Emil Freiherr David von Rohnfeld
Emil David Edler von Rohnfeld was born in
Prague on the 1st of
July 1837. His father Franz won the Golden Medal for Bravery as a Corporal in the
1st artillery regiment during the battle at Lyon in 1814. He was ennobled as an Hauptmann on the 21st of June 1846 and retired as
an honorary Major in 1852. Emil
David Edler von Rohnfeld commenced his military education at the Military Academy of
Wiener Neustadt on the 28th of November 1848. After successfully graduating from the academy he was
commissioned as an Unterlieutenamt 2nd class in Feldjäger
battalion No 2 in the autumn of 1855 and transferred as an Unterlieutenant 1st class to
Feldjäger battalion No 14 on the 1st of October 1857. Similar to his class mate
Hugo Obauer he was sent to the Kriegsschule at Vienna
from which he successfully graduated. On the 14th of April 1859 he was promoted to Oberleutnant
in the 7th Feldjäger battalion purely as an administrative measure as on the
24th of that month he was transferred to the general staff corps as an Hauptmann
2nd class followed by the promotion to Hauptmann 1st class on the 5th of June
1859. During the campaign in Italy of that year he was attached to the
headquarters of the 11th corps. For his exemplary conduct during the battle of
Solferino Emil David Edler von Rohnfeld received the commendation of the Kaiser
on the 15th of August 1859 which permitted him to wear the Bronze Military Medal
(Signum Laudis) on the war ribbon when this medal was introduced in 1890.
On the 1st of August 1865 he was transferred to infantry regiment No 5 but
during the war of 1866 he again found himself employed as a general staff officer at
the
headquarter of the army in Italy where he rendered such outstanding service that
he once more received the commendation of the Kaiser on the 3rd of October 1866.
This in turn later allowed him to wear the Silver Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis) on the
war-ribbon when that medal was introduced in 1911! Shortly before the war
of 1866 he had married Marie von Maschirevies. Their daughter Julie became the
wife of Wladimir Giesl von Gieslingen in September 1889.
On the 28th of October 1868 Emil David Edler von Rohnfeld was
promoted to Major and on the 1st of November 1872 to Oberstleutnant in the
general staff corps. As was normal he was transferred for duty with the
troops to infantry regiment No 78 on the 1st of May 1873. A year later he was transferred
to infantry regiment No 41. On the 1st of November 1875 he was assigned as an Oberst and deputy commander
in infantry regiment No 66 and on the
23rd of August 1876 he assumed command of infantry regiment No 29. Under
his command this regiment made an outstanding contribution during the campaign
in Bosnia and the Herzegovina in 1878, especially during the hard battles around
Doboj on the 16th, 19th, 23rd and 26th of August and on the 4th and 5th of
September 1878. During that short period the regiment lost 149 men in dead,
wounded and missing. For his dashing leadership Oberst David von Rohnfeld was
honored with the award of the knight's cross of the Order of Leopold with war
decoration on the 3rd of December 1878. On the 2nd of April 1880 he took over command of the 17th infantry brigade and his promotion to Generalmajor followed on the
1st of November of the same year. During the insurrection in Southern Dalmatia
in1882 he successfully commanded the 7th mountain brigade. On the 6th of January
1883 he was awarded the grand officer's cross of the Serbian Order of Takowo.
On the 1st of April 1884 Generalmajor David von Rohnfeld was
attached to the 14th Korps- und Landesverteidigungs-Kommando (Territorial
Defence Headquarters) at Innsbruck where
he received his promotion to Feldmarshall-Leutnant on the 1st of May 1886. On
the 11th of March 1887 he was attached to the command of the 15th corps in Bosnia where he became deputy commander of the 15th corps and general in command
at Sarajevo - first in an acting capacity on the 24th of September 1889 and finally
definitively on the 27th of June 1890. As always the posts in the Balkan area
were the most troublesome and delicate in the entire Austro-Hungarian
monarchy. A commander there had to be both politically astute as well as
possessing the necessary diplomatic skills, even more so than in every other area of
the Dual-Monarchy. On the
26th of April 1890 Feldmarschall-Leutnant David von Rohnfeld was honored with
the title of Geheimer Rat (Privy Councillor). On the 11th of October 1890 he was appointed
Statthalter (governor) of Dalmatia and commander of the Army and the Landwehr at
Zara. In December of the same year he was honored with the title of
Oberst-Inhaber or Colonel-Proprietor of infantry regiment No 72. It seems that
he did his job
well - in the military as well as in the diplomatic dimension - because he
was honored with the award of the 1st class of the Order of the Iron Crown on
the 30th of November 1892. In January 1893 he received the grand cross of the
Papal Order of Saint Gregorius. Emil David von Rohnfeld was promoted to
Feldzeugmeister on the 1st of November 1893 with seniority from the 27th of
October. On the occasion of the 50th crown jubilee of Kaiser Franz Joseph in
1898 he was honored with the grand cross of the Order of Leopold with the war decoration
of the knight's cross on the 30th of November of that year. At his
own request he was relieved from his politically important post after 12 years
of first rate service on the 6th of March 1902. After his retirement he was
honored with the grand cordon of the Ottoman Order of Osmanie by the Ottoman
Sultan on the 24th of April 1902. On the 6th of December 1902 he was further
promoted within the nobility to an Austrian Barony and henceforth took the title
Freiherr. Emil Freiherr David von Rohnfeld resided in Vienna's 4th
district where he died on the 10th of May 1918.
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