Franz zur Lippe-Biesterfeld-Weißenfeld

Franz zur Lippe-Biesterfeld-Weißenfeld (born September 17, 1820 in Teichnitz , † July 26, 1880 in Döberkitz ) was a Saxon general of the cavalry .

Life

origin

Franz came from the Lippe-Weißenfeld line of the Lippe family . His parents were Christian zur Lippe-Biesterfeld-Weißenfeld (1777-1859) and his first wife Friederike, née Countess von Hohenthal (1790-1827), a daughter of the Minister Peter Carl Wilhelm von Hohenthal .

Military career

He entered 1839 in the Guard Riders Regiment of the Saxon army , in 1847 as a lieutenant placed in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 1849 brigade adjutant, 1851 Captain , in 1856 returned to his original Regiment, 1857 personal adjutant of the Crown Prince Albert , 1860 Major, joined in 1862, again as guard rider, returned to the front, in 1865 moved up to colonel and commander of the regiment. During the German War , commanded the Guard, which did not take an active part in combat, but left the battlefield of Königgrätz in an impeccable manner .

He became major general and brigade commander in the reorganization of the army after the war of 1866 and commander of the cavalry division in 1869. In this position he took part in the war against France during the campaign in 1870 . He attended the Battle of Gravelotte on August 18, as well as the fighting that preceded the Battle of Sedan . and was dispatched north , soon after the German armies entered the line of enclosure of Paris , to cover the rear of the Meuse Army belonging to this army, and to take all measures necessary to pacify the area and to build magazines . The task set for him, for the fulfillment of which, besides the cavalry division, troops of other branches of arms were subordinate to him in varying strengths, he successfully solved under difficult circumstances until he joined their movements after the arrival of the Northern Army in this part of the theater of war, and without theirs Commander, General von Manteuffel , and his successor, General von Goeben , to be expressly subordinate to them, actively supported them in all their undertakings. To do this, he was given a special opportunity on January 19, 1871 at the Battle of Saint-Quentin . He commanded 3 battalions, 11 squadrons and 15 artillery pieces on the far right wing . The way in which he did it is hinted at by Goeben in a letter to his wife with the words: "General Graf Lippe, who did an excellent job". On March 27, 1871, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry and the Iron Cross 1st Class for his work. In 1874 he retired with the character as a cavalry general the service and died on July 26, 1880 Döberkitz at Lausitz.

family

He married Marie Sophie Freiin von Beschwitz (1836–1921) in Dresden on May 11, 1859 . The couple had several children:

• Clemens (1860–1920), from February 28, 1916 Prince zur Lippe-Weissenfeld ⚭ 1901 Friederike Freiin von Carlowitz (1878–1942)
• Alfred (1865-1937)
• Ernst (1870–1914), killed in the Battle of the Masurian Lakes near Goldap ⚭ November 21, 1911 Princess Anna zu Ysenburg-Büdingen in Büdingen (1886–1980), from February 28, 1916 Princess zur Lippe-Weißenfeld, daughter of Bruno zu Ysenburg and Büdingen , then marry Leopold IV. (Lippe)
• Margarethe (1861–1937) ⚭ June 22, 1882 Curt Graf Zedtwitz von Moraván and Duppau (1849–1933)
• Friederike (1862–1864)
• Elisabeth (1868–1952) ⚭ May 12, 1890 Prince Wilhelm von Hanau, Graf von Schaumburg (1836–1902)
• Sophie (1876–1949) ⚭ 1902 Count Adolf von Arnim (1875–1931)

literature

• Bernhard von Poten :  Lippe-Biesterfeld-Weißenfeld, Franz Graf and Edler Herr zur . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 5.
• Armament and disarmament; a survey of the army and warfare of all countries. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1880, p. 366.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs Order 1736–1918. An honor sheet of the Saxon Army. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation, Dresden 1937, p. 65.