Arthur of Buxhoeveden

Coat of arms of those of Buxhoeveden

Peter Eugen Arthur von Buxhoeveden , also Arthur Buxhoeveden (born March 16, 1882 in Murratz auf Ösel , † October 27, 1964 in Karlsruhe ) was a German-Baltic baron , colonel and freedom fighter in Estonia .

Career

His military career began in 1904 as a student at the Russian Cavalry Junker School in Tver , in 1907 he was promoted to sergeant . In 1908 he served as a cornet in the second Courland body- Lancers - Regiment of Tsar Alexander III. which was stationed in Mitau . He then moved in 1911 to the 16th Irkutsk Hussar Regiment in Riga and in 1916 became a staff officer . In 1917 he was promoted to Rittmeister . During the First World War von Buxhoeveden was used in the fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary . In recognition of his military service and for bravery, he was awarded several high Russian orders and decorations in 1917 . Promoted to captain until November 1918, he served in the Estonian protective corps in Arensburg .

Estonian independence

In the Estonian War of Independence from 1918 to 1920, the Estonians gained their independence . Soviet Russia had in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk waived Estonia and Estonia's independence on February 2, 1920 Treaty of Tartu recognized "for all time". The Republic of Estonia established official relations in Europe and consolidated its position under international law . As a result of the German-Russian agreement in 1939, the Nazi Reich concluded a non-aggression pact with Estonia .

→ Main article : Estonian history

In December 1918 Arthur Buxhoeveden was integrated into the reserve of the Tallinn officers, he served as commander of the Estonian Reserve Cavalry Division in Reval and head of the NCO schools of the Protection Corps. On January 25, 1920 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, in 1921 he became inspector of the cavalry and permanent member of the army training committee . This was followed on January 1, 1923, the appointment as the oldest staff officer at the special disposal of the Estonian Ministry of War . In 1923 he became head of the training courses for cavalry officers. He was promoted to colonel on February 24, 1924 . In 1925 he was sent to Poland as a maneuver observer and sent to Germany in November 1927. In Germany he got to know horse breeding .

Horse breeder and private citizen

On December 1, 1928, he was discharged from military service due to illness . He withdrew to his place of birth and, as Lord of Murratz, devoted himself to horse breeding from 1929 to 1939. He was an asset in the Estonian Association of Freedom Fighters . From 1939 he was a farmer and horse breeder and in the winter of 1941 he was forced to leave Estonia with his wife Kira. In the Reichsgau Wartheland , in which he was settled as part of the Nazi policy, he built up a new horse breed. In 1945 the German population fled and expelled from Warthegau, during which he moved to the Rhineland on a trek with his own horses . He first lived in Kaldenkirchen in the Lower Rhine region and from 1959 in Karlsruhe . He was a board member of the Baltic Society in Germany .

Awards

Estonian Freedom Cross

1917 Russian Order of St. George , Order of St. Vladimir with Swords , Russian Order of St. Anne with Swords, 1928 Estonian Cross of Freedom and Latvian Order of Merit (Bear Slayer Order)

Arthur Buxhoeveden and his wife Kira were reburied

A. v. Buxhoevden's grave in the armed forces cemetery in Tallinn 2017

With a solemn reburial from Karlsruhe to Estonia, Colonel Arthus Buxhoeveden received an honorable resting place in the cemetery of the Estonian armed forces in 2014 .

“The Estonian Defense Minister Sven Mikser stated in his speech that Colonel Arthur von Buxhoeveden was one of the Baltic Germans who fought for an independent Estonian state and a free Estonia during the War of Freedom (1918-1920). "He was one of the few Baltic German officers who did not join the Baltic battalion formed by the Baltic Germans, but preferred to serve in the Estonian troops," said Mikser. "The war of freedom was not only the war of the Estonians, but of all the peoples living here - Germans and Russians - and also our allies; Finns, British and Danes also fought for an independent and democratic Estonia. The memory of Colonel Buxhoeveden helps us in this To keep memories alive, "added the Estonian Defense Minister"

- German Embassy Tallinn

Origin and family

The noble family Buxhoeveden was a long-established German-Baltic family whose origins go back to the 14th century. His father was Otto Balthasar Baron von Buxhoeveden (1852-1919), Herr auf Murratz. This was a grandson of Land Marshal Peter Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden (1789–1841) Lord on Kuiwast . Otto Balthasar was married to Julie von Möller (1860-1920). Arthur Peter v. B. married in 1911 in first marriage Meta von Fircks (1886-1970) and in 1918 in second marriage Kira von Scheidemann (1892-1969). The only son Eugen Arthur von Buxhoeveden came from the 2nd marriage, he was born on July 24, 1920 in Reval and died on May 23, 1988.

Web links

• Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Arthur von Buxhoeveden. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
• Arthur Peter Eugen von Buxhoeveden , entry on Buxhoeveden.net
• Memorial Peter Eugen Arthur Buxhoeveden , entry on "Find a Grave" (English)
• Ceremonial reburial of Colonel Arthur Buxhoeveden and his wife Kira, German Embassy Tallinn , source: Department for PÖA of the Estonian Ministry of Defense

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tver Cavalry Junk School with 130 students in 4 class departments and 1 squadron. In: Freiherr Von Tettau, The Russian Cavalry in War and Peace, BoD - Books on Demand, 2013, page 23 [1]
2. ↑ The Armed Forces Cemetery. Entry on Visitestonia.com [2]
3. ↑ Ceremonial reburial of Colonel Arthur Buxhoeveden and his wife Kira, German Embassy Tallinn, Source: Department for PÖA of the Estonian Ministry of Defense Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.