Adolf von Deines

Johann Georg Adolf Ritter von Deines was a Prussian soldier, diplomat, and educator, as well as a member of the Prussian and Austrian nobility. As a soldier in the Prussian Army, Deines rose to the rank of Cavalry General, and served as aide-de-camp to Kaiser Wilhelm II., under whose rule he also served as military attaché to the Prussian diplomatic missions in both Madrid and Vienna. In addition to his military duties, Deines also served as Obergouverneur, or military-governor, to the Kaiser's sons. In this capacity, Deines oversaw the complete reconstruction of the system in which the princes were educated, shifting from a court-based theoretical system of education to a hands-on, physical style of learning that brought the princes into close contact with boys of varying rank in order to give them a well-rounded understanding of the world, removed from the strictures and pretenses of traditional royal education.