 14.
GdInf v. Beneckendorff u. v. Hindenburg, 22 August 1914 - 18 September 1914.
GdArt v. Schubert, 18 September 1914 - 8 October 1914.
GdInf v. Francois (31 January 1856 - 15 May 1933), 8 October 1914 - 7 November 1914.
GdInf v. Otto v. Below, 7 November 1914 - 26 May 1915.
GdArt v. Scholtz, 26 May 1915 - 28 September 1915.

8th Army disbanded and turned into Njemen Army until 30 December 1915.

Reconstituted from the Njemen Army:

GdInf Otto v. Below, 30 December 1915 - 3 October 1916.
GdInf v. Fabeck, 3 October 1916 - 22 October 1916.
GdInf v. Mudra, 22 October 1916 - 20 December 1916.
GdArt v. Scholtz, 2 January 1917 - 22 April 1917.
GdInf v. Hutier (27 August 1857 - 5 December 1934), 22 April 1917 - 12 December 1917.
GdInf Graf v. Kirchbach, 12 December 1917 - 31 July 1918.
GdInf v. Kathen (27 August 1855 - 3 April 1932), 31 July 1918 - 14 December 1918.
GLT v. Estorff (1859-1943), 14 December 1918 - 14 January 1919.

9th Army

GO v. Beneckendorf u. v. Hindenburg, 17 September 1914 - 1 November 1914.
GdKav v. Mackensen, 1 November 1914 - 15 April 1915.
GFM Prinz Leopold v. Bayern, 16 April 1915 - 30 July 1916.

Moved to Rumania and reconstituted on 6 September.

GdInf v. Falkenhayn, 6 September 1916 - 10 June 1917.
GdInf Kosch (5 April 1866-22 December 1942), 1 May - 10 June 1917, acting commander.
GdInf v. Eben (24 February 1855-30 June 1924), 10 June 1917 - 18 June 1918.
GdInf Fritz v. Below, 18 June 1918 - 7 August 1918.
GdInf v. Carlowitz, 6 August 1918 - 22 September 1918. Disbanded.

10th Army

GO v. Eichhorn, 26 January 1915 - 4 March 1918.
GdInf v. Falkenahyn, 4 March 1918 - 25 February 1919.

12th Army

GdArt v. Gallwitz, 7 August 1915 - 22 September 1915.
GdInf v. Fabeck, 22 September 1915 - 3 October 1916. disbanded.

NAMED ARMIES, EASTERN FRONT

Njemen Army

GdInf Otto v. Below, 26 May 1915 - 30 December 1915.

Deutscher Suedarmee

GdInf v. Linsingen, 11 January 1915 - 6 July 1915.
GdInf Graf v. Bothmer, 7 July 1915 - 3 March 1918.

Bug Army

GdInf v. Linsingen, 6 July 1915 - 31 March 1918.

Donau Army (Rumania)

GdInf Kosch, 28 August 1916 - 19 January 1918.

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Comments, corrections and suggestions are welcome:

Richard Hacken (hacken @ byu.edu)

or Jane Plotke (cd078 @ gwpda.org). .

Last Updated: March 18, 1996.