Eduard Freiherr von Hospodarž

Eduard Hospodarž was born as the son of an officer at Graz (Styria) on the 7th of October 1862. After finishing the Realschule and the infantry cadet institute at Prague he entered military service as regimental-cadet in infantry regiment number 21 in August 1882. He promoted to Leutnant there, became an Oberleutnant in infantry regiment number 16 and was transferred as an Hauptmann 2nd class to infantry regiment number 90 at Jaroslau. In this regiment he received his promotion to Hauptmann 1st class on the 1st of November 1899. Hospodarž's satisfactory services there were rewarded by the awarding of the Militär-Verdienstkreuz (military merit cross) in April 1906. Together with his promotion to Major (1st of November 1909) he was transferred to infantry regiment number 6. Since July 1880 the Oberstinhaber of this regiment was King Carol I of Rumania and his son Ferdinand was the senior officer there. This was the reason why Major Eduard Hospodarž and the other battalion commanders received the commanders' cross of the order of the Crown of Rumania and the jubilee medal of Carol I in August 1911.

On the 4th of December 1912 Eduard Hospodarž took over command of the Feldjägerbattaillon number 31 at Agram  followed by his promotion to Oberstleutnant on the 1st of May 1913. He remained as commander of this Croatian unit until August 1915. During this time he was honored with the award of the Orden der Eisernen Krone 3.Klasse mit Kriegsdekoration (Order of the Iron Crown 3rd class with war decoration) on the 25th of November 1914, received the Prussian Iron Cross 2nd class in April 1915 and was promoted to Oberst on the 1st of May 1915. From June until September 1915 he was the leader of a so-called "kombiniertes Jägerregiment" which was a temporary formation formed from different Rifle Battalions. On the 3rd of September 1915 he was again decorated, now receiving the knights' cross of the order of Leopold with war decoration and being appointed as commander of infantry regiment number 8. On the 21st of December 1915 he was again awarded the Militär Verdienstkreuz (military merit cross) but now with war decoration and when the swords were introduced later he received them retroactively - as for all the decorations he received during the war.

As commander of infantry regiment number 8 which was mainly manned by Czechs from South Moravia, Eduard Hospodarž  was honored with the bronze military merit medal (Signum Laudis) and the Prussian Iron Cross 1st class. His outstanding leadership and personal bravery during the summer of 1916, especially during the battles along the Styr river near Kolki on the 11th of June and the 5th of July 1916, led to the award of the knights' cross of the Militär Maria Theresien Orden in the 180th promotion in the summer of1917. This was followed as usual by the ennobling of the recipient with the predicate "Freiherr von" on the 17th of August 1917. From March until August 1917 he was the commander of the 7th infantry brigade and then assumed the command of the 8th infantry brigade until February 1918. His skills as a brigade commander where recognized by the awarding of the neck badge (2nd class) of the Order of the Iron Crown and the Military Merit Cross both with war decoration and swords. In February 1918 he was attached to the military governor of Montenegro and became responsible for the suppression of the insurrection there until November 1918.

After the war Eduard Freiherr von Hospodarž  was retired with the honorary rank of Generalmajor to Vienna, where he lived in the 18th district. In 1938 all winners of the Militär Maria Theresien Orden and the Golden Bravery Medal were honored by the German occupation authorities with promotions and he consequently received the honorary rank of Generalleutnant a.D. in the German Wehrmacht. It is not possible to give the exact date of his death. In 1958 the city of Vienna built together with the Kriegsgräberfürsorge "Schwarzes Kreuz" a war-memorial and resting place at the Südwest-Friedhof in the12th district to remember all those who were killed during the last month of the war in 1945 by the heavy allied air-raids and to provide a last resting place. During the following years at last on the 1st of May 1960, all human-remains which were found during rebuilding of totally destroyed houses were buried there. In the long list of men, women, children and "unknown soldiers" one will find the entry "Eduard Hospodarž  born 1862".

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