Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach
German general (1888–1980)
Edwin Graf Rothkirch und Trach (1 November 1888 – 29 July 1980) was a German career military officer who fought in both world wars. He served in the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht. Rising to the rank of General of the Cavalry during World War II, he commanded Army Group Centre Rear Area and LIII Army Corps. He was taken prisoner in the closing months of the war.
Early life and World War I
Rothkirch und Trach was born in 1888 at Militsch in the Prussian Province of Silesia (today, Milicz in Poland) to an aristocratic family, and joined the Royal Prussian Army in 1908. He participated in World War I and, at the end of the war, he was a Rittmeister with the 17th (1st Grand Ducal Mecklenburgian) Dragoon Regiment. He was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and other decorations.
Interwar years
Rothkirch und Trach remained in the post-war Reichswehr, becoming a squadron commander in the 16th Cavalry Regiment at Kassel in October 1924. In October 1928, he was transferred to the staff of the 11th Cavalry Regiment in Neustadt in Upper Silesia (today, Prudnik in Poland). In January 1930, he moved to the staff of the 14th Cavalry Regiment in Ludwigslust.
“Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach” enters the record as german general (1888–1980). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Edwin, Graf and Rothkirch can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1295109. VIAF identifies the subject as 8391133. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1888, 1980, 1908 and 1924.
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This entry incorporates text from “Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.