Christian Carl Gabel

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Christian Carl Gabel

Christian Carl Gabel (born November 10, 1679 , † August 3, 1748 in Ribe ) was a Danish Vice Admiral and Chief War Secretary .

family

Christian Carl Gabel was the son of Frederik von Gabel (Frederik Christoffersen Gabel). Nothing is known about his youth.

He was married twice. The first marriage was with Frederike Christiane Schult, daughter of privy councilor Diderik Schult and his wife Ermegard Sophie Gabel. The eight children from this marriage all died at a young age, and Frederike died in 1731. In the following year he married Anna Benedicte Steensen, widow of Lieutenant General Christian Rantzau-Friis and daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Erik Steensen and his wife Vibeke Urne. This marriage remained childless. Anna died in Ribe in 1756. Gabel died in 1748 and was buried in Bramming Church.

In addition to his military skills, Gabel also had excellent knowledge of commercial areas. In 1709, after the death of his father, he bought the Bregentved manor . In 1718 he sold the farm to the Danish king for a considerable profit. Throughout his life, Gabel owned several properties and mansions across Denmark.

Military career in the Great Northern War

He is mentioned for the first time in 1700 as a lieutenant captain. In 1704 he was appointed captain , in 1710 Kommandørkaptajn, 1714 Schoutby Night and 1715 vice admiral .

In 1712, Gabel served as captain in Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve's fleet on the Danish flagship Prinsessan Hedvig Sophia . He took part in the sea ​​battle of Rügen at the end of September 1712. The victory over the Swedish fleet had a very strong influence on the progress of the Great Northern War , because the over 100 captured Swedish ships contained supplies for the besieged fortresses Stralsund , Stettin and Wismar as well as food and ammunition for the Swedish army in Pomerania .

In 1714, Gabel was transferred to Admiral Peter Raben's fleet . As a result, he received his own small flotilla. One of his ships, the frigate Løvendals Galej , was commanded by Captain Peter Wessel Tordenskiold .

Sea battle near Fehmarn 1715

In 1715, a Danish flotilla, consisting of 10 ships, under the command of Gabel and a Swedish flotilla under the command of Schoutbynacht Carl Hans Wachtmeister faced each other in the Fehmarnbelt . In the battle, the Danes managed to corner the Swedish fleet. The Swedish Schoutby night sergeant was forced to sink his flagship. He capitulated to Gabel and went into captivity with a total of 1,800 Swedish sailors . The victory over the Swedish fleet and the capture of five warships brought Gabel a lot of reputation and promotion to Vice Admiral .

Sea battle at Jasmund

In the summer of 1715, a Swedish fleet was sent out again to track down and defeat the Danish fleet. The regaining of supremacy in the Baltic Sea was vital for the Swedish troops in Swedish Pomerania . The 28-ship fleet was under the command of Admiral Claes Sparre .

After the main Danish fleet was briefly in Gothenburg , it set out for Rügen at the end of July 1715 . On August 8th, a battle broke out off the island. The Swedish fleet was defeated and withdrew under the cannons of the Karlskrona fortress . Shortly after the battle, Admiral Raben had to go ashore for health reasons and Gabel was briefly commander in chief of the Danish main fleet. In the conquest of Stralsund fortress , however, he only played a minor role. Vice-Admiral Christen Thomesen Sehested led the naval operations of the fleet .

In 1717 he returned the command to Admiral Raben and was honorably discharged from military service on May 31. He was elected Oberkriegskretär ( overkrigssekretær ), a position comparable to a Minister of War. However, he had no voting rights in the Danish Gehejmekonseil. In the same year he was made a knight of the Order of Dannebrog .

Chief War Secretary (1717-1725)

After the peace with Sweden, Gabel was given the difficult task of renewing the Danish naval administration.

The financial situation of the navy was catastrophic, the crews had been without pay for 1.5 years . The officer corps was far too old and, due to nepotism , was largely made up of incompetent officers. Morale within the Navy was very bad. The ships were worn and out of date. The plight of the sailors could be recognized by the fact that the women of Gabel had been personally allowed to “stjæle eller tigge” (steal or beg) in order to have enough to live on.

One of Fabel's first steps was to retire the old officers. The military salary was paid out to all members of the Navy as quickly as possible. The service regulations and uniforms have also been improved. The fleet was modernized, the naval base Holmen near the capital Copenhagen was enlarged and the fortifications were expanded. The Navy's judicial system has been completely redesigned.

Conditions improved in all areas within a very short time. The administration became more and more central and Gabel had achieved a considerable degree of power within the army. Although he was not in the Gehejmekonseil , he had great influence on the Danish King Friedrich IV. During his tenure, Gabel repeatedly clashed with the influential Bishop Bartholomæus Deichman , who from 1720 also took care of the king's finances. This fork accused of corruption and nepotism. A committee of inquiry could not find any clear evidence against Gabel and the case was closed. The king subsequently authorized him to conduct political negotiations with the son-in-law of Tsar Peter the Great , Duke Karl Friedrich (Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf) . The negotiations, which were conducted without the knowledge of the Gehejmekonseil, came to no concrete result and began to damage the reputation of the king. The king dismissed Gabel from this position and also removed him from his post as Minister of War. Later research by historians found that Gabel was probably just the middleman in the negotiations between the king and duke.

Collegiate and Privy Councilor

After the death of the canon of Ribe, Mr. Henrik Ernst von Kalneins , Gabel was appointed his successor. By marrying Anna Benedicte Steensen he came into possession of a manor house in Bramming ; there he spent the rest of his life.

In 1731 he was appointed a privy councilor. As a canon, he improved the school and church service in his community. He quickly gained a very high reputation among his subordinates.

obituary

Despite his popularity with the people, contemporaries, out of ignorance or personal motives, often portrayed him negatively. Jens Møller (Danish theologian and historian) writes about Gabel:

“It is, thank God, a rare exception to find a man like this Gabel; he began his career as Tordenskjold's worthy competitor as a swift and courageous naval officer, but later became a despicable courtier. "

- Jens Møller

Later researchers like Christian Walter Bruun and Edvard Holm, however, judged his person more mildly and probably more justly. For example, that as Chief War Secretary he was quite insensitive to corruption.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f C. With: Gabel, Christian Carl . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 5 : Faaborg – Gersdorff . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1891, p. 508-511 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
  2. ↑ Knut Lundblad: History of Karl the Twelfth, King of Sweden. Volume 2, p. 461 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Gabel, Christian Carl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish admiral and Overkrigssekretær
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1679
DATE OF DEATH August 3, 1748
Place of death Ribe