Eugene of Württemberg (1788-1857)

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Eugen von Württemberg, painting by George Dawe
His place of birth: Oels Castle in Lower Silesia
His place of death: Carlsruhe Castle in Upper Silesia

Eugen Friedrich Karl Paul Ludwig von Württemberg (born January 8, 1788 in Oels , † September 16, 1857 in Bad Carlsruhe ) was a Prince of Württemberg and Imperial Russian General of the Infantry .

Life

Eugen was born as the first child of the Prussian general Eugen Friedrich Heinrich von Württemberg (1758-1822) and his wife Luise zu Stolberg-Gedern (1764-1834) .

His father's sister was Tsarina Maria Feodorovna , who had lived in Russia since 1776. As a child, Eugen followed her to the court of the tsars. After years as a cadet in Saint Petersburg, he began a steep career in the Russian army. The murder of his uncle Paul I first interrupted military service in 1802. He was further educated in Silesia by Ludwig von Woliehen . But after a few years he was reactivated and in 1805 was already major general. He took part in the campaigns from 1806 to 1807 in East Prussia against France and in 1810 in Turkey.

With the outbreak of war in 1812, Prince Eugen's historical role as a military leader in the Wars of Liberation began . He was promoted to lieutenant general on the battlefield of Smolensk . He was division commander in the Russian Western Army under Barclay de Tolly . He distinguished himself at Borodino , at the attack of Tarutino , at Krasnoye and at Kalisch . In the battles at Walutino (August 19, 1812) and Kulm (August 29, 1813) he and his troops had to endure desperate defensive battles against the French troops. After the Battle of Bautzen on May 20 and 21, 1813, he successfully covered the withdrawal of the Allied troops at the Battle of Reichenbach and Markersdorf .

Herzog-Eugen-von-Württemberg monument in Krietzschwitz

In Pirna - Krietzschwitz , a memorial with the words "Duke Eugen von Württemberg fought victoriously against Vandamme here on August 26, 1813" commemorates his successful operation between the battles near Dresden and Kulm .

In the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig he opened the main battles of October 16, 1813 with his attack on Wachau. The decisive factor was his endurance near Wachau with terrible losses together with the Prussian II Corps under Kleist . On this day there was the danger that Napoleon would have pierced the thin line of battle of the allies in the south of Leipzig and thus have given the Battle of Nations a different outcome.

The city of Leipzig honored him by naming a Prinz-Eugen-Strasse.

He also took part in various battles in the campaign of 1814 in France . In the campaign against the Turks in 1828 he commanded the 7th Army Corps. Eugen was released from active service in 1829 and then lived mostly on the Carlsruhe estate in Silesia, which he had owned since his father's death in 1822.

From 1820 until his death, Duke Eugen was a member of the First Chamber of the Württemberg states . However, he never appeared in person at the meetings, but was represented.

Eugen von Württemberg was also very interested in music. He was acquainted with Carl Maria von Weber , who was his father's music director from 1806–1807. In addition to many songs, he himself composed a few operas, of which “Die Geisterbraut” achieved a certain fame. Because of the high expenditure on the stage equipment, the opera was only performed a few times in Breslau and Stuttgart. However, the score was printed so that the music has been preserved.

Eugen von Württemberg wrote books about his life and his military successes (see own works).

Marriages and offspring

Carl Rothe: Mathilde von Württemberg with her children Marie and Eugen Wilhelm

In 1817 Eugen married Princess Mathilde zu Waldeck and Pyrmont (1801-1825), daughter of Prince Georg I of Waldeck and Pyrmont . The marriage has three children:

After his first wife died in her third childbirth, he married Princess Helene zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1807–1880), daughter of Prince Karl Ludwig zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg , in 1827 . They had four children:

Fonts

  • Memoirs of Duke Eugene of Württemberg. Gustav Harnecker & Co, Frankfurt / Oder 1862, 3 volumes - Online Volume 1 , Volume 2 , Volume 3
  • The campaigns of 1806 and 1807 in Poland and Prussia: by an eyewitness in the Imperial Russian army. Austrian military magazine, 1842, 7. u. No. 8, pp. 3-28, 115-140.
  • Memories from the 1812 campaign in Russia. Grass, Barth & Co., Breslau 1846.

literature

  • Freiherr von Helldorf (ed.): From the life of the Imperial Russian General of the Infantry Prince Eugene of Württemberg. From his personal notes as well as from the written estate of his adjutants. Gustav Hempel, Berlin 1862, 4 volumes - Online Volume 1
  • Meinrad Ow: Duke Eugen von Württemberg: Imperial Russian General of the Infantry 1788–1857. Kurt Vowinckel, Berg am Starnberger See 2000.
  • Franz Ilwof :  Eugen, Duke of Württemberg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 48, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, pp. 437-448.
  • Sönke Lorenz (Ed.): The House of Württemberg. A biographical lexicon. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-17-013605-4 , pp. 365-367.
  • Jürgen W. Schmidt: Ludwig von Wolzüge, Duke Eugen von Württemberg and the memorandum on the defense against a Russian sea landing in East Prussia. in: German Shipping Archive. Vol. 31 (2008) pp. 289-303.
  • Frank Raberg : Biographical handbook of the Württemberg state parliament members 1815-1933 . On behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-17-016604-2 , p. 1041 .

Web links

Commons : Eugen von Württemberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gina Klank, Gernot Griebsch: Lexicon of Leipzig street names. Verlag im Wissenschaftszentrum, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-930433-09-5 , p. 172.
  2. ↑ Württemberg State Library Stuttgart
personal data
SURNAME Württemberg, Eugen von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Württemberg, Eugen Friedrich Karl Paul Ludwig von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Württemberg and Russian general
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Oils
DATE OF DEATH September 16, 1857
Place of death Bad Carlsruhe