A legend already in his lifetime, August von Mackensen:He was one of the most competent military commanders of Imperial Germany.

 A legend already in his lifetime, August von Mackensen:He was one of the most competent military commanders of Imperial Germany.

On this picture he is in his full Hussar uniform during WWI. 

Note the "Totenkopf" - the death's head - emblem, which despite popular belief, was not a Nazi creation. 

The use of the Totenkopf began under Frederick the Great in the 18th century, who formed a regiment of Hussar cavalry in the Prussian army. 

The death's head meant to symbolize the soldier's bravery and willingness to sacrifice himself for his fellow comrades and his country. 

He commanded successfully during the First World War of 1914–1918 and became one of the German Empire's most prominent and competent military leaders. After the armistice of November 1918 the victorious Allies interned Mackensen in Serbia for a year.

 He retired from the army in 1920; in 1933 Hermann Göring made him a Prussian state councillor. During the Nazi era (1933–1945), Mackensen remained a committed monarchist and sometimes appeared at official functions in his First World War uniform. Senior NSDAP members suspected him of disloyalty to the Third Reich, but nothing was proven against him.

During the German presidential election of 1932, Mackensen supported Paul von Hindenburg against Adolf Hitler, whose political skills he nevertheless admired. 

After Hitler gained power in January 1933, Mackensen became a visible, if only symbolic, supporter of the Nazi regime.

He objected to the killing of Generals Ferdinand von Bredow and Kurt von Schleicher during The Night of the Long Knives purge of July 1934, to the Nazi Kirchenkampf measures against the Confessing Church and to the atrocities committed during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. 

By the early 1940s, Hitler and Joseph Goebbels suspected Mackensen of disloyalty but refrained from taking action.

 Mackensen remained a committed monarchist and in June 1941 appeared in full imperial uniform at Kaiser Wilhelm's funeral at Doorn, in the Netherlands. He publicly condemned the 20 July plot of 1944 ( there is no evidence of it) .

Mackensen died on 8 November 1945 at the age of 95, his life having spanned the Kingdom of Prussia, the North German Confederation, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, The Third Reich, and the post-war Allied occupation of Germany. He was buried in the Celle cemetery.