Dodo to Innhausen and Knyphausen

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Dodo von Inhausen and Kniphausen, engraving by Matthäus Merian (1644)

Dodo Freiherr von Innhausen und zu Knyphausen (* July 2, 1583 in Lütetsburg ; † January 11, 1636 near Haselünne ) was an important general of the Protestant conflict party in the Thirty Years War .

Life

Dodo von Innhausen und Knyphausen was born in 1583 in Lütetsburg near Norden in East Friesland . His father was the Freiherr Wilhelm zu Inn and Knyphausen (1557–1631), his mother Hyma, née Manninga , the heiress of the noble Lütetsburg property.

Beginnings

In 1602, at the age of 19, he entered the Dutch military service and made it to general of the artillery under Prince Moritz von Orange (Dutch: Prins Maurits ) . After being wounded, he returned to his East Frisian homeland, took over the post of Drosten von Stickhausen in 1607 and married the wealthy Anna von Schade from Bamenohl on September 18, 1610 . In order to get money, he worked as a commercial mercenary leader-war entrepreneur from 1615 (term after: Redlich, German Military Enterpriser). First he served as regimental chief ( colonel ) of the Hanseatic cities in the fight against Duke Friedrich Ulrich von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel .

In the Thirty Years War

At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War Knyphausen was active in northern Germany on behalf of the newly elected King of Bohemia, Count Palatine Friedrich V (autumn 1619), apparently as a liaison to the Hanseatic cities. Then he served in the Palatinate War (1620–1623) as a Palatinate colonel in the mercenary army of Duke Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . Under the command of the 22-year-old Duke of Guelph, who was soon to be called the mad Halberstadt , Knyphausen was a colonel over a regiment on foot at the Battle of Höchst (June 10, 1622) against the troops of Johann T'Serclaes von Tilly and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba involved: When attacking Höchst, which had refused to surrender, he was wounded four days before the battle; later he escaped to the imperial city of Frankfurt. In 1623 Knyphausen rejoined the Guelph and experienced, again as colonel, the catastrophic defeat against Tilly in the battle of Stadtlohn (August 6, 1623), in which his own regiment was also destroyed. Duke Christian tried to hold Knyphausen responsible for the outcome of the battle, even had him sentenced to death and imprisoned in the Schenkenschanz (near Nijmegen); but a new examination proved Knyphausen's innocence. In the Lower Saxon-Danish War (1625–1629) Knyphausen served in the mercenary army of Count Ernst von Mansfeld as a colonel and sergeant-general. But in the battle of the Dessau Elbe Bridge (April 25, 1626), where Mansfeld's attack on Wallenstein's bridgehead failed, Knyphausen was imprisoned by the emperor, from which he was able to escape after more than a year.

In 1629 he entered the service of King Gustav II Adolf (Wasa) of Sweden. In February 1631 King Gustav-Adolf installed him in the city of Neubrandenburg in East Mecklenburg as city commander. Then the king moved on with his main army and the entire artillery to Kolberg in Pomerania. With his Frisian regiment and six pennons of Scottish mercenaries, a total of 1,600 to 2,000 men, von Knyphausen initially successfully defended the city in March against a tenfold superiority of the imperial troops under Tilly. After three days of cannonade on selected areas of the city wall, the imperial forces were able to penetrate the city through a breach on March 19, 1631 (Gregorian calendar). According to Protestant sources (Pontanus), only about 60 defenders who had previously been wounded survived; the city's report to the ducal court in Schwerin mentions 800 defenders who had died. Many residents also lost their lives. Knyphausen, his wife and children were taken prisoner by the imperial military leader Tilly. After long imprisonment, they were exchanged for three imperial colonels, which was quite common at the time. On November 16, 1632, Knyphausen commanded the second meeting of the Swedish army in the battle of Lützen , in which the King of Sweden fell; on June 28, 1633 he won against the imperial at Hessisch Oldendorf . For this he was enfeoffed with the Emsland by the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna . 1633 Knyphausen conquered Osnabrück and then withdrew to his fiefdom Meppen .

Many letters to his wife Anna also testify that he has never been unfaithful to his Protestant faith and has not followed the temptations of the imperial family. Anna accompanied him on many campaigns, sometimes with children.

Because of his position in the Thirty Years' War, he was able to issue the following letters of protection to his relatives in Bamenohl:

2. 1633 October 16/26: “Dero konigl. Mayt. and dero Cron Sweden Bestalter FeldMarschalck Ich Dodo von Inhausen and Kniphausen, Herr zu Lutzeburg, Bergum and Jenneldt ”, Bernhard Vogt von Elspe, his father-in-law, issues a letter of protection. Made in the headquarters in front of Werl.

3. 1633 October 21: Dodo von Imhausen and Kniphausen issues an open passport to his brother-in-law Adam Vogt von Elspe, as he often has to leave the royal Swedish army. The exhibitor's seal, issued in the Bürick headquarters in front of Werl.

4. 1633 December 2/12: The same orders the mayors and councilors of those towns in which Adam Vogt von Elspe is stopping off with his company to provide food for him and his family and to provide accommodation. Made with a seal in Unna.

As the commander of the Swedish troops in Westphalia , he fell in the Emsland in 1636 at the beginning of the battle near Haselünne (January 11; according to the old Julian calendar style: January 1). But his troops won despite being numerically inferior. His body was embalmed , laid out in Meppen and from there on March 4th by ship to Emden . In the Klunderburg , which was then owned by the Knyphausen family, it stood above the ground until May 3, 1636. The deceased was then transferred from here to Jennelt , where Dodo von Knyphausen owned 350 hectares of land from his father. He was buried in the crypt of Jennelter Church , where the coffin still stands today.

progeny

With Anna von Schade he had seven children, of whom only two survived,

  • Enno Adam (born January 26, 1611 - † April 22, 1654) Swedish colonel ⚭ Freiin Occa Johanna von Ripperda
  • Eva Oriana (* 1613; † 1680) ⚭ 1636 Wilhelm (Wolff) von Lüdinghausen called Wolff (* December 28, 1596; † July 26, 1647)
  • Wilhelm
  • Hyma Maria
  • Elisabeth
  • Friedrich Ludwig

In the funeral sermon of Anna von Schade there is talk of six sons and two daughters.

meaning

Dodo von Innhausen and Knyphausen was a typical war entrepreneur-mercenary leader of the early 17th century, albeit not on the much larger scale represented by mercenary army leaders such as Ernst von Mansfeld , Tilly or Wallenstein , and proved outstanding under the difficult conditions of his time and despite some setbacks organizational and logistical skills.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Diepenbrock, JB, History of the former Munster Office Meppen, Munster 1838
  2. ↑ United Westphalian Adelsarchive, Münster, deposit from Plettenberg zu Bamenohl, file 293
  3. ↑ Bernd Warlich: The Thirty Years' War in personal reports, chronicles and reports. Volkach. ( Online version ).
personal data
SURNAME Innhausen and Knyphausen, Dodo too
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Innhausen and Knyphausen, Dodo Freiherr too
BRIEF DESCRIPTION General in the Thirty Years War
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1583
PLACE OF BIRTH Lütetsburg
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1636
Place of death at Haselünne