Albrecht Christoph von Quast
Albrecht Christoph von Quast (born March 10, 1613 in Leddin ; † May 17, 1669 in Spandau ) was a Privy Councilor of Brandenburg and general sergeant . He served under the Great Elector and emerged victorious against the Swedes in the war at Nyborg in 1659 on the island of Funen .
Life
Little is known about Quast's childhood and adolescence during the Thirty Years' War . He was born on the Rohrschen Gute and was lord of Gut Garz and the estates Vichel , Rohrlack , Küdow , Damm , and Wutzetz (acquired in 1661) and the Zootzen-Walde - governor and chief captain of the fortress Spandau . His mother was Ottilie von Rohr (* 1586; † July 16, 1667), one of those von Rohr from Leddin. She married his father Albrecht von Quast († 1626 in Leddin) on October 11, 1610 .
The father died early and Albrecht Christoph probably attended the Ruppin School with little enthusiasm due to the war. At the age of seventeen (1630) his military career began as a musketeer in King's infantry regiment and he began his first guard duty on the Fehrbelliner Damm not far from his future home in Garz . He remained without major wounds until 1645, his second wound - a painful and dangerous injury to the sole, blade and heel of his foot by a bullet - left the foot paralyzed after a long healing period.
In 1650 he said goodbye to the military (Swedish service), but not with the intention of doing this forever.
“We conclude this from the fact that, soon after his regiment was dissolved, he went to Sweden to introduce himself to Queen Christine . Received with distinction by the latter (she had her diamond-studded portrait to be worn on a gold chain presented to him), it must be surprising at first glance that he refused the offers that were made to him at the same time and after a relatively short stay in Stockholm returned to his home in the Mark region. "
After retiring from the military and returning from Sweden to the Mark Brandenburg region, Albrecht Christoph von Quast - who had acquired a considerable fortune during the war - bought his father's goods Garz and Küdow from his cousin "Otto von Quast". Otto von Quast only sold his goods so that his cousin's wealth would remain in the market and not flow abroad.
But his life as a landlord was only short-lived. Already after 1655 he entered the service of the elector this time. In 1663 he acquired ½ share in Wutzetz and in 1664 he bought the Vichel manor from “Adam von Pfuhl”, his old comrade in arms.
Little is known about the last years of Albrecht Christoph von Quast's life , he will probably have withdrawn to the country with his family to rebuild his estates. In 1667 he received another order from the elector to set up and establish a regiment and was appointed governor of Veste Spandau by the elector .
He died on May 7, 1669 at the Spandau Fortress and was buried in the Spandau family crypt of the von Quast family in the Spandau Sankt Nikolai Church . The coffins of those von Quast were brought to Garz in 1838/39 in the course of the restoration of the church by Karl Friedrich Schinkel , because the annex to the church in which the family crypt was located was removed at that time. Theodor Fontane wrote the following about his visit to Garz and about the Quast family crypt in Garz, which was looted after 1945:
“Since then, there has been a mighty tin coffin, richly decorated with bas-relief ornaments and the coats of arms of the ancestors, in the crypt of the church, bearing the inscription:“ The noble-born gentleman, Mr. Albrecht Christoph von Quast, electoral Brandenburg secret war council, general sergeant of the cavalry, supreme Roß und zu Fuß, governor and head captain of the fortress and city of Spandau, zu Garz, Damme, Vichel, Rohrlack and Wutzetz hereditary lord, born on May 10th, 1613, died on the fortress of Spandau on May 7th, 1669. Waiting for the joyous resurrection for eternity Life""
His heir was the son of his brother Wolf Gottfried von Quast - his nephew Johann Albrecht von Quast (* 1653; † February 26, 1705), a Lieutenant from Churbrandenburg , because despite being married three times to Christophine Luise von Blumenthal, Elisabeth Dorothe von Görne and im 1664 with Elisabeth Katharina von Rössing, widowed von Planitz, was childless.
Military career
In Swedish service - Thirty Years War -
His military career began in 1630 as a musketeer in King's infantry regiment near Fehrbellin. After passing the Elbe, Albrecht Christoph von Quast proved himself on September 17, 1631 near Breitenfeld, on November 6, 1632 near Lützen and June 26, 1633 near Hameln, where King's infantry regiment was almost completely destroyed. The end of King's infantry regiment was the end of Albrecht Christoph von Quast as a musketeer, he became a dragoon .
The life as a musketeer and dragoon was not the life of Albrecht Christoph von Quast, although he already felt called to the craft of war. So he stuck to his compatriot Hans Christoph von Königsmarck , who later became so famous - who had joined the Sperreuter cavalry regiment as a sergeant- major - and also joined this regiment while receiving a corporal body . After Sperreuter's betrayal - who wanted to transfer the entire regiment to the imperial family, but only individual departments followed - Hans Christoph von Königsmarck was given command of the cavalry regiment, as the latter defied Sperreuter's orders and, like von Quast, remained loyal to the flag. This loyalty was for Field Marshal Banér , Generalissimo of the army, reason enough for Königsmarck Colonel convey with orders from the remained faithful dance companies to create a new cavalry regiment. As quartermaster Albrecht Christoph von Quast contributed to this new Königsmarck Regiment and within a year became first Cornet and then Lieutenant.
He quickly made a name for himself through his courage and dexterity in the field, which led to General Stahlhantsch becoming aware of him and wanting to be there as a participant in 1639 when the general was supposed to lead a “flying army” to Silesia. With the rank of Rittmeister he now joined the Stahlhantschen Corps - later under the command of General Goldstein.
On February 24, 1645 von Quast took part in the Battle of Jankowitz, from which the Swedish troops under Lennart Torstenson emerged victorious. The result of this battle was the conversion and siege of the imperial family near Brno . In which von Quast also took part and was wounded for the first time when he prevented the outbursts of the Imperialists.
After the unsuccessful siege of Brno due to the excellent defense by Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches and the retreat of the Torstensonsen troops to Bohemia, Torstenson gave the order for Colonel Copey to occupy and fortify Kronneuburg with 1,000 musketeers. He was joined by Quast, who has meanwhile been promoted to lieutenant colonel and leader of a 200-man cavalry corps.
“The enemy was not long in coming either. With the same bravura with which Quast had rejected the attacks of the besieged the year before, he for his part now repulsed the rapidly repeating attacks of the besiegers. Not in the long run, of course. The garrison was too weak to be able to dispute the possession of the place from the overpowering enemy for a long time, and Kornneuburg fell. In the storm that preceded the surrender, Quast was wounded a second time, and this time in a painful and dangerous manner. A bullet struck his foot and went through his sole, blade, and heel. The healing dragged on, and a paralysis of the foot remained until the end. "
For this brave defense - the last great act of war by von Quast in this war - he was promoted to colonel by the Count Palatine Karl Gustav . In 1648 he stood as a cavalry colonel and head of his cavalry regiment in Munster and in 1650, after the regiment was disbanded, he left the military for the first time.
In the service of the electorate - Danish-Swedish War -
“This did not take place before 1655. In that year, shortly before the outbreak of war with Poland, Quast received a cavalry regiment, which, as the biographical notes report with great calm, he headed until 1658“ to the satisfaction of the elector ”. This sober remark suggests the least that Quast was in the field all the time and that his regiment took part in the famous three-day battle of Warsaw.2 That he stood in front of other cavalry leaders during this battle, or during the Polish campaign in general excellent, is admittedly nowhere mentioned "
In the next campaign, which was not directed against Poland, but against the previous ally Sweden, there were again opportunities for Albrecht Christoph von Quast to receive awards. Bound to Sweden by the Treaty of Labiau (1656), the Brandenburg elector felt compelled to give up the alliance with Sweden because of the raison d'être - in order not to go under with the Swedes or, what was more likely, for the Swedes. An anti-Swedish five-power league was formed from Austria , Poland , Denmark , Holland and the Mark Brandenburg , who fought against the Swedes in two theaters of war in the east (Prussia and Poland) and west (Pomerania and Holstein).
Albrecht Christoph von Quast waged war in the west, from 1657 to 1659 Jutland and the island of Funen had to be conquered. After three failed attacks in Jutland, the elector moved his troops to Pomerania in the spring of 1659 in order to prevent the Swedes from invading the march. Four cavalry regiments and several infantry companies under the command of Albrecht Christoph von Quast remained in Jutland as part of the Brandenburg troops, whose overall commander-in-chief of the Five Power League was the Danish Field Marshal von Eberstein .
To counteract a further strengthening of the Swedish troops, the Dutch dispatched Admiral de Ruyter to the Baltic Sea. He took a Danish-Dutch force under the command of Field Marshal von Schack on board in Kiel and disembarked them in the north of the island of Funen . Meanwhile, the armed forces under Field Marshal von Eberstein were to carry out a next and fourth attack on Jutland and to overcome the Little Belt. Admiral de Ruyter was able to successfully ship Field Marshal von Schack's troops to the north of the islands of Funen and they landed in Kerteminde . Field Marshal von Eberstein successfully led his troops across the Little Belt to Middelfart . In Odense both field marshals united their troops to form a 16,000-strong lord against the Swedes under the command of the Count Palatine von Sulzbach .
The Count Palatine von Sulzbach had taken a position in front of the Nyborg Fortress in the hope of being able to fight the advancing units individually. The terrain was well chosen as it offered enough natural obstacles. The right wing was commanded by the Count Palatine, the experienced General Stenhock stood in the middle with his troops (fourteen companies of infantry and five guns) and Lieutenant General von Horn commanded the left wing.
On the morning of November 14, 1659 or November 24, 1659 for the first engagement in the Battle of Nyborg, the troops of the Five Power League faced them in the following exhibition:
- the troops of Albrecht Christoph von Quast provided the right wing,
- Field Marshal von Eberstein's troops provided the left wing
- and the center covered Field Marshal von Schack with Dutch infantry units under Colonels Killegray, Alowa and Meteren.
The second attack was carried out exclusively by Danish troops from the Trampe, Rantzau, Ahlefeldt, Brockhausen and Güldenleu regiments. The alliance troops - very divided in their leadership level - were numerically far superior to the Swedish troops, only the Swedish troops had more war experience and a national unity to oppose them.
In the last battle, the Swedish troops in the left wing were the Brandenburg cavalry regiments Quast, Kannenberg, Gröben and a dragoon regiment under the command of Field Marshal von Eberstein. This opened the battle, but their attack was unsuccessful. The right wing, under the command of Albrecht Christoph von Quast, consisted of imperial regiments Matthias and Count Caraffa, the Danish regiment von der Natt and the Polish Przimsky brigade were equally unsuccessful. The terrain chosen by the Count Palatine now paid off for the Swedes, the attacking cavalry units got stuck in the moor and could not make any further progress. At this moment of the battle, which was unfavorable for the alliance troops, Albrecht Christoph von Quast personally advanced with an infantry division of Pikträger against the Swedish troops and now successfully led his troops into battle.
Albrecht Christoph von Quast, injured by two bullets in his body, unable to ride, was successfully carried on the shoulders of his spike bearers in the attack through the left wing of the Swedes. This was a sign enough for the troops of Field Marshal von Schack to advance in the middle against the Swedes and the cavalry units under Field Marshal von Eberstein now successfully continued their attack. The Swedes withdrew in a hurry. The Count Palatine fled to Korsör by fishing boat to convey the news of the lost battle to the King of Sweden, Karl X. Gustav, who remained there . Only Lieutenant General von Horn tried to hold Nyborg for one day before he and the rest of the Swedish corps went into captivity.
“Our Quast had done the decisive blow, all reports are pretty much in agreement about this, and the only difference is the regiments with which it broke through the enemy left wing. Under all circumstances it does not seem to have been Brandenburgers, for the troops that took part in the affair on the Brandenburg side were admittedly cavalry regiments which, regardless of which wing they were on, shared the fate of the imperial cavalry and nowhere did the enemy battle line were able to break through. Quast tipped the balance, but at the head of Danish pikemen, who initially stood in reserve on his wing. "
The news of the Count Palatine von Sulzbach about the defeat of Nyborg is said to have shaken the King of Sweden that now he died of its consequences and his serious illness. The death of Karl X. Gustav was followed by the Peace of Oliva and the suit of the Alliance troops from the Cimbrian Peninsula. The Brandenburg regiments were disbanded near Hamburg and the soldiers released to their homeland.
Albrecht Christoph von Quast remained in the service of the Great Elector but returned to Gut Garz. In 1667 he received another order from the elector to set up and establish a regiment and was appointed governor of Veste Spandau by the elector .
“This is what we have been able to gather about the life of Albrecht Christoph von Quast. It is all of a fairly external nature, outwardly the actions follow one another, outwardly we see him rise from level to level. Tradition and legend, which tell so manifold about Derfflinger and Sparr, have not usurped our "Victor of Nyborg"; all traits are missing which might instill in us a deeper participation in his life. And yet this victory, which we owe primarily to him, was of decisive importance in more than one direction. As we have seen, it gave Brandenburg full sovereignty over Prussia and thus the basis for the royal crown, while Denmark's royal law arose from this war. In addition, our Albrecht Christoph was the first to transfer the Brandenburg weapons to one of the Danish islands two hundred years ago. The honors of the chaff strikers of today are of course richer than those of the Nyborg winners of yesteryear, but the brighter the present shines, the more it is fitting to remember in gratitude those who gloriously advanced. Among them in the front row - Albrecht Christoph von Quast. "
Web links
- Bernd Warlich: Quast, Albrecht Christopher von auf: The Thirty Years' War in personal testimonies, chronicles and reports (accessed on September 8, 2014)
Individual evidence
- ^ Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch : New Prussian Adelslexicon , Volume 4, Gebrüder Reichenbach, Leipzig 1837, p. 73
- ↑ a b c d e f g Theodor Fontane : Walks through the Mark Brandenburg , 1. The county of Ruppin, Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, ISBN 3-548-23901-3
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Quast, Albrecht Christoph von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German landowner, Kurbrandenburg secret war council, major general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 10, 1613 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gut Leddin , Brandenburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 17, 1669 |
| Place of death | Spandau |