Blücher (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the von Blücher

The Blücher come from the Mecklenburg nobility with the headquarters of the same name Blücher near Boizenburg on the Elbe.

history

The family first appeared in a document in 1214 with Ulrich de Bluchere, Ministerial of the Ratzeburg diocese . The stem row begins with this . The Blücher are recognizable as magnates in the Ratzeburg tithe register of 1230 and were in the second half of the 13th century a. a. owned by the Büttelkow , Lehsen and Tüschow estates in Mecklenburg . Wietow also belonged to the old family estate . A Ulrich von Blücher is in 1256 as bishop of Ratzeburg , 1291 will be Hermann von Blucher and 1356 Wipert von Blücher named as bishops of Ratzeburg. From 1293 the Blüchers are also known as landowners in Pomerania (including 1577–1731 with a share of Plathe ). Then possessions in Brandenburg were added. Family branches remained on estates in Mecklenburg and Bohemia until 1945, from 1759 on Fincken , from 1779 on the three neighboring farms Wasdow , Bobbin and Quitzenow , from 1869 on Gut Jürgenstorf .

A branch of the family became Danish Counts von Blücher-Altona in 1777 . The Blücher-Finken branch was elevated to the Prussian count status in 1815 .

  • Gut Fincken , Mecklenburg (owned by the Blücher from 1759)

  • Gut Wasdow , Mecklenburg (1779–1895 owned by the Blücher)

  • Gut Bobbin , Mecklenburg (owned by the Blücher from 1779)

  • Gut Quitzenow , Mecklenburg (owned by the Blücher from 1779)

Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt

Princely coat of arms Blücher von Wahlstatt

The most famous branch goes back to the Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher , one of the three victorious commanders of the Battle of Waterloo . After the capture of Paris on March 30, 1814, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. the goods around Krieblowitz in Lower Silesia and raised him to hereditary count on June 3, 1814, on the day of the victory parade in Berlin. After the victory at Waterloo on June 18, 1815, he received the personal Prince, as Prince of Wahlstatt and the Blücher Palace in Berlin.

The grandson of Marshal Count Gebhard Bernhard Carl von Blucher , was founded by King William I of Prussia on October 18, 1861 at his coronation at Konigsberg , the Prince, the salutation Highness , hereditary primogeniture , awarded as the anknüpfende to the Field Marshal , while the agnates bore the title Graf or Countess Blücher von Wahlstatt. This line has been part of the nobility ever since . One condition of inheritance was the undivided ownership of Fideikommisse Krieblowitz, Wahlstatt , Strachwitz and his Palais Blücher on Pariser Platz in Berlin. The second prince acquired Raduň Castle in Moravian-Silesia through marriage in 1832 . His eldest son Gebhard Leberecht (1836–1916) followed him as the third prince, followed by his eldest son Gebhard von Blücher as the fourth prince Blücher von Wahlstatt (1865–1931). The current “head of the house” is Prince Nikolaus Blücher von Wahlstatt (* 1932).

The Blücher family in World War II

Obituary notice for the fallen von Blücher brothers, June 1941

In addition to Major General Johann-Albrecht von Blücher , four brothers from the family served in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War :

  • Wolfgang Henner Peter Lebrecht Graf von Blücher, First Lieutenant (born January 31, 1917 in Altengottern ; † May 21, 1941 near Heraklion , Crete )
  • Leberecht Wilhelm Konstantin Wolf Axel Graf von Blücher, private (born April 13, 1922 in Fincken , † May 21, 1941 near Heraklion)
  • Hans-Joachim Gebhard Leberecht Graf von Blücher, hunter (born October 23, 1923 in Fincken; † May 21, 1941 near Heraklion)
  • Adolf Graf von Blücher, Lieutenant at Sea (September 1918 - June 8, 1944 in Mecklenburg)

Wolfgang, Leberecht and Hans-Joachim fell as members of the parachute troops in the course of the airborne battle for Crete on May 21, 1941 within a few hours. Adolf was then released from service in the Navy and was able to look after his family's estate, but was killed in a hunting accident in 1944.

coat of arms

  • Family coat of arms (leaning shield): “In silver, two bars of red keys , beards pointing outwards and upwards; on the looking helmet with red and silver covers, two diagonally crossed red keys, beards pointing outwards and upwards. "
  • Counts von Blücher-Altona : four-part shield covered with a gold-rimmed crowned heart shield. In this the Blücher family coat of arms. 1 and 4 in blue a six-pointed golden star, 2 u. 3 a red fortress in gold with three towers. '
  • Prince and Count Blücher von Wahlstatt : four-part shield with a silver heart shield. In this the Blücher family coat of arms. 1 and 4 in silver the Prussian eagle, 2 in gold within a green laurel wreath a gold-emblazoned sword and a silver field marshal's baton crossed, 3 in gold the iron cross.

Heraldic saga

According to legend, the ancestor of the Blücher family was a courageous Wendish warrior who moved to Rhodes with Duke Heinrich the Lion and was knighted there for his bravery. When he returned home, he accompanied his master when he came to the aid of his son-in-law, Prince Borwin of Mecklenburg , who was being harassed by Nikolaus . In these battles, too, he was distinguished by great bravery. He is said to have protected a chapel that the Abodrites wanted to destroy all by himself . When, after the Abodrites had fled, he handed his master the church keys bleeding, he called him Bleudiger (Bloody, of which Blücher) and gave him the keys as a coat of arms.

Great personalities

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher , Prince of Wahlstatt (1742–1819), Prussian field marshal and victorious commander in the battle of Waterloo

literature

Blücher seal in medieval Mecklenburg

Web links

Commons : Blücher family  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Document book of the St. Michaelis Monastery in Lüneburg
  2. ↑ Princely houses - cultural carriers
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Hausen: German Soldier Yearbook . Volumes 48-49. Schild Verlag, 2000, p. 198 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  4. ↑ Memory of the three Blücher brothers in the online project Memorial Monuments
  5. ^ Case File # 18, "Saving Von Blücher". battledetective.com, accessed December 9, 2015 .