Kuno von Moltke

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Kuno von Moltke

Lieutenant General Kuno Augustus Friedrich Karl Detlev Graf von Moltke (13 December 1847 – 19 March 1923), adjutant to Kaiser Wilhelm II and military commander of Berlin, was a principal in the homosexual scandal known as the Harden-Eulenburg Affair (1907) that rocked the Kaiser's entourage. Moltke was forced to leave the military service.

Biography

In 1896 Moltke, a 'confirmed bachelor' in his early 50s, married Nathalie von Hayden ('Lilly'), a woman more than twenty years his junior.[1] The couple soon became estranged, with Moltke's physician later alleging that Lilly had physically attacked Moltke several times.[2] The couple were eventually divorced in 1902 (the formal divorce proceedings took several years to conclude).[1]

The Eulenburg affair

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Accusations and counter-accusations quickly multiplied. Later that year, Moltke sued Harden for libel. His ex-wife Lilly (who had since remarried and was now called Lilly von Elbe) voluntarily testified against him.[1] Magnus Hirschfeld, a physician and sexologist who supported the legalization of homosexuality in Germany, testified that he believed Moltke to be homosexual.[1] The court "sensationally" acquitted Harden, concluding that he had been telling the truth about Moltke's sexuality.[3] However, the verdict was voided due to faulty procedure.[3]

In 1908, Harden was retried, and this time he was found guilty of libel against Moltke.

German press reaction

After the first trial, the German press were sympathetic to Moltke. Newspapers condemned the tactics of the defense and expressing condolence with Count von Moltke, who was declared to have presented a dignified figure in court. Berliner Tageblatt condemned Harden for his salacious articles, and argued that they amounted to the unnecessary hunting down of an old soldier.[4]

Later life

Moltke played little further part in public life after the Harden-Eulenberg affair.[5] He died in Breslau in 1923.[6]

Orders and decorations

German honours[7]
Foreign honours[7]

Further reading

  • Isabel Hull, The entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Cambridge 1982.
  • John Röhl, Des Kaisers bester Freund, in: Kaiser, Hof und Staat. Wilhelm II. und die deutsche Politik, Munich 1988, pp. 35–77, v.a. 64 ff.
  • Nicolaus Sombart, Wilhelm II. Sündenbock und Herr der Mitte, Berlin 1996.
  • Olaf Jessen: Die Moltkes. Biographie einer Familie, C. H. Beck, Munich 2010, Template:ISBN

References

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External links

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