Wilhelm von Hahnke

Wilhelm Gustav Karl Bernhard von Hahnke was a Prussian Field Marshal, and Chief of the German Imperial Military Cabinet from 1888 to 1901.

Biography

Born into an old Prussian family of officers, he was the son of Wilhelm Hahnke and his wife Angelique, née von der Lancken. His father was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility in 1836, thus becoming Wilhelm von Hahnke. After time in the cadet corps Hahnke joined the military as second lieutenant in the 1st Guards Grenadiers in 1851. During the Second Schleswig War, Hahnke served as a company leader. During the Austro-Prussian War he served on the staff of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia as a general staff officer. During the Franco-Prussian War he served on the latter's staff again and earned the Iron Cross.
In 1888 Hahnke was appointed Chief of the Military Cabinet of the just-crowned Wilhelm II. In January 1905 he was promoted to field marshal. He later was appointed as the Adjutant-General to the Kaiser. He died on 8 February 1912.

Hahnke married 1865 in Berlin Josephine von Bülow, daughter of Friedrich von Bülow. The couple had seven sons and two daughters, among them:

Wilhelm, Prussian Major general ∞ Elisabeth von Schlieffen, daughter of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen.
Adolf, jurist.

;German honours
;Foreign honours