Gerd Von Rundstedt - Early Life

Early Life

Gerd von Rundstedt (who used only his third given name) was born in Aschersleben, north of Halle in Prussian Saxony (now in Saxony-Anhalt). He was the eldest son of Gerd Arnold Konrad von Rundstedt, a cavalry officer who served in the Franco-Prussian War. The Rundstedts are a very old Junker family, traceable to the 12th century and classed as members of the Uradel, or old nobility, although they held no titles and were not wealthy. Virtually all the Rundstedt men since the time of Frederick the Great had served in the Prussian Army. Rundstedt's mother, Adelheid Fischer, was of Huguenot (French Protestant) descent. He was the eldest of four brothers, all of whom became Army officers. Rundstedt's education followed the path ordained for Prussian military families: the junior cadet college at Diez, near Koblenz, then the military academy at Lichterfelde in Berlin.

Unable to meet the cost of joining a cavalry regiment, Rundstedt joined the 83rd Infantry Regiment in March 1892 as a cadet officer (Portepee Fähnrich). The regiment was based at Kassel in Hesse-Kassel, which he came to regard as his home town and where he maintained a home until 1945. He undertook further training at the military college (Kriegsschule) at Hannover, before being commissioned as a Lieutenant in June 1893. He made a good impression on his superiors, since he was academically gifted, spoke French and English, was a fine horseman and a talented draftsman, and had excellent manners. This marked him out for promotion as a staff officer rather than as a field commander, thus determining the path of his career. In 1896 he was made regimental adjutant, and in 1903 he was sent to the prestigious War Academy (Kriegsakademie) in Berlin for a three-year staff officer training course. At the end of his course Rundstedt was described as "an outstandingly able officer… well suited for the General Staff." By this time he had met and courted a Kassel girl of good family, Luise von Goetz (always known as “Bila”). They were married in January 1902 and their only child, Hans Gerd von Rundstedt, was born in January 1903. Gerd and Bila were married for 50 years and he missed her acutely during his long absences from home.

Rundstedt joined the General Staff, the command centre of the German Army, as a senior lieutenant (Oberleutnant) in April 1907. In October 1910, promoted to Captain, he joined the staff of XI Corps, based at Kassel. He held other staff posts until July 1914, when he was sent as Chief of Operations to the 22nd Reserve Infantry Division. This division was part of XI Corps, which in turn was part of General Alexander von Kluck's First Army. In 1914 this Army was deployed along the Belgian border, in preparation for the invasion of Belgium and France which would follow on the outbreak of war, in accordance with the German plan for victory in the west known as the Schlieffen Plan.