Colonel General Karl Kritek

He was born in 1861 in Spalato, Dalmatia. He completed his studies in Vienna, then the military schools in St. Pölten and Märisch-Weisskirchen. Between 1876-79 he graduated from the military academy in Wiener Neustadt and in 1884 from the general staff officer academy in Vienna. After a few years of service as a troop officer, he soon performed duties as a staff officer in various divisions and corps. In 1900, he became a colonel and head of the department dealing with the mapping of foreign countries at the General Staff. From 1906 he was a major general and first a brigade and then a division commander.

At the beginning of the Great War, he was a lieutenant general and commander of the 26th Landwehr Division. From October 1914, he became the commander of the newly formed 17th corps with the rank of infantry general. He commanded the northern wing of the 4th Army in the Battle of Limanova in December 1914, and then his corps fought in the Dukla Pass, where it suffered heavy losses. His corps also participated in the breakthrough of Gorlice in May 1915. In 1916, he took part in the South Tyrol offensive with his corps, where he failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough in the Sugana valley. The corps later fought in Boroevic Svetozar’s Isonzo army in the 6th and 9th Isonzo battles. In May 1917, he was promoted to colonel-general and took command of the 3rd Army on the Eastern Front. After the defeat of the Russians, he was still in command of the troops occupying Ukraine for a while, and then in April 1918 he was placed “at disposal”.

After the Great War, he retired from all military and public activities. He died in Vienna in 1928. The Kappenabzeichen with his name is one of the Arkansas company series.