Hans Ritter von Hemmer
Hans Ritter von Hemmer (26 June 1869 – 15 December 1931) was a German general staff officer in the Royal Bavarian Army. He was a highly decorated World War I veteran and received Bavaria’s highest military honors as well as Prussia’s top award.
He was born in Munich, the son of Colonel Anton Hemmer and Ida Weißmann. After finishing school in Regensburg, he joined the army in 1888 and began his career in the Royal Bavarian 11th Infantry Regiment. He later transferred to the 2nd Infantry Regiment and was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1890. Hemmer served as a battalion adjutant, attended three years of general staff training at the Bavarian War Academy, and held several staff and command positions. He worked with the Bavarian and Prussian general staffs and was a member of the Bavarian senate in the Reich Military Court.
At the start of World War I, Hemmer was the 1st General Staff Officer of the I Royal Bavarian Army Corps. He fought in the Battle of Lorraine and on the Somme. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in November 1914 and became chief of the general staff of the I Royal Bavarian Reserve Corps. He then served on the Eastern Front as chief of the general staff of the South Army in Galicia under General von Bothmer.
For his work in 1915, he received the Knight’s Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph and was raised to the nobility as Ritter von Hemmer. In 1917 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph and was promoted to colonel. He also received the Prussian Pour le Mérite on 25 August 1917. Later that year he became chief of the general staff of the South Army and, in 1918, was transferred back to the Western Front to work with the 19th Army in Lorraine.
After the Armistice, Hemmer helped oversee the 19th Army’s withdrawal to German soil. The army was demobilized in December 1918. He stayed in the military and served again as a member of the Reichsmilitärgericht, the Bavarian Senate, and the army’s staff circles. He retired on 1 October 1920, receiving the honorary rank of Generalmajor the next day.
Hans Ritter von Hemmer died of a heart attack in Munich on 15 December 1931, at the age of 62.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:31 (CET).