Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich

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Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich (born February 22, 1719 in Potsdam , † January 23, 1796 in Berlin ) was a Prussian infantry general and secret state and war minister. With his will he left his fortune to a foundation that still provides help to soldiers and civilian employees of the Bundeswehr under the name of Rohdich'scher Legatenfonds .

Engraved portrait of Friedrich Wilhelm von Rodich (around 1790)

At a time when social institutions were in short supply, the Prussian general did pioneering work for the service of one's neighbor: shortly before his death in 1796, Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich bequeathed his fortune, which essentially consisted of a Palais am Quarree, today's Pariser Platz in Berlin consisted of the Grenadier Guard Battalion.

Grave site in the Invalidenfriedhof , Berlin
Grave of Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich - inscription of the foundation on the back of the tomb
The Legate House at Pariser Platz 3
Memorial plaque on the house, Pariser Platz 3, in Berlin-Mitte

Life

Friedrich Wilhelm was the son of Friedrich Johann Bernd Rohdich († November 7, 1759) and his wife Dorothea, née Beaters. The father had initially under King Charles XII. served by Sweden , was captured in Stralsund in 1715 and then joined the guard of the Prussian Army as a sergeant . Most recently he was captain and in command of the Werder Invalid Corps.

Rohdich attended 1734-1736 the Joachimsthalsche school and was then in the abdomen company of King I. Friedrich Wilhelm hired. In 1737 he joined the "König" infantry regiment as a sergeant . For his services in the Battle of Prague he was awarded the order Pour le Mérite in May 1757 and also received a prebend from the St. Peter and Paul Monastery in Magdeburg .

His brave and prudent behavior in various campaigns meant that he quickly made a career. In 1775 he became Drost zu Emden and in 1776 succeeded the late von Düringshofen as inspector general of the regiments in Westphalia and as governor at Mühlenhof .

As the commandant of Potsdam , he devoted himself above all to child welfare, building up the garrison school and improving the reform home for poor officer's daughters. He later became director of the Potsdam Great Military Orphanage . He also directed other royal institutions.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich was an active member of the Freemasons ' Union , he founded 1726 a. a. a military field box and in 1763 the box "Der Diamant" in Berlin , which was a forerunner of the box "Minerva" near Potsdam .

Testamentary disposition

Rohdich was married to Friederike Karoline von Hoffmann, divorced von Oesfeld (1748–1806). But his marriage remained childless. On January 21, 1796, the infantry general and Prussian war minister dictated his will and thus enacted the foundation's basic statute.

"The income from my house with the pieces of furniture, which and which I have bequeathed to my subordinate Grenadier Guard battalion under the above conditions, should, as I hereby determine and determine, in 'forever' for the education of the children of the said battalion solely and exclusively use Find."

Rohdich died in Berlin and was buried in the Invalidenfriedhof .

The Fund 1796–1918

From then on, the "von Rohdich'sche Legatenhaus", Pariser Platz 3 in Berlin, was rented and the proceeds were used to finance the education of the children of members of the battalion. After the Grenadiergarde Battalion (No. 6) was dissolved in 1806 (after the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt ), payments from the von Rohdich inheritance were interrupted by the French from October 24, 1806 to December 5, 1808 during the Berlin occupation . From 1808 the Guard on foot benefited from two battalions. With the establishment of a III. Battalion was renamed in 1809 to Guards Regiment on Foot. The regiment was given the final name of the 1st Guards Regiment on Foot on June 19, 1813. From 1824 onwards, the regiment's Immediate Commission was responsible for managing the property. In 1880 the foundation was granted the rights of a legal person.

The Fund 1918–1951

After the regiment was dissolved in 1918, the tradition was handed over to the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment, which had been established in the meantime . In the same year the former of the 1st Guards Regiment on foot and the members of the regiment founded the "Semper talis Bund" (StB). The administration of the "von Rohdich'schen Legatenfonds" was taken over by officers and NCOs of the regiment and the StB as well as two members of the Prussian State Ministry. The management was transferred to a sergeant of the 9th Infantry Regiment.

A high increase in the value of the Berlin property and the resulting increase in rental income enabled the acquisition of three more properties in Potsdam. Until 1945 every child of a sergeant, team rank and civil servant of the traditional regiment IR 9 could be supported with a monthly training allowance of 30 marks each.

The end of the Second World War also marked a turning point for the Fund. Although the foundation's board of directors and the Semper talis Bund endeavored to continue social activity, in 1951 it was over for the time being: the foundation was dissolved by the GDR authorities , whose assets were confiscated by the state. But they didn't want to be satisfied with that.

1953-1993

The Semper talis Bund, which was reactivated in Essen in 1953, had been responsible for preserving evidence of claims to property of the foundation since 1972. Heinz-Günter Jansen, who was managing director of the Semper talis Bund from 1972 to 2010 and has also been managing director of von Rohdich's legacy fund since 1993, is someone who has accompanied and shaped this process that has lasted for decades. In the evidence preservation proceedings, it was found that the Semper talis Bund is right to represent the foundation. As early as 1961, the tradition of the aforementioned regiments had been transferred to the guard battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defense .

But all these efforts would have been wasted if reunification had not unexpectedly created new conditions and opened up new opportunities.

1993 until today

In 1993 the Federal Ministry of Defense revoked the dissolution of the foundation from 1951 and took over the foundation supervision . From the “Semper talis Bund” a separate board of the legacy fund emerged, consisting of three active and three former soldiers of the guard battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defense and the managing director. Chairman of the board has been Colonel d. R. Albrecht Schwabe. A lengthy restitution procedure and an administrative court proceeding in Berlin did not lead to the hoped-for return of the entire foundation's assets. The Federal Ministry of Finance has enforced its claim to large parts of the property in court. Funds made available by a bank nevertheless enabled the foundation to continue the will of General von Rohdich.

Duties of the foundation

Since then, the foundation, which has been working with the Bundeswehr e. V. and the Bundeswehr-Sozialwerk e. V. has entered into a cooperation as well as a corporate member of the German Federal Armed Forces Association e. V. is for the benefit of members of the Bundeswehr. The list of supported institutions is long. In addition to the Heinz Volland Foundation (charitable foundation of the Federal Armed Forces Association), this includes the above-mentioned institutions, the soldier tumor aid and the “problem children in Bundeswehr families”. Members of the Bundeswehr and their families benefited from numerous support services. Start-up funding helped set up the day-care center in Berlin's Julius Leber barracks . In the Military Hospital capital a social space for long-term patients emerged. And the foundation launched a vacation program to enable children from less well-off parents to take a vacation trip. When the Elbe floods in August 2002 , the foundation's support was also in demand. In around 200 cases, help was provided together with the other aid organizations of the Bundeswehr. Of course, the areas of application are traditionally the Berlin-Potsdamer and Cologne-Bonn areas. In addition, applications for support from the entire Bundeswehr can be submitted, for example via superiors, the social services or the military pastor.

The purpose of the foundation also allows the repair or renewal of historically valuable property to be promoted under the term “promoting the idea of ​​home”. Among other things, the heavily damaged grave of General von Rohdich in the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin could be faithfully restored. Through a variety of measures, the foundation board succeeded in making the foundation known in the armed forces. In 1997 the opportunity arose to rent a building closely connected to the Julius-Leber-Kaserne and to purchase it in 2007. Later the headquarters of the foundation, which is currently in Cologne, are to be relocated back to Berlin.

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ R. Endler, E. Schwarze-Neuss: The Freemason Holdings in the Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage . Volume I: Grand Lodges and Protector Masonic Foundations and Associations. Volume II: daughter boxes. (Series of publications by the International Research Center “Democratic Movements in Central Europe 1770-1850”, Ed. Helmut Reinalter, 22), Frankfurt a. Main 1996.
  2. ↑ K. Gerlach, H. Reinalter: The Freemasons in Old Prussia. 1738-1806. (Sources and representations on European Freemasonry, edited by Helmut Reinalter in collaboration with the Institute for the History of Ideology, Innsbruck / Vienna / Bozen 2009, 1030 p. Volume 8 (Part 1) ISBN 978-3-7065-5199-1 (p. 30f.)
personal data
SURNAME Rohdich, Friedrich Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry as well as secret state and war minister
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1719
PLACE OF BIRTH Potsdam
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1796
Place of death Berlin