Albrecht Konrad Finck von Finckenstein

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Georg David Matthieu: Portrait of Albrecht Konrad Finck von Finckenstein, Bridgeman Art Library , London

Albrecht Konrad Reinhold Reichsgraf Finck von Finckenstein (born October 30, 1660 in Saberau , East Prussia , † December 16, 1735 in Berlin ) was a Prussian field marshal and prince educator , governor of Pillau, chief of infantry regiment No. 14 , knight of the Black Eagle Order Senior of St John , Amtshauptmann to Crossen and hereditary lord on Finckenstein Palace , which he had built 1716-20.

Life

He came from the old Prussian noble family Finck von Finckenstein and was the son of the Brandenburg Chamberlain Albrecht Christoph von Finckenstein and Charlotte Karoline, née von Obentraut . His father, who was the governor of Neidenburg and Soldau , died before he was born and at the age of three he also lost his mother.

Colonel von Rosen († 1667) took over his upbringing, after his death the governor of Gilgenburg , which the family had acquired in 1572, Ernst Finck von Finckenstein and finally his oldest brother. In 1676 he was a captain in the Lottum Regiment , which was in the Dutch service. Albrecht Konrad volunteered for the Allied Army in Holland and took part in the sieges of Maastricht and Saint-Omer (1677) and the Battle of Cassel (1677) . There he was injured, taken prisoner and then came to Clermont in Auvergne.

He was not exchanged, so he went into French service in 1678 and came to the Fürstenberg regiment . He took part in the battles against the Spaniards with the regiment. In 1680 he received a dangerous job from Colonel Zurlauben , which he was able to finish successfully. Thereupon the colonel managed to get Finckenstein its own flag. In 1682 the Fürstenberg regiment was divided. Count Hans Karl von Königsmarck , with whom Finkenstein now became lieutenant and adjutant, received one half . In 1684 they marched to Catalonia, where he took part in the siege of Gironne.

In 1685 he became staff captain and was allowed to return to Prussia to advertise for the regiment. In Berlin he also met the electoral prince (and later king) Friedrich Wilhelm I. He succeeded in recruiting a number of Prussians for his regiment, including the later generals Röder, Kalnein, Buddenbrock, Rappe, Fink and Groeben. He traveled on via Danzig to Hamburg and was able to recruit another 120 men. He then returned to Melun via Rouen. There he handed the recruited over to Count Königsmarck. In 1687 he was back in Prussia for advertising when the French ambassador to the Brandenburg court, Marquis de Rebenac, handed him a letter that secured him his own company. He returned again with numerous recruits.

When Louis XIV was arming himself against Germany, he demanded his farewell, which he received in La Rochelle . He traveled to the Brandenburg camp near Neuss and in 1689 was employed as a Brandenburg Major in the Prince's regiment. He took part in the siege of Königswerth, where he negotiated the surrender. During the siege of Bonn (1689) he became a lieutenant colonel and was given command of a battalion of the regiment. He fought with it in the Battle of Leuze and the Battle of Steenkerke , where he was badly wounded in the left foot. In 1694 he became a colonel and commanded the rear guard at Namur . In 1697 he was accepted into the Order of St. John and assigned to the Lietzen Commandery . In the same year he was transferred to Oudenaarde where he stayed until the Peace of Rijswijk . After the peace he was made a brigadier .

During the War of the Spanish Succession he was at the siege of Kaiserswerth , and in 1703 at the siege of Rheinbergen and Geldern . In December 1703 he was appointed interim governor of the fortress of Geldern and shortly thereafter major general. He then led the troops to the Danube and took part in the battle of Höchstädt in 1704 . He was then ordered to Berlin to accompany Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm to Holland. For this he was appointed lieutenant general on March 21, 1705 and at the same time became governor of Crossen.

In 1706 he was with the Crown Prince at the siege of Menin. Then he received the order to pick up his bride Sophie Dorothea from Hanover and bring her to Berlin. In 1707 he was back in Hanover to deliver the news of the prince's birth. In 1709 he was on the Dutch battlefield, with the conquest of Dornick, and fought in the battle of Malplaquet . On February 4, 1710 he was raised to the rank of imperial count by Emperor Leopold for his warlike services " strange prudence and modération, as well as irreproachable conduite ". In 1711 he took part in the siege of Bethume and was appointed chief of Infantry Regiment No. 14 (Orange).

He also took part in the Pomeranian campaign in 1715/1716 , in 1717 he became governor of Memel and in 1718 chief steward of Crown Prince Friedrich . On November 14, 1718 he was also general of the infantry . In 1728 he was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle and in the same year exchanged the position of Governor of Memel for that of Governor of Pillau with Field Marshal Dohna. In 1731 he became the resident Commander of Lietzen and senior of the Order of St. John. In 1733 he was appointed field marshal before he died in Berlin in 1735.

Finckenstein Castle

In 1716/20, at the request of the late King Friedrich I and his successor Friedrich Wilhelm I, Albrecht Konrad had Finckenstein Castle built according to a design by John von Collas . The Kingdom of Prussia , which was newly founded in 1701, was to be provided with some magnificent baroque castles for reasons of cultural representation, so the castles Friedrichstein , Schlobitten , Schlodien and Capustigall were built almost simultaneously in competition with one another .

Frederick the Great commemorates twice in his writings the essential part that Finckenstein had in the victory of Malplaquet and also honors him as a model of a soldier's thirst for learning in one of his poems with military content. Finckenstein was "familiar to his friends, an enemy of all beings, condescending to the lower, ingenious in generous gifts".

family

Finckenstein was married to Susanna Magdalena von Hoff (1676–1752), the chief stewardess of Queen Sophie Dorothea , since 1700 . His in-laws were the chief steward of Hessen-Kassel Wilhelm von Hoff (also: Hoven ) (1644–1689) and his wife Johanna Dorothea Schwertzell von and zu Willingshausen . The couple had five sons and four daughters.

  • Friedrich Wilhelm (* 1702; † 1741 near Mollwitz), Prussian Colonel and Adjutant General of Friedrich II.
  • Maria Amalia (* May 22, 1704; † June 22, 1758) ⚭ Adam Otto von Viereck (1684–1758), Prussian minister
  • Charlotte Albertine (January 22, 1706 - March 8, 1795) Freiherr Friedrich Wilhelm von Kannenberg (* 1693 - May 22, 1762)
  • Friedrich Ludwig (* May 6, 1709 - March 16, 1785), Prussian Lieutenant General ⚭ Albertine Marie Finck von Finckenstein (* July 23, 1719 - May 7, 1792) from the Gilgenburg family
  • Karl Wilhelm (1714–1800) ⚭ Sophie Henriette Susanne Finck von Finckenstein (1723–1762)
  • Friedrich Otto Leopold (born September 6, 1717; † April 19, 1790), Prussian colonel and adjutant general to the king ⚭ Wilhelmine Dorothea Elisabeth von Viereck (born April 12, 1726 - † August 12, 1799), daughter of Adam Otto von Viereck
  • Wilhelmine (born April 27, 1718)
  • Friedrich August (1718)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oeuvres. Volume I, pp. 118, 188.
  2. ↑ Volume X, p. 228.
personal data
SURNAME Finck von Finckenstein, Albrecht Konrad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Finck von Finckenstein, Albrecht Konrad Reinhold Reichsgraf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German field marshal
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1660
PLACE OF BIRTH Saberau , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1735
Place of death Berlin