Date of birth:

February 21st, 1867 (Neustadt, Magdeburg, German Empire)

Date of death:

March 1st, 1946 (Hubertusburg, Oschatz, Germany)

Nationality:

German

Richard was the eldest of four children of the Prussian Lieutenant Colonel Otto von Keiser (1842–1907) and his wife Hermine, née Gresser (* 1844). His sister Paula (* 1868) was married to Julius Helmentag († 1908), the district administrator of the Sulingen district.

Military career:
After visiting the cadet corps, von Keiser was transferred on March 22, 1887 as a second lieutenant to the 3rd Upper Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 62 of the Prussian Army in Cosel. From the beginning of February 1891 to the end of November 1892 he served in the fusilier regiment "Prince Heinrich of Prussia" (Brandenburg) No. 35, was then transferred to the infantry regiment "von Borcke" (4th Pomeranian) No. 21 to Thorn and advanced to prime lieutenant in mid-September 1894. Under position à la suite of his regiment, he was assigned to the cadet house in Bensberg on March 22, 1895. With the transfer to the main cadet institute, von Keiser was transferred to the cadet corps on October 1, 1896.

At the end of October 1898, von Keiser resigned from the army, joined the marine infantry and, with his patent, was employed as a prime lieutenant on November 1, 1898 in the 2nd Sea Battalion. He was commanded by cabinet orders from mid-April 1899 to the end of February 1900 on board the training ship Gneisenau and then took part in the suppression of the Boxer uprising in China. On July 23, 1901 he was appointed company commander and was awarded the Order of the Crown, IV class with swords, for his work by cabinet order of October 10, 1901.

On September 30, 1901 von Keiser resigned in the Prussian Army, was first aggregated into the Infantry Regiment "Graf Bose" (1st Thuringian) No. 31 and on January 27, 1902, when he was appointed Chief of the 5th Company. His company won the emperor's badge three times in the following years, for which he received the Order of the Red Eagle, IV class with crown. From mid-February 1906 to the end of March 1911 he was company commander at the Hauptkadettenanstalt, then served in the same capacity in the 9th Baden Infantry Regiment No. 170 in Offenburg until mid-November 1912. Then von Keiser was promoted to major in the infantry regiment "von Goeben" (2nd Rheinisches) no. 28 and was promoted to the regimental staff in March 1913.

When the First World War broke out, he was appointed battalion commander in Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 65, which was part of the crew at Metz fortress. He took part in the battle at Conflans and the Zernierung von Verdun and returned at the end of January 1916 as commander of the 1st battalion to the infantry regiment "von Goeben" (2nd Rheinisches) No. 28, which at that time was in position battles on the Aisne lay. At the end of July 1916 he had to relinquish his command due to illness and one month later, after his recovery, he became the commander of Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 91. As a result, he led his unit in the defensive battles in April / May near Arras and in the summer and autumn of 1917 in Flanders. At the beginning of February 1918 his regiment transferred to the newly formed 17th Army and prepared for the German spring offensive. von Keiser was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the end of the month. At the beginning of the offensive he led his regiment at Pintheville at the end of March 1918 and was able to conquer the heavily wired and strategically important Ervillers in a night battle. A large amount of guns and material could be captured. He also took part in the conquest of Noreuil. For these achievements von Keiser was awarded the order Pour le Mérite on April 21, 1918 at the suggestion of his superior General von Petersdorff.

After the offensive ceased and the fighting between Arras and Albert, von Keiser worked in the Battle of Monchy-Bapaume at the end of August 1918 and then went back to the Siegfried position. This was followed by defensive battles between the Deûle Canal and the Scheldt. At the end of October 1918 he had to give up the regiment due to illness and return home. von Keiser experienced the end of the war there and, due to the lack of senior officers, became the commandant of Koblenz for a month. He then took over his regiment again, which he demobilized from December 18 to 22, 1918 in Göttingen. With the dissolution of the association, he became available to the General Command of the VIII Army Corps, headed the demobilization of the 9th Rhenish Infantry Regiment No. 160 as commander and joined the staff of the 20th Reichswehr Infantry Regiment in October 1919 von Keiser was commandant of Braunschweig on January 30th, 1920 until he retired from military service on September 30th, 1920 and was given the status of colonel.
Since the Entente considered von Keiser a war criminal, he was arrested on the basis of the provisions of the Versailles Peace Treaty, but released on bail and the investigations against him stopped after about five years. The French sentenced von Keiser to death in absentia.

On the occasion of the so-called Tannenberg Day he was given the character of Major General on August 27, 1939.

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Period:

First World War (1914-1918)

Rank:

Oberstleutnant

Unit:

Kommandeur, Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91, 2. Garde-Reservedivision

Awarded on:

April 21st, 1918

The award was made for "Operation Michael", more precisely for the battle of Bapaume on March 24th and 25th, 1918. Lieutenant Colonel von Keiser and his regiment managed to storm Ervillers at night, the key point of the last enemy position in the Arras-Bapaume line .

Period:

First World War (1914-1918)

Rank:

Major

Unit:

Kommandeur, I./ Infanterie-Regiment „von Goeben“ (2. Rheinisches) Nr. 28

Period:

First World War (1914-1918)

Rank:

Major

Unit:

Bataillonskommandeur, Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 65

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Premierlieutenant

Unit:

II. Seebataillon, Marineinfanterie

Awarded on:

October 10th, 1901

with swords

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Hauptmann

Unit:

Chef, 5./ Infanterie-Regiment „Graf Bose“ (1. Thüringisches) Nr. 31

Awarded on:

1904

with crown

• Dermot Bradley (Hrsg.): Die Generale des Heeres 1921–1945. Die militärischen Werdegänge der Generale, sowie der Ärzte, Veterinäre, Intendanten, Richter und Ministerialbeamten im Generalsrang. Band 6: Hochbaum–Klutmann. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2002, ISBN 3-7648-2582-0, S. 408–409 - Verleihungen des "Pour le M�rite" an der Westfront