1 On the biography of Karl Sauter: Karl Sauter was born on 16 May 1870 in Stuttgart as the son of the later director of construction Karl von Sauter. His mother Maria Sauter, née Breimeier, died eight days after his birth. Karl Sauter subsequently grew up with his maternal grandparents in Dettingen/Urach before moving to Stuttgart at the age of six to live with his father, who had remarried in the meantime. After attending a boarding school, Sauter embarked on a military career. In 1885 he joined the cadet corps in Oranienstein and in 1886 the main cadet school in Groß-Lichterfelde. In the years from 1889 to 1900 Sauter served as a lieutenant secretary and prime lieutenant in the Infantry Regiment No. 120. In October 1900 he was commanded to the Great General Staff, where he received a captain's post in 1903. Sauter returned to Württemberg in March 1904. He took over a company of the Grenadier Regiment No. 123. In 1909 Sauter became general staff officer of the 27th Infantry Division. After his promotion to Major (1910) and a one-year activity at the Large General Staff (1911/12), he was transferred to the Fusililier Regiment No. 122 (1912). During the First World War, Sauter worked from October 1914 to June 1915 as First General Staff Officer in the XXVI Reserve Corps. From July 1915 he commanded the newly established Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 122, and from June 1916 he served as Chief of the General Staff of the 26th Reserve Corps. During the first three years of the war, Sauter was deployed mainly in Flanders (including Poelkapelle and Langemarck), Lorraine (including St. Julien and Longwy), the Champagne (including Reims) and the Somme. In February 1915 he was appointed lieutenant colonel. From September 1917 until the end of the war, Sauter served as Chief of the General Staff of the Government of Antwerp. After the end of the war Karl Sauter was stationed 1919 as liaison officer of the Württemberg War Ministry at the OHL in Kolberg. In 1920 he retired from military service; at the same time he was given the character of a major general. Subsequently, Sauter reoriented himself professionally and began a career as a businessman. Sauter wrote numerous (lecture) manuscripts on topics of time and defence policy during his military service, but above all after his departure from the army. The texts express his closeness to National Socialist ideology. Sauter was, among other things, a member of the NS Volkswohlfahrt. After the end of the Second World War, Sauter had to answer for himself in a denazification case in Stuttgart, where he travelled extensively to numerous European and non-European countries for several decades. Sauter died on 11 March 1959. 2. On the military estate of Karl Sauter: The holdings were transferred to the Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart in August 1959. The records were undeveloped so far. They were arranged and listed by archive trainee Dr. Christine Axer under the guidance of Dr. Wolfgang Mährle in December 2010. The military estate of Karl Sauter comprises 1 linear meter. Sauter's memoirs "From my time and for the understanding of the history of my time", which are handed down in the estate and partly kept in the form of a diary, cover a period of more than sixty years. They provide information about the military career of their author as well as about the numerous journeys he made to almost all continents. The memoirs are supplemented by a comprehensive collection of material and a series of unpublished manuscripts by Sauter, in which - politically colored - he deals on the one hand with (military) political and historical questions, and on the other hand also reflects on human existence. The collection also contains numerous postcards, maps and photographs. The latter in particular reveal an unvarnished view of the First World War and its horrors. 3. references: - HStAS, M 430/2 Bü 1786, Sauter, Karl (military personnel file);- HStAS, M 707 No. 1286, Sauter, Karl (14 photographs);- StAL, EL 902/20 Bü 61623 Heimatspruchkammern Spruchkammer 37 - Stuttgart: Procedural files: Sauter, Karl.Stuttgart, December 2010Dr. Wolfgang MährleDr. Christine Axer
