Hans Georg Hermann von Plessen was a Prussian Colonel General with the rank of Generalfeldmarschall and Canon of Brandenburg. He held the office of His Majesty's Orderly Adjutant General to Kaiser Wilhelm II, thus making him one of the Emperor's closest confidants. During World War I he simultaneously served as Commandant of the Imperial Grand Headquarters.

The 1st Foot Guard Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army formed in 1806 after Napoleon defeated Prussia in the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. It was formed by combining all previous Foot Guard Regiments, especially the 6th and the 15th Infantry Regiments of the Old Prussian Army, the former were the famous Potsdam Giants of Frederick William I of Prussia, the latter was commanded and led by Frederick the Great as his life guard, and was, from its inception, the bodyguard-regiment of Kings of Prussia. Save William II, who also wore the uniforms of other regiments, all Prussian Kings and most Princes of Prussia wore the uniform of the 1st Foot Guard Regiment. All Princes of Prussia were commissioned lieutenants in the 1st Foot Guards upon their tenth birthdays. The King of Prussia was also the Colonel-in-chief of the regiment, as well as the Chief of the 1st Battalion and 1st Company of the regiment. Therefore, the regiment held the highest rank within the Prussian Army, which, among other things, meant that the officer corps of the regiment marched before the princes of the German Empire and the diplomatic corps in the traditional New Year's reception. Unofficially, the regiment was known as the "First Regiment of Christendom".