Karl Schudawa
Karl Schudawa was born as the
son of a retired Rittmeister at Verona on the 30th of September
1856. After attending the cadet institute at Eisenstadt and the
Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt he was commissioned as a
Leutnant in ulan regiment number 7 in September 1875. In this
regiment he received his promotions to Oberleutnant on the 1st of
May 1880 and to Rittmeister 2nd class on the 1st of November
1888. After graduating from the Militär-Reitlehrer-Institute
(1880-1882) he was mainly employed as a riding instructor at
the officers 'school of the cavalry brigade. On the 16th of
February 1889 he was transfered to the k.k. Landwehr and attached
to Landwehr dragoon regiment number 2 where he received his
promotion to Rittmeister 1st class on the 1st of November of the
same year. In July 1893 he was transferred to Landwehr dragoon
regiment number 3 at Wels (Upper Austria). During the
reorganisation of the whole Landwehr cavalry in 1894 all dragoon
regiments were disbanded and reformed again as ulan regiments.
Dragoon regiment number 3 became ulan regiment number 6.
On the 26th of October 1895 he took over command of the
Division of Berittene Tiroler Landesschützen (Tyrolean Mounted
Rifles Detachment) at Innsbruck. Commanding this unit he received
his promotions to Major on the 1st of May 1896 and to
Oberstleutnant on the 1st of May 1899. For his outstanding
leadership he was honored with the Military Merit Cross on the
2nd of December 1898. On the 4th of October 1902 he was appointed
to the command of Landwehr ulan regiment number 6, his old
regiment from Wels, shortly followed by his promotion to Oberst
on the 26th of October 1902 with seniority from the 2nd of
December 1902. As a common routine he was awarded the Order
of the Iron Crown 3rd class on the 2nd of October 1906.
After more than 6 years commanding a regiment Karl Schudawa
took over command of the 2nd Landwehr cavalry brigade in January
1909 followed by his promotion to Generalmajor on the 1st of May
1909. On the 6th of March 1910 he was transferred as it's
commander to the 1st Landwehr cavalry brigade. On the 7th of
February 1912 he assumed command of the 10th cavalry division at
Budapest followed by his promotion to Feldmarschall-Leutnant on
the 17th of May 1912. Karl Schudawa was now 56 years old with
more than 37 years of service mainly on horseback. It was
therefore no surprise that his health was no longer at it's best.
On the 16th of February 1913 he was relieved from his post on
medical grounds. After his final release medical examinations he
was retired as "ineligible for active duty" on the 30th
of September 1913 with the additional honour of the award of the
knights' cross of the Order of Leopold. Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Karl Schudawa was a fine example of a normal peacetime career
of an average officer. He retired to Linz where he died on the 7th of July 1918.
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