Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza
| Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza | |
|---|---|
Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza
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| Born |
30 March 1854 Temeswar, Austrian Empire(now Timișoara, Romania) |
| Died | 22 September 1924 (aged 70) Vienna, Austria |
| Allegiance |
 Austro-Hungarian Army
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| Years of service | 1872—1918 |
| Rank | Generalfeldmarschall |
Hermann Freiherr Kövess von Kövessháza (Hungarian: kövessházi báró Kövess Hermann; 30 March 1854 – 22 September 1924) was the final, and completely ceremonial, Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Army. He served as a generally competent and unremarkable commander in the Austro-Hungarian Army and was close to retirement in 1914 when the First World War broke out and he was given a command post.
Kövess' father was a senior military officer living in Temesvár, Austrian Empire (now Timișoara, Romania). His mothers family belonged to the small German-speaking Transylvanian Saxon minority known as the Siebenbürger-Sachsen. He married the Baroness Eugenie Hye von Glunek in 1892 and they had 3 sons; Adalbert, who was killed in action in 1914 and Géza and Jenő who served as artillery officers.
He enrolled into a cadet institute at Hainburg in 1865, and, after spending some time there and at the academy in Znaim, he moved to a military academy in Vienna. He passed the courses at the academy with fair success and received an accelerated promotion to captain.
He led his first military expedition in 1882 on a mission to suppress a mutiny in Dalmatia and was commended by the Emperor Francis Joseph I of Austria with a Merit Medal and also received a Knights Cross of the Order of the Italian Crown that same year. After the campaign he failed his next examination and was transferred into the infantry. His good performance during his service with the infantry provided him with quick promotions to major in 1890 and then to lieutenant colonel in 1894 and soon after to colonel.
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