Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld

Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld

Griebenow Castle , built 1707–1709

Count Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld , (born August 6, 1651 in Stralsund , † January 29, 1722 in Läggesta ) was the Swedish field marshal under King Karl XII. of Sweden , and in its youth his teacher. After the coronation of Charles XII. he rose to become the closest military advisor and highest officer . Because of his congeniality with the king in military matters, the two were named Alexander of the North and his Parmenion in allusion to Alexander the Great and his closest companions .

Initially governor of Skåne (1698–1705), he led the siege of Copenhagen (1700), the battle of Narva (1700) and the battle of Klissow (1702) together with his king at the beginning of the Great Northern War . All three operations are classic examples of great operational art and the ingenious strategic and tactical talent of the executing generals.

1702 he inherited - after his 1677 deceased older brother Axel Rehnskiöld and its 1,702 fallen son Franz Anton Rehnskiöld - that of his father, the Swedish-Pomeranian Government Gerdt Anton Rehnskiöld , acquired Good Griebenow Here he built from 1707 to 1709 in Baroque style, the Griebenow Castle with his estate park.

In the battle of Fraustadt (1706) he demonstrated his leadership skills in an independent command. For this he was promoted to field marshal and raised to the rank of count. He led the Battle of Poltava (1709), which was unfortunate for the Swedes, on behalf of his wounded king and was captured by Russia until 1718. When he returned home, he withdrew into private life.

He was one of the most talented and successful generals and generals of his time. Due to the defeat at Poltava, however, he is considered to be the cause of the Swedish decline and pioneer of the Russian rise.

He found his resting place in the crypt of his great-uncle Johan Adler Salvius . His estate, including the inherited him from the agnates goods Griebenow with the built by him castle, Creuzmannshagen and Willers Husen, went to his married with him since 1697 wife Barbara Elisabeth of radio and its second husband, Count Erasmus of Küssow over, fell but, since both marriages remained childless, after lengthy legal negotiations (1783) returned to the Keffenbrinck line.

ancestors

The Rehnskiöld family comes from the Keffenbrink family . The ancestor Gerhard Kevenbrink fled the Spaniards from Rheine to Pomerania in 1567 . His son Hans the son then went to Sweden with a count Löwenhaupt. His son Gerdt Anton Rehnskiöld (* 1610, † 1658) was field treasurer of King Gustav Adolph on his journey to Germany. This raised him under the name Rehnskiöld to the Swedish nobility. Gerd was married to Brita Torzeskall , a great niece of statesman Adler Salvius. From this marriage:

• Johann, Minister under Charles XI.
• Axel († 1677), Swedish colonel
• Carl Gustaf (1651-1722)

literature

• Siegfried Fiedler: Warfare and Warfare in the Age of Cabinet Wars. Koblenz 1986.
• Otto Haintz: Klissow 1702 , in Der Genius des Feldherrn. Berlin 1937.
• Theodor Pyl :  Rehnschild, Karl Gustav . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 27, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 602-604.
• Martin Sprungala: Carl Gustav v. Rehnskjöld, the winner of Fraustadt. in: Fraustädter Ländchen. No. 4, Dortmund 2005.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ivo Asmus: Review of Wolf Karge, Schlösser und Herrenhäuser in Vorpommern. In: Baltic Studies . Volume 99 NF, 2013, ISSN  0067-3099 , pp. 157-160.