Reisswitz

Reisswitz is a surname best known in military history for the development of Kriegsspiel, a landmark wargame created in Prussia in the early 19th century to train officers and explore tactical decisions. The work is traditionally attributed to Georg Heinrich Rudolf von Reisswitz and his son, who devised a system that could simulate real battles with a degree of uncertainty and hidden information.

Kriegsspiel was designed to be more realistic than prior tabletop simulations. Players commanded units on a map and issued orders, while a neutral umpire managed the internal state of the game, resolved events, and concealed enemy dispositions from the players as appropriate. The rules combined fixed, repeatable mechanics with room for interpretation by the adjudicator, and outcomes were often determined by dice or probability tables. This approach allowed officers to study strategy, logistics, and decision-making under varying circumstances without the costs of actual combat.

The Reisswitz contribution had a lasting impact on military training. Kriegsspiel was adopted and adapted by the Prussian and later German armies, influencing staff education and the development of maturing forms of command post exercises. Beyond the military, the concepts behind Reisswitz’s game helped catalyze the broader tradition of modern wargaming, emphasizing scenario design, controlled information, and systematic experimentation.

Today, Reisswitz is recognized as a foundational figure in the history of wargaming and simulation. His work demonstrated how structured rules, observational control, and uncertain outcomes could be used to teach complex decision-making in a military context.