Ferdinand Amadeus von Harrsch

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Ferdinand Amadeus Baron Harrsch (* 1664 or 05/12/1661 in Abtsgmünd-Neubronn ; † 5. April 1722 in Margarethen am Moos, today Enzersdorf an der Fischa ) was an imperial regiment quartermaster and generalfeldwachtmeister and in that capacity from 1706 Governor of Freiburg . As a fortress commander towards the end of the War of the Spanish Succession from September 22 to November 1, 1713, he initially defended the city ​​fortress and mountain fortress against the French siege army under General Louis Hector de Villars and, after retreating into the castles, the fortifications until the surrender was confirmed on November 17 on the Schlossberg.

Ferdinand Amadeus Freiherr von Harrsch

Life

Military career

Harrsch, born in Abtsgmünd-Neubronn in 1664 or December 5, 1661 , initially studied, but at sixteen he was drawn to arms. Initially he served with the Swiss in France , but impressed by the relief of Vienna on September 3, 1683 from the Turkish siege and seeking adventure, he then fought as a volunteer on the imperial side in Hungary. In 1686 he served as ensign to the Duke of Württemberg , who left Harrsch's regiment to the Republic of Venice. So he fought against the Turks in the Battle of Patras and besieged Corinth and Athens . He was badly wounded during the siege of Euboea in 1688. After his recovery, Harrsch commanded a unit of the Rhine Army as quartermaster. His General Hereditary Prince Ludwig von Baden , impressed by Harrsch's abilities, made him Quartermaster General , when he won over the Palatine War of Succession with his logistical achievements. After the Peace of Rijswijk , Harrsch traveled to Persia and Constantinople and then married Maria Cäcilia von Pozzo, the daughter of an imperial officer.

With the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Harrsch again served Ludwig von Baden as quartermaster and general field sergeant. In the Battle of Cassano in 1705 his unit defeated the left wing of the French decisively. In 1707 Harrsch took over the post of fortress commander in Freiburg. After the French under Marshal Louis-Hector de Villars had conquered Landau in August 1713, Harrsch had the field of fire cleared around the city in view of the threat of attack: “The buildings in front of the glacis, including the newly built parish church of Wiehre, were blown up and leveled. "

Siege of Freiburg

On September 22, 1713, a French army under Villars surrounded Freiburg. Prince Eugen , commander of the Reich troops, had ordered Harrsch “that he should defend himself to the last extremity . Hold on: With God's help I will never lose the city other than through a storm, but then it should only really start in the two castles, wherever I and my garrison have to be blown out piece by piece with mines ”. In the city, Harrsch had only limited supplies and therefore ordered that the breadless housekeeping laden with Weyb and children be removed . “The attack on the city was opened on the 29th with 60 battalions; at the same time 40 battalions attacked the upper castle. Villars had its headquarters in Zahringen. The attacks by the besieged were numerous and very violent, though on the whole of little importance. The town and castle had only twelve pieces of usable artillery with which they could respond to the eight and forty cannons and ten mortars of the enemy listed since October 10th ”.

On November 1st, Harrsch called the various civil interest groups together and informed them that he had decided to withdraw to the castles due to the difficult situation. Although the representatives requested surrender several times, Harrsch firmly refused such a surrender; instead, a letter should be sent to Villars requesting that he refrain from looting. Around 10 a.m., Harrsch went to the lower castle with around 1,000 soldiers, leaving 500 soldiers behind in the city to cover their escape. After they had withdrawn, they began looting, which caused panic among the residents of Freiburg: “In this situation, Franz Ferdinand Mayer took the initiative, got the two white flags from the town hall with the sculptor Norbert Wüst , and went to one of the bastions in the west of the City ... and planted the flags there. ”“ After the city was handed over, the marshal sent his general = major of the infantry, de Contades, with two other generals, to the FML Harrsch in the lower castle, and let him know that, because If Harrsch had not made a proper capitulation for the city, he would have all of the officers' wives, the sick and the wounded, left behind, laid for him on the countercarpe of the castle. On the same evening he offered a capitulation, but it was not accepted ”.

When Prince Eugen's order to surrender arrived on November 16, “on the same day the capitulation was signed, and on the 17th part of the fortifications of the castles was occupied by the French - 867 sick and wounded remained in the city under imperial cover ; the remaining number of the long and heavily besieged garrison, over 5,000 men, marched out of the fortress on the 20th in the largest parade, with flying flags, sounding games and burning fuses, with four loaded cannons and two mortars. "

"The Marshal Duke of Villars, who, according to his own statement, lost 15,000 dead and wounded in front of the walls of Freiburg, the Princes of Bourbon and Conty , the entire French generals, awaited this group of heroes not far from the preacher's door, and were eager to compete, to show the highest respect to their brave enemies. "

Honor and death

"Emperor Carl VI. proved how satisfied he was with the conduct of the governor during this siege, when he (July 17, 1714) elevated Harrsch to the rank of count, reaffirmed him in his governorate, and appointed him field warden. ”So move on to peace Rastatt , in which Freiburg was restituted , on January 18, 1715, to the great jubilation of the Freiburg population, Austrian troops under the command of the now Count Harrsch returned to the city. Harrsch bought the Margarethen am Moos estate in Lower Austria as his retirement home, where he died of a fever on Easter Sunday 1722. In Freiburg Cathedral an epitaph remembers him.

progeny

The Austrian general Ferdinand Philipp von Harsch (1704–1792) was his son.

literature

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand Amadeus von Harrsch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Peter Kalchthaler: Freiburg ways . 1st edition. tape 2 . Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, p. 62-65 .
  2. ↑ cf. Baden-Württemberg state bibliography online statistik.baden-wuerttemberg.de
  3. ↑ Peter P. Albert : Obristwachtmeister von Rehlingen of the Leonidas of Freiburg during the storm of the French on October 14, 1713 . In: Journal of the Society for the Promotion of History, Antiquity and Folklore 36, 1920, p. 68.
  4. ↑ Heiko Haumann , Hans Schadek (ed.): History of the City of Freiburg , Volume 2. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, p. 177.
  5. ↑ Schreiber p. 41.
  6. ↑ Feuchtersleben p. 217.
  7. ↑ Feuchtersleben p. 218.
  8. ↑ Feuchtersleben p. 219.
  9. ↑ v. Janko:  Harsch, Ferdinand Philipp Graf v. H. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 643.
personal data
SURNAME Harrsch, Ferdinand Amadeus from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harrsch, Ferdinand Amadeus Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Regimental Quartermaster and Field Sergeant General
DATE OF BIRTH 1664
PLACE OF BIRTH Abtsgmünd-Neubronn
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1722
Place of death Margarethen am Moos today Enzersdorf an der Fischa