Franz Ludwig von Thürheim

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Franz Ludwig Reichsgraf von Thürheim (born June 27, 1710 , † June 10, 1782 in Vienna ) was an imperial field marshal and kk chamberlain from the Thürheim family .

biography

Siege map of Schweidnitz 1758
Theresian Military Academy before 1870
Magdeburg Fortress

The son of Count Franz Sebastian of Thürheim (* February 2, 1665; † April 10, 1726), who was appointed Field Marshal of the hereditary lands of the House of Austria on May 3, 1717 occurred early in the army, was in 1731 captain and 1733/34 sergeant major . 1737–1739 he fought in the Turkish Wars.

After the infantry regiment Wallis No. 59, in which the officer served at that time - after separate deployments in Serbia and Wallachia - had reunited in Transylvania and remained until spring 1738, a battalion occupied Cluj- Napoca and two battalions united with the grenadiers however, with the main army at Caransebeş . With this they took part in the battle of Kornia on July 4th of that year and in the capture of Mehadia on July 9th . Thürheim then advanced to the position of colonel and commander of this regiment.

The count rose during his use in the War of the Austrian Succession in the period from 1741 to 1745, where he fought on the Rhine, in Bohemia and Bavaria, was wounded in the battle of Chotusitz on May 17, 1742, then in the meeting near Braunau on May 4. July 1743 especially distinguished, on January 22, 1744 to the general field sergeant .

From 1751 to 1752 the officer was the fortress commander of Timisoara and was then promoted to field marshal lieutenant on July 25, 1752 and in 1753 to commander of the newly founded military academy in Wiener Neustadt .

In the Seven Years' War , in which he participated as General Feldzeugmeister (rank of September 2, 1757) and owner of Infantry Regiment No. 25, he was taken prisoner in Prussia in 1758, which he spent in the Magdeburg Fortress until 1762 : after the Schweidnitz Fortress after the surrender of the Prussian commander Philipp Loth von Seers had fallen into Austrian hands on November 12, 1757, Thürheim was used as the commandant of an 8,000-strong garrison. He quickly tried to restore and approve the fortress, knowing full well that a Prussian siege was to be expected. This began on March 15, 1758. Against the numerically and armed forces superior Prussians, the general was able to oppose with his defensive measures for a month. But after losing his main fort, the general was forced to negotiate and surrender to the Prussian Lieutenant General Joachim Christian von Tresckow . The capitulation was signed on April 15, 1758. He was then allowed to go out with flying colors three days later and had to surrender prisoner with 5000 men.

In 1763 he became governor of the fortress of Luxembourg and on May 1, 1773, the emperor and empress honored him with the title of captain of the kk satellite and life guard on foot. Finally, he was promoted to Imperial Field Marshal on March 18, 1778 (rank of June 1, 1766).

Thürheim remained single and childless.

coat of arms

Coat of arms of the Counts of Thürheim

1666: Squared shield with a black central shield, which is covered with a crown of thorns and in which there is a silver portal with 3 steps, which has 10 windows and a round gate surrounded by black grooved blocks. 1. In the silver field in the two lower corners there is a black piece of ashlar, over which a third is located. 2. and 3. 3 silver roses placed diagonally in the red field. 4. In the black field a silver unicorn jumping up on the right. The count's crown rests on the shield. Four crowned helmets float above her. The first is covered with the crown of thorns of the central shield, behind which is a black standard, in the flag of which the portal of the central shield is repeated. On the crown of the second helmet, the silver unicorn of the 4th field shows itself growing. On the third helmet are the 3 ashlar pieces of the first field in front of a silver open flight. A red open flight rises on the fourth, each wing of which is covered with 3 silver roses. The helmet covers are right, black and silver, left, red and silver.

Luxembourg Fortress

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial Generals (1618-1815) , Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano 2006, p. 101.
  2. ^ Rudolf Vierhaus (ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia. 10th volume, Thies-Zykan, KG Saur Verlag, Munich 2008, p. 23.
  3. ↑ Walter Killy (Ed.): Dictionary of German Biography. Volume 10: Thibaut - Zycha. KG Saur Verlag, Munich 2006, p. 28.
  4. ↑ Anton Leiler: History of the Imperial Infantry Regiment Archduke Rainer No. 59. Zaurinth'sche Buchdruckerei, Salzburg 1856, p. 15.
  5. ↑ austria-forum.org
  6. ↑ E. v. St .: On the Säcular memorial of 1758 - the campaign in Moravia, or the siege and relief of Olomouc. JD Sauerländer's Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1858, p. 224.
  7. ↑ Military schematism of the Austrian Empire. KK Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1862, p. 182.
  8. ↑ Hero, state and life history of the most illustrious etc. King in Prussia. 7th part, Frankfurth / Leipzig 1764, p. 524.
  9. ^ Friedrich Christoph Jonathan Fischer: History of Frederick the Second King of Prussia. Volume 2, Verlag Friedrich Daniel Francke, Halle 1787, p. 10 f.
  10. ^ Franz AJ Szabo: The Seven Years War in Europe: 1756–1763. Taylor & Francis Verlag, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-582-29272-7 , pp. 136 ff.
  11. ^ Wienerisches Diarium. No. 35, May 1, 1773, p. 5.
  12. ↑ Martin Carl Wilhelm von Wölckern on Kalchreuth: Descriptions of all coats of arms of the princely, counts, baronial and aristocratic families now living in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Volume 2, Hofagent Tyroff'sche Kunstverlagshandlung, Nuremberg 1827, p. 60, no. 30.


personal data
SURNAME Thürheim, Franz Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thürheim, Franz Ludwig Reichsgraf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian field marshal
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1710
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1782
Place of death Vienna