David Urs de Margina
David Freiherr von Urs de Margina (born April 1, 1816 in Margina (Mărgineni) , Fogaras county , † September 10, 1897 in Sibiu ) was a Romanian-born Austrian officer ( colonel ) and knight of the Military Maria Theresa Order .
origin
The family roots of David Urs (Romanian: bear) can be traced back to the Middle Ages. His ancestor was once the courtier of Prince Vlad II Dracul . This Stanciu Tatu received the fief of Mărgineni in the Duchy of Amlas from the ruler. Over time, the family became poor and farmed. Both of his parents were descended from members of the border regiments . He was baptized in the Church of St. Nicholas in Mărgineni, built in 1791.
biography
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After attending elementary school at the Central School of Border Guards of Border Regiment No. 1 in Orlat, David graduated from the military school in Năsăud . He joined the border regiment as a soldier in 1834 and served himself up to the rank of lieutenant (March 1, 1841). In 1846 he was deputy company commander of the 7th company of Joseph Philippovich von Philippsberg in Racovița (Sibiu) .
In the Hungarian uprising
The officer he was elected in early May 1848 as spokesman for 172 border guards, which was held at the "Great National Assembly" May 15, 1848 in Blaj . Although still very young, he then belonged to the delegation of 30 people who were supposed to convey the wishes for the Romanian nation to the emperor. He also hid Simion Bărnuțiu and the Romanian dean of Mediaș, Ștefan Moldovan , who were in danger of being arrested by the Hungarian authorities.
In 1848 he commanded the company as a captain and took during the Hungarian uprising in the battles against the Hungarians under their leader Lajos Kossuth overflowed Szeklergrenzregimentern part, namely in the fighting in Odorhei (Székelyudvarhely) . For his bravery he was awarded the Imperial and Royal Military Merit Cross (KD.) As well as the Imperial Russian Order of St. Anna 3rd Class by the allied Russians . On November 19, 1850 he was transferred to Infantry Regiment No. 34 in Kosice .
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In the Sardinian War
On May 5, 1859, promoted to Major Battalion Commander in Line Infantry Regiment No. 52 "Archduke Franz Karl", Urs fought in the Sardinian War in the Solferino near Medole .
After the major's outposts reported on June 24, 1859 that enemy troops had set off at Castiglione and Carpenedolo and were marching in the direction of Medole, Urs ordered them to offer resistance in the event of an attack and only to fight to withdraw to the village in order to keep the enemy away from it for as long as possible and thus to postpone the start of the defense. After that he ordered, although not under the command, the defense of Medole from the advancing enemy and determined the positions of his men. He was to deal with most of the 8,000 to 10,000 men strong Luzy division of the French general Adolphe Niel . By skilfully skirmishing his troops, he managed to hold off the enemy for hours. In the end he had to withdraw because of the superior strength of the enemy, but there was enough time not to surprise the Zedtwitz cavalry division and the troops of the 9th Corps camped at Guidizzolo and Robecco and to prepare them for combat in good time.
On October 17, 1859, he was the first Romanian ever to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Maria Theresa Order and the Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd class , for his excellent act of arms . As a result, on January 8, 1860, Emperor Franz Joseph I granted him the status of baron with the title "Margina" after his place of birth.
After his promotion to lieutenant colonel on February 1, 1860, he was assigned to Infantry Regiment No. 64 in Deva , Transylvania . On June 16, 1863 he advanced to the colonel and took command of this unit.
But because he had strongly sponsored a number of hopeful, young Romanian officers, Hungarian military circles accused the baron of "nationalism" and he was therefore transferred to the reserve a year later.
In the Italian War of Independence
After his reactivation, the colonel was given command of the fortified and strategically important island of Lissa in the Adriatic Sea on May 21, 1866 during the Third Italian War of Independence . The Italian fleet began to besiege Lissa on July 18 of this year and also attacked with landing forces. De Margina had 1,833 soldiers and 88 cannons, some of which were out of date, available for defense. Nevertheless, he was determined to defend the island to the last cartridge. Despite the enormous superiority of the Italians (a total of 34 ships, including twelve battleships, 10,866 soldiers and 746 cannons), the garrison withstood the Italian attacks for over two days and inflicted heavy losses on them, until finally the Austrian fleet under Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff arrived and terrified the island. On July 20, 1866, the baron was decorated for this act with the Order of the Iron Crown, 2nd class, with war decorations. Then he again took command of the regiment in Deva.
After the fight he was celebrated in numerous Austrian newspapers as the "hero of Lissa". He then used his popularity to award the Romanian battle veterans land in the Fagaras region. This is how Octavian Paler's home village , Lisa, near Făgăraș, came into being .
As a privateer
In 1867 he was given another leave of absence. The reason was the hostility towards him from the Hungarian military leaders who had played a part in his first suspension. The compromise reached between the Hungarian nobility and the House of Habsburg in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise made it easier to proceed in this regard. The time of the Magyarization followed . The unmarried officer who had become rich, however, did not let himself be annoyed. He fought doggedly in a hopeless endeavor together with the Romanian community against the authorities who wanted to introduce Hungarian as the language of instruction [for all subjects] in Romanian schools. He donated money to the Romanian Army during the War of Independence . He promoted the national movement of Romanians in Transylvania , was a member of ASTRA (Asociațiunea transilvană pentru literatura română și cultura poporului român , German: "Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People") and gave scholarships to talented Romanian boys Further education. He was also the mentor of the later general Johann Boeriu Freiherr von Polichna . Finally, the baron determined in his will the establishment of a related foundation with a deposit of over 50,000 florins , which was administered by the Romanian-Greek Catholic Church in the Grand Archbishopric of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia .
A street in Sibiu was named after him until it was renamed by the communists in 1950.
literature
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Urs de Margina, David Freiherr . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 49th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1884, pp. 144–146 ( digitized version ).
- Ferdinand Ritter von Attlmayr: “Austria's War in the Adriatic in 1866”, Carl Gerold's Sohn, a print and commission publisher, Vienna 1896
- Franz Rieger: "Colonel David Baron Urs de Margina - Near Solferino and on Lissa", Hermannstadt 1898
- Ioan Părean, Radu Părean; "David Urs de Margina - Un mare român pe nedrept uitat", Ed. Asociaţiunii Astra, Sibiu 2006
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.ceinseamna.info/Amla%C8%99
- ↑ Victor Lazăr: "David Urs de Marginea - biografia eroului si susținătorului școlilor grănicerești", in Biblioteca poporală a Asociațiunii (ASTRA), No. 109.
- ↑ a b Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Schematism for the imperial and royal army and for the imperial and royal navy, KK Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1895, p. 144
- ^ V. Streffleur: Austrian military magazine. VI. Vol. 2, Druck- und Kommissionsverlag Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1865, p. 258 ff.
- ↑ http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/mmtopre.htm
- ^ Andreas Graf von Thürheim: "Memorial sheets from the war history of the Imperial and Royal Army", bookstore for military literature K. Prochaska, Vienna 1880, p. 351
- ↑ Franz Herzmann: “History of the k. and k. 52nd Line Infantry Regiment, Archduke Franz Karl ”, printed by the Imperial and Royal State Printing Office, Vienna 1871, p. 539
- ^ V. Streffleur: Austrian military magazine. Volume IV, Volume 4, Supplement No. 22 of November 15, 1863, Druck- und Kommissionsverlag Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1863, p. 163
- ^ Friedrich Regensberg: "Lissa", Verlag Franckh, Stuttgart 1907, p. 9 ff.
- ↑ Josef Fleischer: "History of the KK Kriegsmarine", Verlag des k. and k. Reich Ministry of War, Marine Section, Vienna 1906, p. 138 f.
- ↑ http://www.coresno.com/index.php/ordensritter/158-mischa-orden/2789-eko2-az
- ^ V. Streffleur: Austrian military magazine. Volume VII, Volume 3, Druck- und Kommissionsverlag Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1866, p. 55
- ↑ a b http://jurnalul.ro/special-jurnalul/memorie-un-nobil-roman-uitat-28402.html
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Urs de Margina, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Urs, David; Urs von Margina, David; Urs de Margina, David; Urs de Margina, David Freiherr von (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian officer (colonel) and Knight of Theresa |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1, 1816 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mărgineni (Făgăraș) |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1897 |
| Place of death | Sibiu |