Christian Friedrich von Cochenhausen

Christian Friedrich von Cochenhausen (also: Cookinghausen , born December 17, 1769 in Eschwege ; † March 8, 1839 in Kassel ) was Minister of War and Lieutenant General under Elector Wilhelm II of Hesse .

Life

origin

His parents were Major General Johann Friedrich von Cochenhausen (1728–1793) and his wife Christine, née von Oberg, from the Duttenstedt family.

Career

His eagerness to learn was already noticed as a child and he actually wanted to devote himself to science later. His father fought on the side of the British in the American War of Independence in 1780 when he came to the page and cadet house in Kassel. Cochenhausen stayed there until 1785 when he was transferred to the bodyguard as an ensign . Until 1806 he was captain of the guard and also took part in the First Coalition War. Whenever the opportunity arose, Cochenhausen continued his education, and soon he was one of the most knowledgeable men of his class. The Landgrave also noticed this. He made him commander of the life guards and then also the tutor of Prince Ernst von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld . Cochenhausen was given extensive powers to train the then 13-year-old prince. A lifelong friendship later developed between the two of them. During the Fourth Coalition War , Napoleon also occupied Hessen-Kassel in 1806. Like all officers, Cochenhausen was given the choice of joining the emperor or being brought to Metz or Luxembourg as a prisoner of war . Like most officers, he preferred to go into captivity, from which he was only released in the winter of 1807/08. The Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel was dissolved and the Kingdom of Westphalia took its place. Since Cochenhausen had to look after a family, he went into service there. He therefore became the first sous-governor of the page house in 1808. He liked the position because it enabled him not to fight for the emperor but to continue to work scientifically. The governor General von Lossberg assigned him the task of training the students in the sciences. On March 26, 1812, Jérôme Bonaparte presented Cochenhausen with the confirmation patent as a knight and on November 8, 1812 he was accepted into the order of the Westphalian Crown .

In 1813, after Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Leipzig , the kingdom dissolved. The then electoral prince Wilhelm hurried to Kassel and gathered an army of 25,000 men to fight against the French, including the then lieutenant colonel Cochenhausen. He became Quartermaster General and Lieutenant Colonel in the General Staff. It is also his merit that the transition from Napoleonic back to electoral administration was fairly orderly, despite conflicting interests. The new Hessian army was used in 1814 to block some border fortresses including Metz and Luxemburg . He himself earned the recognition of his commanders. After the First Peace of Paris , the army returned and was demobilized . Cochenhausen was then appointed governor of the page and cadet house. The institute had a good reputation and so now cadets came from home and abroad, and in 1818 Cochenhausen was promoted to colonel . He remained governor of the house until the elector Wilhelm I died in 1821. His son, now King Wilhelm II, appointed him chief of the war department and chief of the general staff. The army was modernized under his leadership. It covered all areas from organization, equipment and clothing to drills . In addition, there were regimental schools and further military institutions followed. In addition, Cochenhausen ordered a topographical survey of the country in order to get reasonable maps . A great advantage was that he enjoyed the complete confidence of the elector, who let him be. In 1828 he was appointed major general. It was not until 1831 that the new War Ministry was established when he stepped down from the post of head of the General War Department. Nevertheless, Cochenhausen remained chief of the general staff, the military, studies, examinations and orders commission. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his service, he received an honorary doctorate from a Dr. phil. of the University of Marburg . On April 1, 1838, he received his retirement at his own request and was assigned to the army à la suite .

Cochenhausen was never seriously ill and so nobody worried when he caught a cold in April 1839 and died shortly afterwards of pneumonia .

In the course of his life he had received numerous medals . Cochenhausen was Commander 1st Class of the House Order of the Golden Lion , Knight of the Military Merit Order and the Order of the Iron Helmet . He spoke five languages ​​and was a member of the Wettau Society of Friends of Nature and the Hessian History Association.

family

Cochenhausen married Marie Barbe Georgine Raffin (born March 11, 1773, † February 14, 1836), a daughter of the first preacher and inspector of the French Reformed community in Hesse. The couple had six children including:

• Ernst Friedrich Ferdinand (1803–1871), Hessian major general
• Friederike Dorothea Gabriele Louise (born January 10, 1794 - † July 8, 1851)

literature

• New Nekrolog der Deutschen 1839. Part 1, p. 358ff.
• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses. 1922, part 2, p. 145.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ingeborg Schnelling-Reinicke: Westphalian nobility in the Kingdom of Westphalia. Sources for research into the Westphalian nobility in the Secret State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage. The Westphalian Title Commission and the Order of the Westphalian Crown. In: Zeitblicke 9. Nr. 1 of June 10, 2010, URL: http://www.zeitenblicke.de/2010/1/schnelling-reinicke/index_html , URN: urn: nbn: de: 0009-9-17258
2. ^ Ernst Heinrich Kneschke : New general German nobility lexicon : in association with several historians. Verlag F. Voight, 1860, pp. 297f. P.297f