Felix von Schumacher

General Felix von Schumacher

Felix von Schumacher (born July 14, 1814 in Lucerne ; † October 19, 1894 ibid) comes from the Lucerne patrician family of the same name, Schumacher . He was general in Naples-Sicily, adjutant to King Ferdinand II , advisor to his sons Franz II and Count Trani and Caserta and protector of the young Queen Marie Sophie of Naples ( Marie in Bavaria ), sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria . In 1858 he was raised to the Neapolitan nobility.

The treaty with Naples

Felix von Schumacher's father, Joseph Anton Schumacher , had negotiated the Swiss military contract for four regiments with Naples in 1825 as a member of the government and military director of Lucerne. They were supposed to form the core of the Neapolitan army. Joseph Anton Schumacher was previously an officer in the French Swiss Guard of King Louis XVI. and son-in-law of Jost Dürler , who commanded the Guard in the Tuileries on August 10, 1792.

The 1st Swiss Regiment

The 1st Swiss regiment consisted of Lucerne, Nidwaldern, Urner and Innerrhodenern. Many relatives of the family also served here, such as Max Alphons Pfyffer von Altishofen , who would later become the Swiss Chief of Staff and initiator of the Gotthard fortifications and builder of the Belle Époque Grand Hotel National in Lucerne, or General Ludwig von Sonnenberg, who had participated in Napoleon's campaigns. Many other relatives also served in this regiment, including a. Commander Heinrich Schumacher and his brother-in-law Oberst Brigadier Walter am Rhyn, who rented his country estate in Lucerne to Richard Wagner , or brother-in-law Georg Pfyffer von Heidegg, whose son was educator of the Princes of Bourbon-Caserta and private secretary to Queen Victoria and King Edward VII .

Campaign in Naples

In 1833 Felix von Schumacher also began his career in the regiment. Soon he was transferred to the general staff and to the staff of King Ferdinand II. As its adjutant, he traveled to Europe and bought weapons for the Neapolitan army. In between he took part in the general staff preparations for the Sonderbund War in Switzerland . After that he fought in the streets of Naples. He then went into the field against Garibaldi and the Piedmontese and was involved in the reconquest of Rome for the Pope and in the campaign to Sicily. In 1861 he headed the defense of Gaeta , in whose protection Pope Pius IX was already active during the revolution . and Leopold II (Tuscany) , Grand Duke of Tuscany . A painting by Carl Theodor von Piloty in Bad Kreuth shows Felix von Schumacher and Alphons Pfyffer von Altishofen with Queen Marie Sophie on the ramparts of the fortress of Gaeta. After their fall in 1861, he accompanied the royal family into exile in Rome.

Queen Marie Sophie accompanied by General von Schumacher and his adjutant Alphons Pfyffer von Altishofen during the siege of Gatea. Her red scarf and her spurred boots, which she wore during the siege, are now in the possession of the Schumacher family in Lucerne, along with other memories.

Back in Lucerne

In Lucerne, General von Schumacher was a member of the board of directors of various companies and promoted the shooting industry. He was in contact with Duke Max in Bavaria and Prince Luitpold of Bavaria as well as with King Albert of Saxony . He also accompanied King Wilhelm of Prussia to the cure in Bad Ems, where he witnessed the Ems dispatch . He was also invited to his wedding in Sigmaringen in 1889, where Wilhelm von Hohenzollern married Count Trani's daughter and where he met Kaiser Wilhelm II . When Count Girgenti died in Lucerne (Hotel National), he organized and accompanied his transfer to Madrid in 1877 on behalf of Princess Isabella of Asturias, where he was received by the King. Count Trapani also took advice from him, his wife, Isabella of Austria , also died in Lucerne in 1901. In Lucerne, Felix von Schumacher had contact with Richard Wagner , who was his neighbor and lived in the country estate of Colonel Walter am Rhyn, who had also been an officer in Naples.

marriage and family

When Marie Sophie left her husband in exile, it was her sister Elisabeth and General von Schumacher who persuaded her to return to her husband and to take care of her illegitimate child by a Belgian count. Felix von Schumacher's wife was also Belgian. Likewise, his sons, Felix and Edmund , were in the service of the Belgian king. They were both high officers in Switzerland themselves and served the state as mayors and councilors of states. One daughter married the Lucerne steel industrialist Ludwig von Moos, whose family also had officers in Naples.

swell

• Family files, Lucerne State Archives (StALU, FamA): Schumacher-Schönbühl's private archive. (PA 639).

literature

• Th. Von Liebenau: General Felix von Schumacher . Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 1894.
• F. von Schumacher: Luisa . Lucerne 1983.
• R. Schumacher: Short biographies of some representatives of the Lucerne patrician Schumacher family . Central and University Library, Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2010.
• R. Schumacher: The Lucerne patrician family Schumacher . Central and University Library, Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2010.
• R. Schumacher: Gentlemen's portraits of the Lucerne patrician Schumacher family . Central and University Library, Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2005.

Web links

• Peter Müller-Grieshaber: Schumacher, Felix von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .