Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin

Alfred Karl Nicolaus Alexander Eckbrecht von Dürckheim-Montmartin (born July 21, 1850 in Steingaden , † April 10, 1912 in Locarno ) was a Bavarian infantry general .

Life

origin

Alfred was the eldest son of the Bavarian treasurer Karl Graf Eckbrecht von Dürckheim -Montmartin (1822-1896) and his wife Alexandrine (1831-1891), a daughter of Karl Wilhelm Graf von Toll (1777-1842). His siblings were:

• Olga Caroline Sophie (1854-1891);
• Friedrich Georg Michael Maria (1858-1939);
• Sophie Marie Therese Elisabeth (1859-1940);
• Elisabeth Alexandrine Olga Helene (1864-1887).

Career

Eckbrecht attended the Stella Matutina Jesuit Institute in Feldkirch in Tyrol and began studying philology at the University of Würzburg , which he left in the second semester to join the military on March 11, 1870. As an officer in the Bavarian Army, he took part in the war against France . In 1874 he was promoted to lieutenant in the infantry body regiment . From 1875 to 1878 Eckbrecht graduated from the War Academy , which made him qualified for the General Staff and Adjutantur.

He first became adjutant to Prince Otto and, in 1878, Court Marshal to Prince Arnulf , with whom he undertook several long trips. On one of these trips he met his future wife in Saint Petersburg.

When Prince Arnulf sent a love letter to Eckbrecht's wife and the latter intercepted it, he challenged the prince to a pistol duel . Then his wife asked King Ludwig II to prevent the duel. The duel then did not take place due to the intervention of Prince Leopold and Ludwig II.

In April 1883 Eckbrecht became a captain wing adjutant to the King of Bavaria. In the winter of 1886 Ludwig II sent him to Otto von Bismarck , to whom a hand ticket (personal letter) from the king of January 28, 1886 was addressed, which contained the order that Eckbrecht should drive out the "rabble of justice" that Linderhof Palace had can seize, raise a contingent with the support of the Prussians; foreign banks threatened to seize the property in 1885. Because Ludwig II refused to find a rational solution, this led, among other things, to the later incapacitation proceedings.

The friendly relationship between Ludwig II and Eckbrecht continued when the king was declared insane on June 9, 1886. Eckbrecht stayed at his side as adjutant after Ludwig II had ordered him to Neuschwanstein . Ludwig II spoke about a telegram he had received from Bismarck, in which the latter suggested that Ludwig II should go to Munich and show himself there to the people in order to dispel rumors about his state of mind; however, he had no willpower to carry out these suggestions and found various excuses for them.

After his incapacitation, Eckbrecht advised Ludwig II to go to Munich, from there he would help him to escape to Tyrol, but Ludwig II refused both suggestions. Prince Regent Luitpold ordered Eckbrecht back to Munich. At first he refused the order, but then obeyed because Ludwig II personally sent him back so as not to endanger his further career. After his arrival at the train station in Munich, he was arrested by the War Minister's adjutant, Adolf von Heinleth , and an investigation into high treason and treason was initiated. He was only released on June 15, 1886 after the death of Ludwig II.

He was later transferred to the 8th Infantry Regiment in Metz and continued his military career. From 1895 he was director of the Munich War School and from March 17, 1897 to August 14, 1901, commander of the Infantry Leib Regiment, then from August 25, 1901 to October 22, 1903, as major general, he was commander of the 12th Infantry Brigade and from October 23, 1903 to November 17, 1908, Commander of the 4th Division with the rank of Lieutenant General . By 1908 he was promoted to commanding general of the II Army Corps .

In April 1912 he died of a heart condition in Locarno and was escorted to Munich Central Station with full military honors. He was buried in the family crypt in the Johanneskapelle of the Steingaden monastery. The later Field Marshal Prince Leopold of Bavaria was at the head of the delegations for all branches of service.

family

On November 22, 1881, he married Elena Pavlovna (1857–1911), daughter of Count Paul Bobrinsky (1829–1860), Imperial Russian Chamberlain and Court Marshal and great-grandson of Empress Catherine II. From this marriage, which was divorced in 1884, in Saint Petersburg came out the daughter Maria Olga (1882-1976), who married Konrad Lambert Franz Ludwig Pius von Malsen-Waldkirch (1869-1913).

Trivia

In the German period films Ludwig II. From 1955, Walter Regelsberger played the character of Alfred Eckbrecht von Dürckheim, in Ludwig II. From 1972 Helmut Griem , and in Ludwig II. From 2012 August Wittgenstein embodied the historical figure of Ludwig's confidante.

Fonts

• Notes on the royal catastrophe in 1886. Munich cultural group for the protection of the Munich cityscape and cultural heritage, Munich 1961.

literature

• Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin. In: Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses. 44th year, Gotha 1871.
• Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin. In: Large Bavarian Biographical Encyclopedia. P. 418.
• Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin. In Felix Sommer: Psychiatry and Power. The life and illness of King Ludwig II of Bavaria as reflected in prominent contemporary witnesses. Heidelberg, Univ., Diss. 2009, ISBN 978-3-631-59242-7 , p. 162 f.

Web links

• Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin. In: King Ludwig II. & Neuschwanstein from aionas Verlag.
• Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of June 5, 2011.