MILITARY PERSONNELS from Czechia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Czech Military Personnels of all time. This list of famous Czech Military Personnels is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Czech Military Personnels.

1. Jan Žižka (1360 - 1424)

With an HPI of 75.64, Jan Žižka is the most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages on wikipedia.

Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha (English: John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice; c. 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech general who was a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus and was a Radical Hussite and led the Taborites. Žižka was a successful military leader and is now a Czech national hero. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka", having lost one and then both eyes. Jan Žižka led Hussite forces against three crusades and never lost a single battle although he was completely blind in his last stages of life. He was born in the small village of Trocnov in the Kingdom of Bohemia into a family from the Czech nobility. According to Piccolomini's Historia Bohemica, he had some connections with the royal court from his youth, and later held the office of Chamberlain to Queen Sofia of Bavaria. He fought in the Battle of Grunwald (15 July 1410), where he defended Radzyń against the Teutonic Order. Later, he played a prominent role in the civil wars in Bohemia. He led the Hussites during the first important clashes of the conflict in the Battle of Sudoměř (1420) and in the Battle of Vítkov Hill (1420). In the Battle of Kutná Hora (1421) he defeated the army of the Holy Roman Empire and the Hungarian Kingdom. The effectiveness of his field artillery against the royal cavalry in this battle made it a successful element of Hussite armies. Žižka's tactics were unorthodox and innovative. In addition to training and equipping his army according to their abilities, he used armored wagons fitted with small cannons and muskets, anticipating the tank of five hundred years later. He exploited geographic features to the full and maintained good discipline in his armies. He had to train peasants quickly to face highly-trained and -armored opponents repeatedly, who usually outnumbered his own troops. For those reasons, he is often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time. A monument was erected on the Vítkov Hill in Prague to honor Jan Žižka and his victory on this hill in 1420. It is the third-largest bronze equestrian statue in the world.

2. Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583 - 1634)

With an HPI of 73.01, Albrecht von Wallenstein is the 2nd most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland (; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein (Czech: Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). His successful martial career made him one of the richest and most influential men in the Holy Roman Empire by the time of his death. Wallenstein became the supreme commander of the armies of the Imperial Army of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and was a major figure of the Thirty Years' War. Wallenstein was born in the Kingdom of Bohemia into a poor Protestant noble family. He acquired a multilingual university education across Europe and converted to Catholicism in 1606. A marriage in 1609 to the wealthy widow of a Bohemian landowner gave him access to considerable estates and wealth after her death at an early age in 1614. Three years later, Wallenstein embarked on a career as a mercenary by raising forces for the Holy Roman Emperor in the Uskok War against the Republic of Venice. Wallenstein fought for the Catholics in the Protestant Bohemian Revolt of 1618 and was awarded estates confiscated from the rebels after their defeat at White Mountain in 1620. A series of military victories against the Protestants raised Wallenstein's reputation in the imperial court and in 1625 he raised a large army of 50,000 men to further the Imperial cause. A year later, he administered a crushing defeat to the Protestants at Dessau Bridge. For his successes, Wallenstein became an imperial count palatine and made himself ruler of the lands of the Duchy of Friedland in northern Bohemia. An imperial generalissimo by land, and Admiral of the Baltic Sea from 21 April 1628, Wallenstein found himself released from service in 1630 after Ferdinand grew wary of his ambition. Several Protestant victories over Catholic armies induced Ferdinand to recall Wallenstein (Gollersdorf April 1632), who then defeated the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus at Alte Veste. The Swedish king was later killed at the Battle of Lützen. Wallenstein realised the war could last decades and, during the summer of 1633, arranged a series of armistices to negotiate peace. These proved to be his undoing as plotters accused him of treachery and Emperor Ferdinand II ordered his assassination. Dissatisfied with the Emperor's treatment of him, Wallenstein considered allying with the Protestants. However, he was assassinated at Eger in Bohemia by one of the army's officials, with the emperor's approval.

3. Joseph Radetzky von Radetz (1766 - 1858)

With an HPI of 71.95, Joseph Radetzky von Radetz is the 3rd most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Johann Josef Wenzel Anton Franz Karl, Graf Radetzky von Radetz (2 November 1766 – 5 January 1858) was a Czech nobleman and Austrian field marshal. He served as chief of the general staff in the Habsburg monarchy during the later period of the Napoleonic Wars and proved instrumental in the allied victory as one of the primary architects of the Trachenberg Plan and the Leipzig Campaign. Afterwards, he embarked on military reforms of the Austrian army. His reputation was one of discipline and fairness; he was revered by his troops among whom he was known as Vater ('Father') Radetzky. He is best known for the victories at the Battles of Custoza (24–25 July 1848) and Novara (23 March 1849) during the First Italian War of Independence. Johann Strauss I's Radetzky March was commissioned to commemorate Radetzky's victories at the Battle of Custoza.

4. Kurt Knispel (1921 - 1945)

With an HPI of 63.51, Kurt Knispel is the 4th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Kurt Knispel (20 September 1921 – 28 April 1945) was a German tank commander during World War II. Knispel was severely wounded on 28 April 1945 by shrapnel to his head when his Tiger II was hit in battle by Soviet tanks. He died two hours later in a German field hospital. On 10 April 2013, Czech authorities said that Knispel's remains were found with 15 other German soldiers behind a church wall in Vrbovec, identified by his dog tags. On 12 November 2014, the German War Graves Commission reburied his remains at the Central Brno military cemetery in Brno. He was buried with 41 other German soldiers who died in Moravia and Silesia. Knispel was profiled extensively in the second installment of the popular historical fiction series Panzer Aces, written by Franz Kurowski. Alfred Rubbel, Knispel's superior officer during the war, challenged Kurowski's retelling of Knispel's alleged tank kills and awards. Rubbel described Kurowski's writing on Knispel as "a sheer outrage. What he wrote in there, it is all made up. Alone the quotes he puts in my mouth. It is all completely untrue."

5. Prokop the Great (1380 - 1434)

With an HPI of 63.40, Prokop the Great is the 5th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Prokop the Great (Czech: Prokop Veliký, Latin: Procopius Magnus) or Prokop the Bald or the Shaven (Czech: Prokop Holý, Latin: Procopius Rasus) (c. 1380 – 30 May 1434) was a Czech Hussite general and a prominent Taborite military leader during the Hussite Wars. On his mother's side, he came from a German patrician family living in Prague. Initially, Prokop was a member of the Utraquists (the moderate wing of the Hussites) and was a married priest (having received the tonsure early in life) who belonged to an eminent, partly German-speaking family from Prague. He studied in Prague, and then traveled for several years in foreign countries. On his return to Bohemia, though a priest and continuing to officiate as such, he became the most prominent leader of the advanced Hussite or Taborite forces during the latter part of the Hussite Wars. He was not the immediate successor of Jan Žižka as leader of the Taborites, as has been frequently stated, but he commanded the forces of Tabor when they obtained their great victories over the Germans and Catholics at Ústí nad Labem in 1426 and Domažlice in 1431. The crushing defeat that he inflicted on the crusaders of the Holy Roman Empire at Domažlice led to peace negotiations (1432) at Cheb between the Hussites and representatives of the Council of Basel. He also acted as leader of the Taborites during their frequent incursions into Hungary and Germany, particularly when in 1429 a vast Bohemian army invaded Saxony and the territory of Nuremberg. The Hussites, however, made no attempt permanently to conquer German territory, and on 6 February 1430 Prokop concluded a treaty at Kulmbach with Frederick I, burgrave of Nuremberg, by which the Hussites engaged themselves to leave Germany. When the Bohemians entered into negotiations with Sigismund and the Council of Basel and, after prolonged discussions, resolved to send an embassy to the council, Prokop the Great was its most prominent member, reaching Basel on 4 January 1433. When the negotiations there for a time proved fruitless, Prokop with the other envoys returned to Bohemia, where new internal troubles broke out. A Taborite army led by Prokop the Great besieged Plzeň, which was then in the hands of the Catholics. The discipline in the Hussite camp had, however, slackened in the course of prolonged warfare, and the Taborites encamped before Plzeň revolted against Prokop, who therefore returned to Prague. Probably encouraged by these dissensions among the men of Tabor, the Bohemian nobility, both Catholic and Utraquist, formed a league for the purpose of opposing radicalism, which through the victories of Tabor had acquired great strength in the Bohemian towns. The struggle began at Prague. Aided by the nobles, the citizens of the Old Town took possession of the more radical New Town, Prague, which Prokop unsuccessfully attempted to defend. Prokop now called to his aid Prokop the Lesser, who had succeeded him in the command of the Taborite army before Plzeň. They jointly retreated eastward from Prague, and their forces, known as the army of the towns, met the army of the nobles between Kourim and Kolín in the Battle of Lipany (30 May 1434). The Taborites were decisively defeated, and both Prokops, Great and Lesser, perished in the battle. The fourth rifle regiment of Czechoslovak legions was named after him in July 1917.

6. Jan Kubiš (1913 - 1942)

With an HPI of 61.03, Jan Kubiš is the 6th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Jan Kubiš (24 June 1913 – 18 June 1942) was a Czech soldier, one of a team of Czechoslovak British-trained paratroopers sent to eliminate acting Reichsprotektor (Realm-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, in 1942 as part of Operation Anthropoid. During the assassination attempt, Kubiš threw a makeshift grenade that mortally wounded Heydrich.

7. Otto Kittel (1917 - 1945)

With an HPI of 57.50, Otto Kittel is the 7th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Otto Kittel (21 February 1917 – 14 or 16 February 1945) was a German fighter pilot during World War II. He flew 583 combat missions on the Eastern Front, claiming 267 aerial victories, making him the fourth highest scoring ace in aviation history according to authors John Weal and Jerry Scutts. Kittel claimed all of his victories against the Red Air Force. Kittel joined the Luftwaffe in 1939, and, in spring 1941, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) supporting Army Group North on the Eastern Front. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October 1943, for reaching 120 aerial victories. During the remainder of World War II, Kittel was credited with 144 more aerial victories and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. He was shot down by Soviet aircraft and killed in February 1945. Kittel was the most successful German fighter pilot to be killed in action.

8. Julius von Payer (1841 - 1915)

With an HPI of 57.33, Julius von Payer is the 8th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Julius Johannes Ludovicus Ritter von Payer (2 September 1841 – 29 August 1915), ennobled Ritter von Payer in 1876, was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army, mountaineer, arctic explorer, cartographer, painter, and professor at the Theresian Military Academy. He is chiefly known for the Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition in 1872–74 and the discovery of Franz Josef Land.

9. Erhard Raus (1889 - 1956)

With an HPI of 56.31, Erhard Raus is the 9th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Erhard Raus (8 January 1889 – 3 April 1956) was an Austrian general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking army and army group commands. Raus was one of three former Austrians who rose to the rank of Generaloberst (colonel general) within the German Wehrmacht. The other two were Alexander Löhr and Lothar Rendulic.

10. Karl Fritzsch (1903 - 1945)

With an HPI of 54.33, Karl Fritzsch is the 10th most famous Czech Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Karl Fritzsch (10 July 1903 – 2 May 1945) was a German SS official who served as deputy and acting commandant at the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1941. Fritzsch is best known as the official responsible for the death of priest Maximilian Kolbe and, according to Rudolf Höss, first suggesting using poisonous gas Zyklon B and experimenting with gas chambers for the purpose of mass murder at Auschwitz. Fritzsch served at a number of Nazi concentration camps until 1944 when he was implicated in a corruption scandal and dismissed from his positions. Fritzsch was sent to front line duty and is believed to have died at the Battle of Berlin on 2 May 1945, but this is unconfirmed and his fate is unknown.