von Richthofen
Silesia · Prussia
Arms: Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt, in: Alfred von Krane, Wappen- und Handbuch des in Schlesien ansässigen Adels, Wikimedia Commons, gemeinfrei
Luise grew up at Parsow, the second of the three daughters of Landrat August von Gerlach; her elder sister Asta had married a Baron von Pachelbel-Gehag six years before. Karl Ernst Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen became a General of Cavalry and commanded the I Cavalry Corps in 1914.
A Silesian noble family from Bernstadt (imperial nobility 1661 as "von Richthofen"), raised to the Prussian baronage by Frederick the Great in 1741. The family produced officers, diplomats and administrative officials, including the geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen and State Secretary Oswald von Richthofen. The marriage into the von Gerlach family was that of Karl Ernst Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen (1855–1939), a general of cavalry. He is not to be confused with his more famous namesake from the same Silesian family: Manfred von Richthofen (1892–1918), the fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron", belonged to a different line and has no connection to this marriage.
Sources: Degener Verlag, Deutsches Familienarchiv vol. 160 »von Gerlach – Lebensbilder einer Familie« (in German); Wikipedia articles on the families named; Wikimedia Commons (coat-of-arms images). Given to the best of our knowledge. Jürgen von Gerlach: von Gerlach. Lebensbilder einer Familie in sechs Jahrhunderten (Deutsches Familienarchiv 160), Insingen 2015 (in German). All sources. For corrections or additions, please contact the family administration.