Ernst von Blankenstein

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Ernst Paul Christian Count von Blankenstein

Count Ernst Paul Christian von Blankenstein (born June 18, 1733 in Reinsdorf , † June 12, 1816 in Battelau ) was an imperial and from 1804 k. k. Privy councilor and chamberlain as well as imperial general of the cavalry and owner of Cavalry Regiment No. 16, later (1798) Hussar Regiment No. 6 .

origin

The Blankenstein family, probably from the Rhine region, is one of the oldest in the German-speaking area and has many branches. A Blankenstein had already handed out the tournament prizes in Worms in 939 . At a tournament held in Costnitz (Konstanz) in 948 , a baron von Blankenstein was admitted. Almost all male members of this family were distinguished by fame acquired in combat as officers.

The branch of the Counts of Blankenstein comes from the Saxon Kurkreis , which, according to the Saxon Provincial Archives of Magdeburg, appeared for the first time in 1313 with Conradus miles de Blankenstein and spread to Lower Lusatia , Silesia and later to Moravia and Hungary , where the family has been since appeared in the 17th century. The family line begins with Hans von Blanckenstein, († 1484), Herr auf Liebsen , Hermsdorf , Nieder-Schreibersdorf and Zeipe.

Ernst's father had eight sons. Four, including him and his brother Christoph, entered Austrian and four into Saxon services. Three fell in the field of honor in the service of the fatherland. Of the four Austrian officers, his brother Christoph Heinrich (* June 2, 1744, † March 5, 1827) also earned a reputation as major general .

biography

Battle at Maxen
Luxembourg, Fort Thüngen

Blankenstein began his military career under the aegis of the imperial cavalry general Friedrich Hannibal Freiherr von Schmertzing (1693–1762), who had come to know and appreciate him on a trip. He employed him as a cornet with the 7th Cuirassier Regiment, which bears his name . In the battles near Kolin , Breslau , Hochkirch , Maxen and Troppau he distinguished himself so much that he quickly advanced to lieutenant , captain and 1758 squadron commander beyond his rank. In 1763 he became Oberstwachtmeister , 1767 Lieutenant Colonel , a year later Colonel and regimental commander in the Bettony Dragoon Regiment . In between he had been appointed imperial real chamberlain in 1764, then still a baron .

On May 16, 1771, Empress Maria Theresa promoted him to Sergeant General. In the War of the Bavarian Succession, the officer commanded the vanguard of d'Alton's army division in the Giant Mountains . It was he who attacked the Prussians under the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick in the forest behind the so-called three houses and inflicted a considerable defeat on them.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Turkish War, he was promoted to field marshal lieutenant on February 14, 1786 . Blankenstein took part in this war with the Croatian-Slavonian army division and repeatedly distinguished himself in the same from Berbir and Belgrade. During the French war he commanded an army detachment of 9  battalions and 14 squadrons near Trier (1793), with which he covered the Moselle and was the base of the left wing of the large army. At the end of September he made an attack on Thiouville and Saarlouis in order to support Field Marshal Coburg's venture on Maubeuge .

The general had taken in two nephews from Saxony. Both took part in all campaigns, including the one against Russia, and stood out everywhere. Him and his brother Johann Georg Ludwig sons Ludwig Heinrich, and Christian Friedrich Ferdinand was the Hungarian by law-Article XXI of 1792 Indigenat with Baronat granted.

On May 21, 1794 (with rank of June 2 of the year) he was promoted to general of the cavalry . Meanwhile the danger around Trier increased considerably; finally it had to be given up. As a result of numerous skirmishes, and because the garrison of Luxemburg had to be reinforced from the troops of the corps under Blankenstein's command, his army division had sunk to 6,000 men; he now took over the cavalry and grenadier corps in the main army on the Meuse under Field Marshal Clerfaits supreme command, and took part in the tactical movements for the reconquest of Trier, the advance against Kaiserslautern , and the victory over the enemy and his retreat on Pirmasens . Weak health and advanced age compelled the count to retire from service in the field.

On May 7, 1796, the officer and his two nephews were granted the hereditary-Austrian count status with "high and well-born" by Emperor Franz II on May 7, 1796 in Vienna , then the Bohemian incolate on May 21, 1796 there.

The old count sold his father's goods in Saxony and bought the Battelau and Hobitschau estates in Moravia. The officer, who was very popular with the soldiers because of his sense of justice, died on the former. At his death he was single and childless, his two nephews mentioned above continued the sex, each donating a line.

The family of Count Ernst von Blankenstein must not be confused with the same name, which is also located in Silesian (Oelsnischen). They also have completely different coats of arms.

The children's song of the "Blankenstein Hussar" goes back to Blankenstein.

Coat of arms of the Counts of Blankenstein 1796

coat of arms

1796: Eight silver alarm clocks in three rows, 2, 4 and 2, in the red shield. The shield is covered by a count's crown, on which rises a crowned helmet on which three ostrich feathers stand, the outer one red, the middle one silver. The shield is surrounded by a red, white-lined cloak, and the former is held by a hussar on the right and a natural lion on the left. Both sign holders stand on a flying band with the motto: "Fortitudo, Fides, Prudentia".

literature

  • Gothaisches Genealogical Pocket Book of the Count's Houses, Part A, 115th year. Justus Perthes publishing house, Gotha 1942.
  • Otto Titan von Hefner : Register of the flourishing and dead nobility in Germany, volume 1. Verlag Georg Joseph Manz, Regensburg 1860, p.131.
  • Johann Ritter von Rittersberg: Biographies of the most distinguished deceased and living generals of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Army from the period of the campaigns 1788–1821. Verlag CW Enders, Prague 1828, pp. 114ff.
  • Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial and Royal Generals (1618-1815). Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano, 2006.
  • Constantin von Wurzbach : Blankenstein, Ernst Graf von . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 1st part. University book printer L. C. Zamarski (formerly JP Sollinger), Vienna 1856, p. 425 f. ( Digitized version ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Constant von Wurzbach: Biographical Lexicon of the Austrian Empire, 1st part. Verlag der Universitätsbuchdruckerei LC Zamarski, Vienna 1856, p. 425 f.
  2. ↑ a b Gothaisches Genealogical Pocket Book of the Count's Houses, Part A, Volume 115, Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha 1942, p. 87.
  3. ^ A b Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and imperial generals (1618-1815). Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano, 2006, p. 12.
  4. ^ Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial Generals (1618-1815). Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano 2006, p. 90.
  5. ↑ From a former cavalry officer: The cavalry regiments of the kk Austrian army, Volume 3 (Die Uhlanen), FB Geitler's Verlagbuchhandlung, Vienna 1863, p. 217 f.
  6. ^ Georg Hassel: General European State u. Address manual for the year 1816, 1st volume, 2nd section, Verlag des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs, Weimar 1816, p. 9.
  7. ↑ Jaromir Hirtenfeld , Hermann Meynert (ed.): Österreichisches Militär-Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 1, Verlag Carl Gerold and Son, Vienna 1851, p. 426.
  8. ^ Leopold Freiherr von Zedlitz-Neukirch: New Prussian Adels Lexicon: or genealogical and diplomatic news, Volume 1, Verlag Gebrüder Reichenbach, Leipzig 1836, p. 250 ff.
  9. ↑ Johann Ritter von Rittersberg: Biographies of the most distinguished deceased and living generals of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Army from the period of the campaigns 1788–1821. Verlag CW Enders, Prague 1828, p. 114 ff.
  10. ↑ Otto Titan v. Hefner: Register of the thriving and dead nobility in Germany, Volume 1, Verlag Georg Joseph Manz, Regensburg 1860, p. 131.
  11. ^ Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: German count houses of the present: in heraldic, historical and genealogical relation, 1st volume A – K. Publisher TO Weigel, Leipzig 1852, p. 89.
personal data
SURNAME Blankenstein, Ernst von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blankenstein, Ernst Paul Christian von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1733
PLACE OF BIRTH Reinsdorf
DATE OF DEATH June 12, 1816
Place of death Battelau