Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar

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Bernhard Duke of Saxe-Weimar (born August 16, 1604 in Weimar ; † July 18, 1639 in Neuenburg am Rhein ) was a general of the Thirty Years' War and briefly Duke of Franconia during the war .

Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
Signature Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar.PNG

Childhood and youth

Bernhard was the eleventh and youngest son of Duke Johann III. von Sachsen-Weimar and his wife Dorothea Maria von Anhalt . In the first year of his life he lost his father and, not yet 13 years old, his mother too. For his first education u. a. the caretaker and court master Friedrich von Kospoth . Afterwards only a short time at the University of Jena , he soon switched to courtly and knightly life at the court of his relative, Duke Johann Casimir von Sachsen-Coburg .

In 1620 Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen accepted Duke Bernhard into the Fruit Bringing Society . Ludwig gave Bernhard the company name of the Ausucknende and the motto in its effect . His emblem was a ripe quince . Duke Bernhard's entry can be found in the Koethen Society Register under no.30.

In addition, Duke Bernhard was a member of the Schäferlichen Académie des parfaits amants under the name Aristander .

Martial career

Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar on horseback

He began his military career after the outbreak of the Bohemian War under Ernst von Mansfeld . Under this he fought in 1622 at Mingolsheim , then at Wimpfen under Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden-Durlach and in 1623 with his brother Wilhelm under Christian von Braunschweig at Stadtlohn . When the defeat of Frederick of the Palatinate became apparent, Bernhard joined the army of King Christian IV of Denmark as a colonel in 1625 , but after a defeat that he suffered in Holstein in 1627, tried to get into the emperor's service and took over then participated in the war in Holland.

In the service of Sweden

Bernhard von Weimar as a general. In the background on the left Würzburg with the Marienberg fortress, on the right Breisach am Rhein

When Gustav Adolf appeared in Germany in 1630 , Bernhard was one of the few German princes who immediately took the side of the King of Sweden. After Bernhard had distinguished himself in the meeting at Werben on July 28, 1631, the king appointed him colonel of his body regiment on horseback . At first the prince fought with Landgrave Wilhelm's army in Hesse , but then accompanied the Swedish king on his triumphal march through Franconia , where he took the fortress Marienberg near Würzburg , advanced to the Rhine , where he seized Mannheim , and finally pushed in the direction of Bavaria before. Bernhard played a major role in the assault on Wallenstein's position near Nuremberg on August 24, 1632. He stayed behind to cover Franconia, but then rejoined the king at Arnstadt when he moved to Saxony against Wallenstein in October . In the Battle of Lützen , Bernhard commanded the left wing, took over command of the Swedish troops after Gustav Adolf's death and achieved victory. In the same year he drove the imperial from Saxony.

At the beginning of 1633 the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna gave him supreme command in Franconia. With the plan to advance down the Danube, Bernhard successfully penetrated Bavaria, defeated Johann von Werth and conquered Eichstätt . At the end of May 1633 he went to Frankfurt am Main to see the Swedish Chancellor Oxenstierna in order to have the Duchy of Franconia assured to him by Gustav Adolf as a loan and to raise funds for his troops, which were prone to mutiny. Since the Chancellor could not do without Bernhard militarily, he only reluctantly consented. On June 10, 1633, Bernhard received the formal enfeoffment with the Duchy of Franconia, which mainly consisted of the conquered dioceses of Bamberg and Würzburg , and initially entrusted his brother Ernst with the administration. In addition, Bernhard received permission and the means to attack and conquer the Protestant free imperial city of Regensburg . After returning to the army, he ensured the loyalty of the mutinous mercenaries through donations and paid special attention to the officers .

On 4 jul. / November 14, 1633 greg. Bernhard's army conquered the fortress-like city of Regensburg , which was not protected by Bavarian troops under Aldringen , but was only occupied by weak troops of the Catholic League under the command of the Bavarian city commander Troibreze since April 1632 and after a brief siege . Then Bernhard's army faced the Wallenstein army in the Upper Palatinate and downstream . After his murder in February 1634, Bernhard pushed down the Danube and into the Upper Palatinate and tried in vain to get the leaderless troops of Wallenstein on his side.

In the spring of 1634 Bernhard and the army of the Swedish general Horn were forced to take over from the newly established imperial army under the new commander-in-chief and later Emperor Ferdinand III. (HRR) to terrorize the besieged city of Regensburg. The new, still inexperienced commander in chief had Matthias Gallas as an advisor, along with many others . In addition, the heir to the throne supported a Bavarian army under Johann von Aldringen .

When approaching Regensburg, the two Swedish armies won the battle and siege of Landshut on July 22nd, 1634 . Because of the inordinate, lasting several days looting the city, it missed the Swedish conquerors to draw immediately after Regensburg on, laid siege to for three months by the imperial army to soon-to surrender the city in time shock . When the departure from Landshut was delayed, a message from a mounted messenger revealed that Regensburg had already surrendered on July 26, 1634, but the news from the completely sealed off city had not come out. The long stay of the Swedes in Landshut has proven to be a serious, momentous, as yet unexplained strategic error of the two Swedish generals.

The surrender of Regensburg, which resulted in the permanent loss of the city, was the beginning of further military defeats for the Swedes. After their hasty retreat from Bavaria in the battle of Nördlingen on September 6, 1634, both armies under Bernhard and Horn were defeated by the strongly superior imperial-Bavarian-Spanish army under the commanders Ferdinand III., Ferdinand of Spain , Charles IV. (Lorraine) and Matthias Gallas so thoroughly beaten that all their equipment was lost and the two armies disbanded. This heavy defeat finally cost the Swedes their nimbus of invincibility and their position in Upper Germany . General Horn was taken prisoner. Bernhard saved himself with luck, but lost his office, all property and in the end also his Duchy of Franconia.

The surviving mercenaries and officers of both armies were scattered over the entire territory of the Reich after their escape because the Swedish army controlled large parts of the territory, owned many garrisons and was also allied with the Protestant imperial princes Wilhelm V (Hesse-Kassel) and Georg von Lüneburg . Bernhard traveled via Heilbronn to Frankfurt, where he began to collect the remains of the two armies and tried in vain to convince the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna of his plans to set up a new army. It was a great achievement by Bernhard to put together a new, loyal army from these mercenaries and officers - called The Weimaraner - and to be able to hold it together in the following years and pay with the help of France. Gallas is said to have commented on this performance of his opponent Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar after the many battles he had lost against him in Lorraine in 1635/36 as follows: If he had not experienced it himself, he would not have it imagine that Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar, after his total defeat in the Battle of Nördlingen, would ever succeed in rebuilding an army that could wear down his numerically superior army and even wipe it out completely in the following year .

In the service of France

After Bernhard end of September 1635 in the Battle of Wallerfangen difficulty against the advanced across the Rhine hostile imperial army under Matthias Gallas can keep had and had been pushed back in France to over to Metz, he felt compelled, a closer connection to France to take whose cardinal Richelieu had already financially supported his army (the Weimaraner). The time for negotiations was favorable for Bernhard, because it was obvious that France had hardly any war-experienced generals. The then 24-year-old, later great French general Turenne had pointed this out when, after the overwhelming victory of the Habsburgs near Nördlingen, he discovered that France was no longer equal to the capable German generals after the death of three French generals who had recently died. Accordingly, the consultants coined the Cardinal - Father Joseph - the phrase " If we do not win Bernhard, all goes Germany lost to us " Despite the favorable starting position for Bernhard came to the Alliance Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye only after lengthy negotiations on the 27th October 1635, because Bernhard made high demands with regard to areas in which he wanted to rule after the conquest.

Richelieu promised to provide Duke Bernhard with 4 million livres a year in subsidies for the duration of the war to support an army of 12,000 men of German origin on foot and 6,000 horsemen with the necessary artillery . In a secret article he was assured of Alsace on condition that the Catholic religion there would not be ousted. In the event that Alsace could not be awarded to him at the conclusion of peace at the end of the war, he was guaranteed adequate compensation and even property in France was granted. This made Bernhard, although he wanted to continue to be a Swedish general according to his reputation, but entirely dependent on France. Because of the payment of the subsidies, a dispute soon arose, and Bernhard himself traveled to Paris in March 1636 to settle it .

In the same year Bernhard operated in Alsace and Lorraine , where he conquered several places. But he saw himself prompted by the warnings of the suspicious Oxenstiernas and also by Richelieu's policy, which was too great for him, to claim more freedom and independence for himself. Therefore he concluded a new settlement in Paris in 1637. In accordance with the wishes of the French court, he then turned against Hochburgund , where the Imperial General Savelli now led an army. There he took a number of places and brought on 24 June between Gray and Besançon the Duke Charles IV. Of Lorraine a not insignificant setback in. He then moved via Mömpelgard through the Sundgau , crossed the Rhine near Rheinau on July 27 and holed up on the local Rhine island near the village of Wittenweier . When his army was violently attacked there by Johann von Werth , the army withdrew again and moved into winter quarters in the Mömpelgard area. With good food, he strengthened his troops so that he could start the campaign of 1638, the most brilliant of his entire warlike career, very early.

Already on 18 jul. / January 28, 1638 greg. Bernhard broke up, continued on July 19 . / January 29th greg. across the Rhine, seized the cities of Säckingen and Laufenburg and began the siege of Rheinfelden , the most important city among the forest cities . The siege army was on July 18th . / February 28th greg. attacked by a superior imperial Bavarian army under Savelli and Johann von Werth and had to withdraw. Only a few days later Bernhard came back with his army and brought the imperial Bavarian army in the battle of Rheinfelden on February 21st . / March 3rd greg. a heavy defeat at; Savelli and Johann von Werth were captured. After this victory Rheinfelden was occupied and Rötteln and Freiburg im Breisgau were conquered (March). After that, the way was clear for Bernhard and he prepared to besiege Breisach , this important imperial bulwark in the southwest of the Habsburg Empire , considered insurmountable and important .

The Viennese court did everything in vain to hold this important fortress. The imperial general Johann von Götzen tried to relieve the fortress, but the victory of the Weimaraner in the battle of Wittenweiher on July 30, 1638 thwarted the attack. On October 15, the Weimaraner also defeated the relief army of the Duke of Lorraine in a meeting on the Ochsenfelde near Thann. A third attempt at relief by imperial troops under Götzen also failed, although Bernhard was already weakened by illness at that time. On 7 jul. / December 17, 1638 greg. had to capitulate Breisach, which was defended to the utmost by Freiherr von Reinach .

After the conquest of Breisach, Richelieu intended to claim Breisach, this important and prestigious fortress, for France. Bernhard, however, wanted to keep Breisach for himself and make it the center and base of an independent rule and had therefore concluded the surrender in his own name. In vain Richelieu reminded him that Breisach had been conquered with French money and blood and did not belong to Alsace, in vain he carried the hand of his niece to the duke: Bernhard put forward his general duties and refused the marriage as an unequal one. Bernhard did not even want to make the promise to leave Breisach to France after his death, but instead made Breisach the seat of a princely Saxon government . But he also rejected offers made to him by the Viennese court. He probably intended to marry the widowed Landgrave Amalie von Hessen and to form a third mediating German power between the emperor and his opponents. Bernhard stayed in Hochburgund through the winter and returned to Breisach at the beginning of April 1639.

Legacy and End

Bernhard died on July 18, 1639 in Neuenburg am Rhein while preparing for a new campaign against the Imperialists . The suspicion that he died of poison that might have been administered to him at Richelieu's instigation has not been proven. All the powers involved in the war fought over Bernhard's inheritance. His short will stipulated only very generally that the conquered lands should remain with the German Empire because of their importance; he wished his brothers would take it over under Swedish protection. In fact, however, France, Austria and Sweden tried to seize the conquered territory. Austria's offers were reluctantly rejected by the mercenaries of the Weimaraner Army.

Wilhelm IV of Saxe-Weimar , who asserted the brothers' claims, did not meet with approval from either the Swedes or France. Even the claims to Bernhard's private assets were not taken into account when the Peace of Westphalia was concluded . The Weimaraner commander of Breisach, Johann Ludwig von Erlach , left Bernhard's conquests and the Weimaraner mercenaries to France against the approval of an annual fee and French citizenship. However, Bernhard's regiments later largely went over to the Swedes and took part in the final decisions of the Thirty Years War. Bernhard's body, which had been temporarily buried in Breisach, was brought to Weimar on September 15, 1655 .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ To the beginnings under Mansfeld: Krüssmann, Ernst von Mansfeld . Pp. 268, 270, 274, 369, 379, 424 and 528.
  2. ^ Carl J. Burckhardt: Richelieu. Great power politics and death of the cardinal . tape 3 . Georg DW Callwey, Munich 1966, p. 241-243 .
  3. ^ A b Carl J. Burckhardt: Richelieu. Great power politics and death of the cardinal . tape 3 . Georg DW Callwey, Munich 1966, p. 240-243 .
personal data
SURNAME Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bernhard Duke of Saxe-Weimar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION General of the Thirty Years War
DATE OF BIRTH August 16, 1604
PLACE OF BIRTH Weimar
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1639
Place of death Neuchâtel on the Rhine