Bernhard von Hess

Bernhard von Hess

Bernhard Franz Friedrich von Heß (born May 22, 1792 in Hammelburg , † April 20, 1869 in Kissingen ) was a Bavarian Lieutenant General and Minister of War of Greece and Bavaria.

Life

origin

He was the son of the landowner and Princely Fulda court counselor Philipp von Heß and his wife Gertraud Wankel. His siblings were Friedrich Georg Blasius Bonifatius (born June 4, 1787 in Fulda; † February 4, 1854 in Hammelburg), Anna Maria Dorothea (born January 11, 1791; marriage to Baron Heinrich von Buttler on August 5, 1816), Karl ( 1788-1872).

From the age of six to 18, Hess attended the Latin school in Hammelburg (predecessor of the Frobenius-Gymnasium ) in order to then study mathematics and natural sciences at the University of Würzburg .

In the spring of 1813, the German princes organized the resistance against the French occupation forces, Hess volunteered at their own expense, armed and mounted to the service in the Hunter - Battalion of Fulda Landwehr . Elected captain by his comrades , the young officer moved with the army of General Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg to the Upper Rhine and from there to Lyon and Grenoble against the French army under the command of Marshal Augereau and distinguished himself in several skirmishes.

After the peace treaty in 1815, he returned to his hometown, which was integrated into the Kingdom of Bavaria on May 1, 1816. Hess soon joined the Bavarian Army voluntarily and served in Würzburg in the newly established 2nd Jäger Battalion , then in the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment . In 1832 this battalion was one of the four infantry battalions of the protective force that accompanied Prince Otto , the second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria , who was elected king by the Greek National Assembly , to Greece . On February 7, 1833, the young monarch moved into his provisional residence town of Nauplia at the head of 3,500 Bavarian soldiers .

After the war of liberation against the Turks (1821–1827; see also: Battle of Navarino ), the Bavarian troops had the task of ensuring both external and internal security of the state. While the Turks largely respected the borders of the newly created Kingdom of Greece , it was the Palicars (freedom fighters) who disrupted internal security through uprisings.

After a year Hess should have left Greece again, but he stayed there voluntarily to support General Karl Wilhelm von Heideck in building up the Greek army . In the period from 1833 to 1843, Hess and his battalion , which initially consisted mainly of Bavarian volunteers, constantly had to end or nip in the bud insurrection movements against the government. Meanwhile promoted to lieutenant colonel, he solved this task with caution and determination, but also with humanity and mildness. King Otto therefore appointed him commander of his bodyguard in 1835 , in 1836 city ​​commandant of Athens , promoted him to general, appointed him his court marshal and finally in 1842 as minister of war.

On September 3, 1843, another uprising broke out in Greece with the aim of restricting King Otto's rights and removing all foreigners from the Greek military and civil service. Hess did not voluntarily submit to the insurgents' demands, but only resigned from his offices when King Otto ordered him to do so. After leaving the Greek army, Hess was initially court marshal and chief steward of Queen Amalie .

In 1844 Hess was re-employed as a major in the Bavarian Army. He was given command of a battalion in the 8th Infantry Regiment , became a lieutenant colonel and commander of the 3rd Jäger Battalion in 1847 and a colonel and commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1849 . In the same year he had another assignment abroad: He took part in the federal execution against the rebels in Baden (see also: German Revolution 1848/49 ). Then Hess was promoted to major general and in 1863 to lieutenant general. During the years 1862/63 he was briefly three times Bavarian Minister of War.

In 1867 he retired, which he spent in Kissingen in his brother Karl's spa hotel . On April 20, 1869 he died unmarried in Kissingen. His body was ceremoniously transferred to Hammelburg, where it was buried in the Hess family crypt.

literature

• Gundula Gahlen: The Bavarian Officer Corps 1815-1866. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2011, ISBN 978-3-506-77045-5 , p. 667.
• Lieselotte Klemmer: Hess, Bernhard Franz von. In: Karl Bosl (ed.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 342 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Heinrich Ullrich: Hammelburg. Pictures from the history of an ancient Franconian settlement. 2nd Edition. Hammelburg 1975.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner Eberth : Karl von Hess. The unforgettable benefactor of Hammelburg. Theresienbrunnen publishing house. Bad Kissingen 2012. p. 37ff.