Burkhard Christoph von Münnich

Burkhard Christoph von Münnich (1683–1767)

Burkhard Christoph Graf von Munnich ( Russian Христофор Антонович Миних , Christofor Antonovich Minich ; born May 9, ^jul. / 19th May  1683 ^greg. In Neuenhuntorf , bailiwick "desert country" of the county Oldenburg ; † October 16 ^jul. / 27. October  1767 ^greg. in Saint Petersburg ) was an engineer of German origin , field marshal and politician in Russian service.

Life

He was the son of the officer brought in the Danish nobility and dikemaster in Neuenhuntorf, Anton Günther von Munnich was born (1650-1721) and his first wife Sophia Catharina (1,659 to 1,710). He learned hydraulic engineering from his father. In 1699 he joined the French army as an engineer in Strasbourg . When the War of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1701, he changed as a captain to Hesse-Darmstadt , then in 1705 to Hesse-Kassel . As part of the Hessian-Darmstadt auxiliary troops, he took part in the siege of Landau in 1702 and then as part of the Hessian auxiliary troops in 1706 in the relief of Turin . The troops were ordered back in the same year and marched to support in Holland in 1708 . There he fought in the battle of Oudenaarde . He took part in the siege of Ryssel and Dornick. He fought in France at the Battle of Malplaquet and took part in the following sieges of Mons, Douay, Bethune, Aire, Bouchain and Quesnoy. He was promoted to major for his achievements . In the Battle of Denain on July 24, 1712 he was seriously injured and taken prisoner by the French. After his recovery, probably after the Peace of Utrecht on April 15, 1713, he was released on his word of honor or by ransom, returned to Kassel and was promoted to lieutenant colonel , according to other sources to colonel .

In 1713 he implemented canal construction plans for Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel near Karlshafen .

In 1716 he joined the Electoral Saxon service as a colonel . From 1716 he was responsible for the construction of the Mniszech Palace in Warsaw . In 1717 he was appointed major general and inspector general of the Polish Crown Army of the Saxon Elector and Polish King August II the Strong . In 1720 he dueled with Colonel Bonafour. The colonel died and Münnich had to answer to his superior, the Supreme Commander of the Polish Crown Army, Field Marshal Jacob Heinrich von Flemming . So he was forced to say goodbye and in February 1721 went to the service of the Russian army as an engineer general , where he initially directed the construction of the Ladoga Canal , the port of Kronstadt and the fortifications of Riga . After Peter I had already promoted him to lieutenant general (May 1721), Peter II appointed him general en chef on May 7, 1727 and in the same year as chief director of all imperial fortresses. On February 28, 1728 he also raised him to the rank of Russian count . He became a bearer of the Order of St. Andrew and the Order of Alexander Nevsky . In 1729 he became governor and governor of Saint Petersburg , commander in chief of the troops in Ingermanland , Karelia and Finland . In 1729 he became General Feldzeugmeister and was thus also the commander of the artillery and the engineering corps .

Under Tsarina Anna I , he gained considerable influence together with Ernst Johann von Biron and Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann . From 1731 to 1740 he was cabinet minister. In addition, on February 26, 1731 he became General Feldzeugmeister . On January 24, 1732 he was appointed President of the War College (Minister of War) and on February 24, 1732 Field Marshal General . Count von Münnich reorganized the Russian land army with the introduction of a new war constitution and strict service regulations based on the German - especially Prussian - model and the first Russian cuirassier regiment . The army was also increased from 230,000 men to a good 380,000 men (with a population of eleven million). Due to the expensive expansion of the army that he operated, however, he failed in another important task, the savings in military spending, which at times even took up four fifths of the state budget. The unfree peasant population, who had to provide the majority of the soldiers, was additionally burdened by the increased poll tax . In this respect, Münnich can be assumed to have accepted the increasing impoverishment of the Russian peasantry. On the other hand, he reorganized and unified the salary with the Russification of the officer corps, which he operated. Under Peter the Great there were still three levels of pay for officers, the lowest for Russian officers and the highest for foreign officers. Münnich, who was more interested in the achievements and loyalty of the officers than in their origins, set professional standards for the whole of the officer corps and also established the noble cadet corps in 1732 , which ensured systematic military training for local officers. He sharply criticized the recruiting practice for the army that had prevailed until then and complained about the abuse of soldiers as workers, for example in the construction of canals, as well as the forced lifelong service, which he characterized as both ineffective and demoralizing. In 1736, Münnich centralized the entire military administration in the War College for the first time.

On June 30, 1734 he conquered Danzig in the War of the Polish Succession , put down the unrest in Warsaw and took over the supreme command of all Russian troops against the Turks in the Ukraine . In the Russo-Austrian Turkish War , Münnich was able to conquer the isthmus of Perekop , Ochakiv and Azov and destroy the residence of the Tatar Khan Bakhchysaraj in the Crimea . In 1736 he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle and was also generalissimo of all Russian armies. Due to high losses, mainly due to disease, Münnich had to retreat to Ukraine at the end of 1738, and was able to beat the Turks at Stăuceni again the following year and conquer the fortress of Chotyn , the Moldavia and the Crimea. Austria's departure from the coalition ultimately led to the Peace of Belgrade , in which the conquered territories were almost completely lost again.

For his services, Münnich was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Guard, the bodyguard of the Russian tsars, on his return to Petersburg.

After the death of Tsarina Anna I, Count von Münnich overthrew the guardian of the heir to the throne Ivan VI in 1740 . , Duke Ernst Johann Biron of Courland, because he feared that the reign of the unpopular former favorite of the tsarina could be detrimental to all foreigners associated with him. Instead, he had Ivan's mother, Anna Leopoldowna, proclaimed regent, was appointed Prime Minister by the latter and tried to establish a defense alliance with Prussia . Since the regent preferred Austria and Saxony as allies, he was deposed on March 14, 1741 by Ostermann, who took advantage of a serious illness in Münnich. In December of the same year he was arrested at the accession to the throne of Tsarina Elizabeth I as her sharp opponent and sentenced to death by quartering. Pardoned on the scaffold on January 29, 1742, he was declared forfeit of his property and, accompanied by his second wife and an assistant preacher, banished to the Siberian village of Pelym for life. 1762 rehabilitated Peter III. on the occasion of a general amnesty for all exiles from the time of Elizabeth, brought him back to St. Petersburg and reinstated him as General Field Marshal.

After the fall and murder of Peter III. Catherine the Great appointed him general director of the Baltic ports of Baltischport and Nerva as well as the canals and commissioned him to build a new port near Reval . Münnich did not live to see the completion of this work. He died in 1767 and was buried on his estate Lunia near Dorpat (today: Tartu , Estonia ). A bust of him is in the Walhalla near Regensburg .

family

Münnich was married to Christina Lucretia von Witzleben (* August 25, 1685 - February 10, 1727), daughter of the Saxon-Gotha-Altenburg Chamberlain and Governor Hans Heinrich von Witzleben († 1693) and from May 8, 1705 in his first marriage the Anna Deborah von Seebach . Christina Lucretia von Witzleben was lady-in-waiting at the court in Hessen-Darmstadt , where her mother had become chief steward after her father's death. Münnich's wife followed her husband on his campaigns and gave birth to 14 children, four of whom grew up. With them he founded the counts line of the aristocratic Münnich family .

After her death, on September 28, 1728, Münnich married Barbara Eleonora von Maltzahn (* June 11, 1691 - September 3, 1774), daughter of the Swedish - West Pomeranian district administrator and hereditary land marshal in Old Western Pomerania and hereditary lord of Wolde , Klein-Schossow and Cummerow Konrad Hans Jakob von Maltzahn and Dorothea Tugendreich von Wolffradt adH Lüssow . She has been widowed twice. Her first husband, Baron Heinrich Leopold von Malzan (* January 2, 1680 - February 3, 1712), heir to Wartenberg and Penzlin , she married on December 27, 1708. Her second husband was the Russian envoy in Mecklenburg-Strelitz Michail since 1719 Count Alexejewitsch Saltykov († August 29, 1723). From these marriages she had three daughters, and the marriage with Münnich did not result in any children who reached adulthood.

• Anton Günter (* / † 1707)
• Ernst Johann (* January 21, 1707; † January 24, 1788), Russian diplomat and founder of the Hermitage ⚭ Anna Dorothea von Mengden (* October 12, 1716; † February 29, 1760)
• Sophie Anna Louise (* February 21, 1709; † November 6, 1772) ⚭ August 1, 1729 Albrecht Hermann von Maltzan (* January 19, 1687; ⚔ May 17, 1742 near Chotusitz )
• Christina Elisabeth (October 30, 1711; † August 28, 1775) ⚭ March 9, 1728 Freiherr Johann Heinrich von Mengden (* May 22, 1700; † March 26, 1768)
• Luise Dorothea (born September 30, 1710 - † December 23, 1775)

⚭ October 24, 1730 Johann Wilhelm von Schaumberg (* October 28, 1681; † November 30, 1737)

⚭ 1739 Count Friedrich Ludwig zu Solms-Wildenfels and Tecklenburg (* September 2, 1708; † August 27, 1789)

• Burchard Christoph (* 1721)
• Wilhelmine († 1722)
• Friedrich (* 1724; † 1729)
• Beate (* 1729; † 1738)

Four sons (* 1710, 1712, 1714, 1716) died young. Three other children who died prematurely are suspected.

Stepchildren

• Baron Juliana Dorothea von Malzan (7 May 1710 - October 1763) ⚭ 1732 Colonel Hans Karl von Winterfeldt (1707–1757)
• Freiin Jacobina Henriette Augusta von Malzan (* August 30, 1711; † August 12, 1766) ⚭ Christoph von Wildemann (* June 9, 1710; † February 15, 1780)
• Countess Anna Saltykow (born December 26, 1723, † May 1737)

swell

• Hans Friedl: Münnich, Anton Günther von. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 496-499 ( online ).
• M. Gottlieb Schlegel , Johann Friedrich Hartknoch (author. 2nd edition): Praise and memorandum to the weyland Russian-Imperial General Field Marshal, Mr. Burchard Christoph des Rußischen and H. Röm. Imperial Count of Münnich. 2. u. verb. Ed., Riga 1770.
• Early Einsiedel, Heinrich Alexius: Münnich and Biron , newspaper for the German nobility, 5th year, p. 76, [Altenburg] 1844
• Gerhard Anton von Halem : Biography of the Russian-Imperial Field Marshal Burchard Christoph von Münnich. Oldenburg 1803. Digitized
• August Mutzenbecher :  Münnich, Burchard Christoph Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, pp. 19-21.
• Melchior Vischer : Münnich: Engineer - General - High traitor. Frankfurt a. M. 1938.
• Thora Thyselius: Will and Work: Life of Burchard Münnich, son of a north German dikemaster, builder of the Ladoga Canal at the time of Peter the Great in Russia, Russian Prime Minister, exile in Siberia. Jever (Oldb) 1968.
• Francis Ley: Maréchal de Münnich: Ebauche du Gouvernement de l'Empire de Russie. commentaires et notes de Francis Ley - Geneve 1989.
• Ursula Feder:  Münnich, Burchard Christoph Graf von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , pp. 530-532 ( digitized version ).
• Brigitta Berg: Burchard Christoph von Münnich - The assessment, representation and research of his work in Russia in the German and Russian historiography. The attempt to examine the perspective using examples. Oldenburg 2001
• Brigitta Berg: Burchard Christoph Reichsgraf von Münnich (1683 - 1767). An Oldenburg in the service of the Tsar. Oldenburg 2011. ISBN 978-3-89995-797-6
• Ulrich Wilke: From the Hunte to the Neva - Burchard Christoph von Münnich. Niebüll 2005
• Ulrich Wilke (Hrsg.): Reprint by Arved Jürgensohn: "The Memoirs of Count Ernst von Münnich." (Stuttgart 1896) , Neukirchen 2006.
• Ulrich Wilke (Ed.): Reprint by Gerhard Anton von Halem: “Description of the life of the Imperial Russian General Field Marshal BC Count von Münnich” (Oldenburg 1803) , Neukirchen 2008
• History of the von Witzleben family digitized
• Continued new genealogical-historical news of the most noble events that happened at the European courts. Volume 76, p. 228ff digitized .
• Family tables in The Memoirs of Count Ernst von Münnich p. 218 Digitized
• Society for the History and Archeology of the Baltic Provinces of Russia Messages from the area of ​​the history of Liv, Estonia and Courland. Volume 3, p. 371ff digitized , life story and testament

literature

• Burkhard Christoph v. Münnich: Ebauche pour thunder une idée de la forme du gouvernement de l'empire de Russie. Copenhagen 1774 (see above Francis Ley, with verbal text).

Web links

Commons : Burkhard Christoph von Münnich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Burkhard Christoph von Münnich in the catalog of the German National Library
• Article Burkhard Christoph von Münnich in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D076696~2a%3D~2b%3DBurkhard%20Christoph%20von%20M%C3%BCnnich

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans Friedl: Münnich, Anton Günther von. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg. Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , p. 497 ( online ).
2. ^ History of the von Witzleben family, The Elgersburger Line, Second Section. The Elgersburger Line, Haus Elgersburg. The line to Bösleben. family tree
3. ^ Continued New Genealogical-Historical News ... 160th part. Johann Samuel Heinsius, Leipzig 1776, p. 269 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
4. ↑ Michael Ranft, New genealogical-historical news from the most noble events that happened at the European courts. Volumes 31-36; Volume 43, p. 858 ( digitized version )

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Christoph von Naumann	Royal Polish Director of the Building Department 1716–1720	Joachim Daniel von Jauch