Prussian Military Academy







The Prussian Military Academy (Preußische Kriegsakademie) or Prussian War Academy was the military academy and staff college of the Kingdom of Prussia. It originated with the Akademie für junge Offiziere der Infanterie und Kavallerie (Academy for young officers of the infantry and cavalry) in 1801, later becoming known as the Allgemeine Kriegsschule (General war-school). It was officially re-founded by Gerhard von Scharnhorst in Berlin on October 15, 1810 as one of three officer colleges. Its building on Unter den Linden (1845/25) was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

Graduating from the academy was a prerequisite for appointment to the Prussian General Staff (later the German General Staff). Carl von Clausewitz enrolled as one of its first students in 1801 (before it was renamed), while other attendees included Field Marshals von Steinmetz, von Moltke, and von Blumenthal in the 1820s and 1830s.

Ernst Emile Von Lorenz, who served as a United States Army Commander in 1889, was a graduate; as well as US Army Colonel Albert Coady Wedemeyer, who served in World War II. The Academy restructured after World War I and dissolved following World War II.