Franz Adolf Prohaska von Guelfenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baron Prohaska von Guelfenburg in the uniform of a colonel of Hussar Regiment No. 5 "Graf Radetzky". Portrait of Pietro Benvenuti . Property and image rights: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien
The tunic of a captain-auditor of the Austro-Hungarian Army

Franz Adolf Prohaska , 1816 Baron Prohaska of Guelfenburg , (also Guelphenburg or Quelfenburg ) (* 19th May 1768 in Pisek ; † 20th August 1862 in Vienna ) was an Austrian nobleman and officer in the Napoleonic Wars .

He was the kk general of the cavalry , owner of kk infantry regiment No. 7 , second president of the court war council , knight of the military Maria Theresa order , knight of the papal order of Christ and the order of the holy grave , holder of the order of mura and other military awards.

Early years

Franz Prohaska studied law in Prague from 1785 to 1791. Meanwhile he entered the kk military justice system in 1789 and was assigned to the military auditorium. In this ratio he received his assignment in 1792 with the Ottocaner Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment No. 61 as a canton auditor. As early as 1794 he advanced to the rank of captain auditor and joined the Croatian-Slavonian Border Hussar Regiment No. 12. At that time, the unit fought against revolutionary France and its allies as part of the Imperial Army on the Upper Rhine ( First Coalition War ). This is where Prohaska first came into contact with combat operations. In 1797 he rescued the corps archives during a retreat and distinguished himself in such a way that he was approved to transfer to service with a weapon and at the same time renounce the captain's batch as first lieutenant in the border hussar regiment.

Napoleonic Wars

Now Prohaska was a troop officer and due to his outstanding entrepreneurship and prudence during the campaign in 1799 he was appointed Rittmeister at the beginning of 1800 . His behavior in the Third Coalition War of 1805, as well as the rapid acquisition of military knowledge, meant that Prohaska was shortly afterwards appointed by Archduke Karl to Vienna to work on new rules and regulations. Prohaska, who had been a major since 1807, was part of Archduke Karl's entourage, including during the 1809 campaign . In 1810, however, he entered service as a lieutenant colonel in the later Austro-Hungarian hussar regiment "Graf Radetzky" No. 5 and was considered one of the most famous members there. In 1812 he headed the regiment's war school.

Wars of Liberation

Franz Prohaska also took part in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 , which led to the reconquest of the former " Illyrian provinces " of France by Austria.

In view of the campaign in 1813, the occupation of Gurkfeld on August 19, the driving back of the French partly across the Sava , partly into their entrenchments at Ljubljana- Tschernutsch (Črnuče) on August 30, the successful attack on the enemy's right flank are memorable the Tschernutscher bridge on September 8; the attack at Kreutzen on September 16, which Prohaska recognized as necessary and which he successfully carried out despite his disproportionately small armed forces; the decisive participation in the storming of the bridgehead at Tschernutsch on September 25 and the rescue of the Starhemberg brigade near Rovigo on October 8. At that time Prohaska was already a colonel and regimental commander.

Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order

In the campaign of 1814 his first important act was linked to the day of Fiorenzuola, where on February 17th he made three main attacks with surprising agility to give way to the overpowering enemy. Thereupon he took part with great wisdom in all the delayed battles and on March 26th at the head of the regiment brought about the takeover of Pope Pius VII from French captivity (see “Takeover of Pope Pius VII”). On April 13th, however, he succeeded in gaining the military order of Maria Theresa again at Fiorenzuola by advancing to the Taro with the vanguard and the center column, even with the most violent fire , using the gun to destroy the enemy entrenchments left, crossed the river with his riders and the infantry clinging to the climbing straps, seized the flying bridge on the opposite bank and finally pushed the enemy under precarious, difficult conditions over Castel Guelfo (Guelfenburg), Alfeno and Fiorenzuola. Prohaska was not destined to take advantage of this success at the head of his troops, because on April 13th the Czako ( shako ) was shot through him by a cannonball, which resulted in a violent head infection. The shot through Czako (Tschako) by Prohaska is exhibited in the Army History Museum in Vienna.

After recovering from this, Prohaska came to Hungary as adjutant general, in 1815 in the capacity of adjutant general to Archduke Karl and, at his instigation, in 1816 as a staff officer assigned to the Justice Standard Commission of the Court War Council.

As a knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, he was entitled to the title of baron, which was awarded to him on July 2, 1816 by Emperor Franz I with the title "von Guelfenburg".

His influential work on the post in the court war council was followed in 1824 by his promotion to major general and advisor to the state military commission, in 1832 by his promotion to field marshal lieutenant and in 1835 by his appointment as second president of the court war council . In 1835 Franz Adolf Freiherr Prohaska von Guelfenburg became colonel-owner of the kk infantry regiment No. 7 . In 1840 he was appointed head of the military section in the State Council.

Takeover of Pope Pius VII.

One of the most outstanding episodes of Franz Adolf Baron Prohaska von Guelfenburg was the takeover of Pope Pius VII from the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte on March 25, 1814. On the night of July 5 to 6, 1809, Emperor Napoleon I had Pope Pius VII from Take Rome away and have it brought to Savona . The German bishops, including above all Prince Archbishop Sigismund Graf von Hohenwart in Vienna, tried to campaign for the liberation of the holy father, who had to repeatedly change the location of the prison. It was only when Napoleon felt the ground shake under his feet that on March 13, 1814, he ordered the Pope's detention to be lifted. After a regiment, consisting of Colonel Prohaska's outpost and regimental commander, Oberstwachtmeister Count Vinzenz Esterházy, Rittmeister Johann Horvath and regimental adjutant Andreas Lapartovics, swam through the initially swollen and rapid river Taro , Pope Pius VII took over at the post on the other side of General Rambourg and by means of the At this point in time, arrangements had been made to translate the Pope across the river. Oberstwachtmeister von Oppitz took over the Holy Father in Parma and escorted him with two escadrons to Rome, where Oppitz served for some time. Pope Pius VII awarded Colonel Prohaska and Major Oppitz the Order of Christ in recognition . When Prohaska later came to Rome himself, Pius gave him the relics of the holy martyr Victorius, which had been lifted from the catacombs of St. Priscilla by order of the Pope . Prohaska brought the precious gift to Vienna and initially had it installed in the reliquary of St. Stephen's Cathedral . In 1840 he decided to give the relics to the Sisters of Mercy from Vienna- Gumpendorf , for which he had an elaborate version made. The bones were buried in the chapel under the high altar canteen. In a bomb attack in November 1944, the reliquary was badly damaged, the relic itself remained intact and was reburied in a glass shrine. In 1998 the authenticity of the relic was checked and confirmed by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn , Archbishop of Vienna. The glass shrine was then closed again and given the archbishop's seal. In October 2016 the relic was handed over by the Sisters of Mercy to the parish of Klein-Mariazell , where it is placed in the basilica on the side altar dedicated to St. Scholastilka. In July 1814 Pope Pius VII gave the Austro-Hungarian hussar regiment "Count Radetzky" No. 5 , to which Prohaska belonged at the time, a richly embroidered standard, which was blessed by the Pope himself on June 28th in the castle chapel of Castelgandolfo . Rittmeister Andreas Barttofy brought the standard to the regiment together with a papal bulla.

retirement

It was not until 1849 that Prohaska retired as a general of the cavalry.

Adolf Leopold Karl Freiherr Stadler-Prohaska von Guelfenburg

How much he appreciated the achievements of his subordinates is shown by the telegram that was sent to his infantry regiment on the day of his death, which read: "To my beloved, brave regiment, which adorned my name with so many victory leaves, I am now at the end of my life. My heartfelt thanks and warm regards. ”Prohaska had his servants and relatives called together and said goodbye, turned to the wall and fell asleep. At his own request he was dissected, embalmed and, with a military character, taken from house no. 6 in Alservorstadt, Hauptstrasse, to the parish church of the Most Holy Trinity. There he was consecrated and then buried at the Währing cemetery. In 1874, the Währinger Friedhof was closed, in 1923 it was completely dissolved and transformed into today's Schubert Park . Allegedly, his bones should be transferred to the central cemetery to be buried in a grave of honor. However, nothing is known about the overpass and the honorary grave. His final resting place remains unknown to us today.

On October 30, 1805, Colonel Freiherr von Ettingshausen wrote in a “Conduite” description by the then Rittmeister Prohaska: “Working with head and heart in front of the enemy, he does the best and earns himself the honor and satisfaction of his superiors every day. His pen is beautiful, flush and comprehensive. He speaks German, Latin, French, Croatian, a little Italian and Hungarian. "

Franz Adolf Freiherr Prohaska von Guelfenburg was childless. On February 5, 1862, shortly before his death, he adopted his adjutant, Imperial and Royal Captain 1st Class, Adolf Leopold Karl Stadler, who lived with his great niece Hubertine, nee. Wagner, was married and turned to the emperor with a request to transfer the status of baron, title and coat of arms to his adoptive son Adolf Stadler-Prohaska. The emperor granted this request and ordered by means of a nobility diploma that all legitimate descendants of both sexes should bear the baron status, title and coat of arms.

His descendants now live mainly in the greater Vienna and Salzburg area under the names Guelfenburg, Stadler and Stadler-Guelfenburg.

coat of arms

Coat of arms of Baron Stadler-Prohaska von Guelfenburg. Noble diploma from 1862

Split, in front, from the right edge of the shield from the green spruce forest, black boar bursting inward, in gold; behind, under the blue head of the shield covered with the crossed gold binding and silver loosening key, a tinned castle with a round tower and black gate and windows on a green floor; Baron's crown on a crowned helmet with black and gold covers on the right and blue and silver covers on the left. Jewel: an arm in blue, curved at the elbow with a golden cuff, in the bare hand a golden feathered arrow pointing horizontally with the point on the right.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Prohaska von Guelfenburg, Franz Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prohaska von Guelfenburg, Franz Adolf Freiherr; Prohaska, Franz Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian nobleman and officer
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1768
PLACE OF BIRTH Písek
DATE OF DEATH August 20, 1862
Place of death Vienna