The Chief of the General Staff (German: Chef des Generalstabes der Armee) of the Bavarian army was the military leader of the armed forces in the Kingdom of Bavaria.[1]
Originally the General Staff (German: Generalstab) of the Bavarian army was created by prince-elector Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria on demand of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford in 1792. In 1822 it was renamed under Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria to Generalquartiermeister. During the reign of Ludwig II of Bavaria, it was renamed once more to Generalstab. The office of the Chief of the General Staff was located in Munich. The General Staff of the army supported the supreme command of the army, and was point of contact for the Truppengeneralstäbe (general staffs of troops), the general staffs of the divisional commands, which were created after 1826, abolished in 1837 and once more deployed in 1847.[2] The General Staff followed the mobile forces on mission, until the Bavarian army was subordinated in case of war to the command of the German Emperor in his function as Bundesfeldherr (federal commander) after 1870. Due to this the commanders of the Bavarian army were under the direct command of the central German military authorities during World War I; on mobilisation most of the Bavarian General Staff became the headquarters of the largely Bavarian 6th Army, with some officers joining the Supreme Army Command.
| Name | Title | Term began | Term ended | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| missing | ||||
| GM Johann Nepomuk Graf von Triva (1755–1827) | Generalquartiermeister Chef des Generalstabes[3] | 1802 | 1820[4] | |
| Chef des Generalstabes | 1820[5] | 1829(?)[6] | ||
| missing | ||||
| GM Wilhelm Freiherr von Jeetze (1785–1852) | Generalquartiermeister | 1847 | 1848 | |
| GL Anton von der Mark (1796–1869) | Generalquartiermeister | 1848 | 1853 | |
| GM Philipp Freiherr von Brand zu Neidstein (1796–1870) | Generalquartiermeister | 1853 | 1856 | |
| GL Anton von der Mark (1796–1869) | Generalquartiermeister | 1856 | 1866 | |
| GM Hermann von Schintling (1816–1870) | Generalquartiermeister | 1866 | 1866 | |
| GL Max Graf von Bothmer (1816–1878)[7] | Generalquartiermeister | 1866 | 1878 | |
| missing | Generalquartiermeister | 1878 | 1878 | |
| GM Adolf von Heinleth (1823–1896) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1878 | 1881 | |
| GdI Hugo Ritter von Diehl (1821–1883) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1881 | 1883 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1883 | 1883 | |
| GL Maximilian Graf von Verri della Bosia (1824–1909) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1883 | 1888 | |
| GL Wilhelm von Staudt (1825–1917) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1888 | 1893 | |
| GL Karl Ritter von Hoffmann (1832–1903) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1893 | 1895 | |
| GL Maximilian Ritter von Giehrl (1840–1896) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1895 | 1896 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1896 | 1896 | |
| GL Karl Ritter von Lobenhoffer (1843–1901) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1896 | 1901 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1901 | 1901 | |
| GL Ernst Freiherr von Barth zu Harmating (1849–1934) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1901 | 1905 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1905 | 1905 | |
| GL Carl Ritter von Endres (1847–1907) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1905 | 1907 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1907 | 1907 | |
| GL Karl von Fasbender (1852–1933) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1907 | 1908 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1908 | 1908 | |
| GM Oskar Ritter und Edler von Xylander (1856–1940) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1908 | 1912 | |
| missing | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1912 | 1912 | |
| GM Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen (1862–1953) | Chef des Generalstabes der Armee | 1912 | 1914 | |