Bernhard von Gélieu

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Bernard de Gélieu vers 1890

Bernard of Gélieu (actually French: Bernard de Gélieu * 28. September 1828 in Neuchatel ; † 20th April 1907 in Potsdam ) was a present from the canton of Neuchatel originating Prussian General of the Infantry .

Life

Bernard was the son of the reformed pastor Bernard de Gélieu and his wife Emilie, née von Bondeli, and a grandson of pastor Jonas de Gélieu , who was known as a bee researcher at the time . He attended grammar school in Neuchâtel and began studying theology .

Military career

Bernard von Gélieu as Second Lieutenant ( daguerreotype from 1848)

In 1847 he joined a volunteer battalion that was formed by royalist Neuchatellers against the republican movement that was gaining strength in the Principality of Neuchâtel . This gave rise to his desire to become a career officer. He first tried to get an officer position in the French army. At the suggestion of a friend of the family, however, in January 1848 he also applied for an officer license with the Guard Rifle Battalion of the Prussian Army in Berlin . The battalion was founded in 1814 for volunteers from the Principality of Neuchâtel and the Council of State (Conseil d'Etat) of the Principality had the right to nominate officers for the battalion. On January 17, 1848 Gélieu was proposed by the State Council to an officer position in the Guard Rifle Battalion. He left Neuchâtel shortly after the revolution of March 1, 1848, which resulted in the abolition of monarchist rule, and went to Berlin, where he was accepted into the battalion as an extraordinary second lieutenant on April 9, 1848 . He was the last officer of the Guard Rifle Battalion from Neuchâtel.

Shortly after his incorporation into the battalion, Gélieu took part in the first war for Schleswig-Holstein . In August 1848 he was appointed scheduled second lieutenant . From the end of September 1848 he took part in arrests against democratically minded personalities in the Spreewald . In August 1855, Gélieu was appointed prime lieutenant .

Uprising in Neuchâtel

When the royalist forces in Neuchâtel saw the possibility of abolishing the republican constitution following the elections in 1856 and reinstating the Prussian King Frederick William IV in his rights as Prince of Neuchâtel, Gélieu took part as adjutant to the royalist leader Graf Pourtalès- Steiger in Prussian army uniform at the fighting in Neuchâtel, the outcome of which led to the so-called Neuchâtel trade . After the uprising was put down by Swiss federal troops, Gélieu, wanted on an arrest warrant, fled back to Berlin via Bern and tried to get support for the captured insurgents. He informed his sister, who lived in Hamburg , that the politicians in Berlin had received an ungracious welcome, especially since his participation in the uprising in Prussian uniform was seen as an indication of Prussia's direct involvement. He only wanted encouragement from the then Prince of Prussia, later Emperor Wilhelm I , who advised him not to leave the army. The personal relationship with Wilhelm I promoted Gélieus' career, after he had first regained the reign and after the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The Prussian throne, which was also supported by the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm .

Königgrätz

Bernard von Gélieu as a captain, detail from the painting Beginning of the Persecution at Königgrätz by Christian Sell

In 1860 Gélieu was promoted to captain and as such took part in the war against Austria in 1866 . In the battle of Königgrätz , the company of the Guards Rifle Battalion led by him was able to capture an Austrian artillery position near Lipa . When Wilhelm I left the conquered positions after the battle, Gélieu greeted him with the cry “Vive le Roi!”, Which the king replied with the words “Merci, mon brave Neuchâtelois!”. The corresponding scene was depicted in several paintings by Christian Sell . During the war of 1866 he also made contact with officers in the Swiss Army. Up until the death of Wilhelm I, Gélieu repeated the greeting “Vive le Roi!” Annually on the day of Königgrätz , which the Prussian king and later emperor thanked him regularly.

Thuringian infantry regiments

In October 1867 Gélieu was promoted to major and was transferred to the 5th Thuringian Infantry Regiment in Weimar , with which he took part in the Franco-German War in 1870 . Promoted to lieutenant colonel, he first commanded the citadels of Sedan and Chartres , and in February 1871, as commandant of Fort Rosny , he secured the battles of the French troops against the Paris Commune . In 1873 Gélieu became the commander of the 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment . On the anniversary of the Battle of Königgrätz in 1875, Gélieu was promoted to colonel and shortly afterwards appointed in command of the Neubreisach fortress . In 1877 he published “Military chats of an old officer for his young Swiss compatriots” in a Neuchâteller publishing house, which at the same time represent a reconciliation with his Swiss homeland.

Commander of Koblenz

On December 11, 1880, Kaiser Wilhelm I appointed Gélieu to command the fortresses of Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein . Since the emperor regularly spent spring and autumn in Bad Ems and Empress Augusta made Koblenz another residence next to Berlin and Potsdam during this time , the appointment represented an important command assigned to the court. His daughter Sophie became lady-in-waiting of the empress in this time Koblenz. Appointed major general in April 1881 , Gélieu was promoted to lieutenant general in April 1886 .

retirement

In 1890 Gélieu asked him to leave. This was granted to him on May 14, 1890, conferring the character of General of the Infantry. At the same time, Gélieu was placed à la suite of the Guard Rifle Battalion and received the right to wear the battalion's uniform.

Last years

Gélieu spent the last years of his life in the Tiergartenviertel in Berlin and later in Potsdam. During this time he made contact with relatives of the family in France and renewed his relations with Neuchâtel. A pastel painting depicting Gélieu is in the casino of the castle of Colombier NE . He died in 1907 after a stroke and was buried in the New Cemetery in Potsdam .

family

Gélieu married Hedwig von Wittken on October 11, 1860 (* September 22, 1838; † February 8, 1924), from an old Pomeranian aristocratic and officer family. The following children were born from the marriage:

  • Sophie Charlotte Emilie Augusta (* July 31, 1861; † 1944) ⚭ August von Seebeck (1834–1914), Prussian infantry general
  • Henri Louis Bernard (1864–1926), Prussian Major General ⚭ Margarete Dietz (* February 20, 1873 - † October 26, 1934)
  • Alphonse Charles Heinrich (born February 1, 1866; † March 13, 1922), official of the North German Lloyd ⚭ Emma Louise Augusta Klinghoff (born March 14, 1884; † July 9, 1918)
  • Rose Augusta Hedwige (born April 15, 1878; † 1954) ⚭ 1897 Friedrich (Fritz) von Götz and Schwanenfließ (born November 19, 1871)

Awards

Works

  • Causeries Militaires d'un vieil officier à ses jeunes compatriotes suisses. Librairie J. Sandoz, Neuchâtel 1877.
  • Simplified Medicine, or Complex Homeopathy. Translation of the book by A. Clerc, Basel 1892.

literature

  • Florian Imer : Le Général Bernard de Gélieu. In: Versailles. Revue des Sociétés des amis des Versailles. No. 36, 37. pp. 20, 138.
  • Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 9, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1941], DNB 986919780 , pp. 33-37, no. 2730.
  • Laure Grüner, Adrien Wyssbrod: Deux textes en patois Neuchâtelois de Bernard de Gélieu. In: Toujours langue varie ..., Genève 2014, p. 265-272.
  • Les Familles bourgeoises de Neuchatel, p. 116.
  • Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses. Part B, 1922, p.274f

Web links

Commons : Bernhard von Gélieu  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h i j k Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1903. Ed .: War Ministry . ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1903. p. 137.
  2. Handbook of the Prussian Nobility, Volume 1, 1892, p.621