Ignjat Kirhner

Ignjat Kirhner (, ; 30 May 1877 – 18 May 1944) was an Austro-Hungarian officer, Serbian World War I volunteer, and Yugoslav brigadier-general. He deserted the Austro-Hungarian Army by the start of World War I and joined the Royal Serbian Army as a guerrilla fighter in the Belgrade area. After the war he rose in the Royal Yugoslav Army to the rank of brigadier-general.

Early life There are differing accounts on his origin. He has been described as: a Banat Swabian (ethnic German); an ethnic Serb, born in Ruma, Austria-Hungary (now Serbia), who adopted the surname Kirchner from his stepfather who adopted and raised him; an ethnic Serb, born in Klein-Betschkerek, Austria-Hungary (now Becicherecu Mic, Romania), who adopted the surname from his stepfather, whom his mother remarried. Ruma was a town which had a Serb majority and minorities of Germans, Hungarians and Croats, while Klein-Betschkerek was a village which had a German majority and minorities of Serbs and Romanians.

He grew up speaking German, and only learnt Serbian while serving in the Austro-Hungarian army.

Austro-Hungarian service Kirhner finished the Military Academy in Vienna, then served in the Austro-Hungarian army as an officer in Vinkovci in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (now Croatia) for seven years. Here, he learnt Serbian; At first, his volunteer unit numbered 15, but quickly rose up to 400.

Interwar period After the war, he held high offices in the Military-Technical and Engineering Department of the Army and Navy. He married Bosiljka, his war-time love. In the Yugoslav Army, Ignjat Kirhner had the rank of an engineering technical lieutenant, then rose to the rank of brigadier-general (1939). For a period of time, he was the President of the "Association of Belgrade Defenders 1914–1915".

Last years At his personal request, he was retired shortly before World War II. He declined an offer from Nazi Germany to be employed in the occupation government in Serbia in 1941. He was killed on Easter 1944 in Belgrade during Allied bombardments.