Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff

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Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff

Imperial Count Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff (born July 5, 1673 in Königsberg , Lower Franconia ; † November 23, 1763 in Meuselwitz ) was an Imperial Field Marshal and diplomat .

origin

His parents were Freiherr Heinrich Gottlob von Seckendorff (1637–1675) and his wife Agnes Magdalena von Teutleben (1655–1719), probably a daughter of Wilhelm Caspar von Teutleben (1613–1659). His father was active in various court services in Gotha and Heidelberg, held the title of a Saxon-Gotha war council, was also governor of Königsberg and since 1673 war council of the Frankish imperial circle . After the father's early death, his brother Veit Ludwig took over the boy's education.

Life

Heinrich von Seckendorff after a drawing by Adolph Menzel (19th century).

Frederick Henry of Seckendorf studied at the universities of Jena , Leipzig and Leiden Law and entered in 1693, first in oranische , then in Gotha and ansbachische , 1697 in imperial military service, where he under Prince Eugen in the war against the Turks fought 1698th In the War of the Spanish Succession he led the Ansbach regiment and captured 16 enemy flags at the head of his dragoons in the Battle of Höchstädt .

Appointed colonel , he fought with Ramillies and Oudenaarde and took part in the siege of Lille . He then entered the service of August II of Poland as major general and commanded the Saxon auxiliaries in Flanders . As a Polish envoy in the Hague , he took part in the negotiations of the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 , was involved as commander of Saxon troops in the siege of Stralsund under Count August Christoph von Wackerbarth in 1715 and was appointed imperial field marshal lieutenant in 1717 .

Seckendorff's Palace in Altenburg

Under the supreme command of Prince Eugene of Savoy , he commanded two Ansbach regiments near Belgrade , fought successfully against the Spaniards in Sicily in 1718 and forced them to sign an evacuation agreement in 1720 (evacuation of the island). His elevation to the rank of imperial count in 1719 was followed in 1721 by that of Feldzeugmeister . In 1724 he had a city ​​palace built for himself in Altenburg by the council builder Johann Georg Hellbrunn , the Seckendorff Palace . From 1724 to 1727 he had the Meuselwitz Castle , which was built in 1677 by Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff , converted into a four-wing complex, presumably by the Leipzig master builder David Schatz

From 1726 he was the imperial envoy to the Berlin court , where he, allied with the influential Grumbkow , won the favor of Friedrich Wilhelm I and exploited it in the most cunning way in favor of Austria. He brought about the engagement of Crown Prince Friedrich (1712–1786) to Princess Elisabeth Christine of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (1715–1797) and obtained recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction from several German courts as well as from Denmark and Holland .

Memorial plaque for Field Marshal von Seckendorff at the castle of Koenigsberg

From 1734 he belonged again to the Imperial Army and was governor of Mainz . As Imperial General of the Cavalry, he moved over the Hunsrück with 30,000 men in the War of the Polish Succession and defeated the French in the battle near Klausen on October 20, 1735 . In the newly erupting Russian-Austrian Turkish War (1736-1739) he was, on the recommendation of the dying Eugene, entrusted as an Austrian field marshal with the supreme command of the army standing near Belgrade ( Niš ). If he was initially happy, he later had to retreat behind the Save and was therefore charged at the instigation of his enemies and imprisoned at the Graz fortress . By Maria Theresia released, he joined Bavarian Services , was commander of the Bavarian army, acted on June 26, 1743 the day before the Battle of Dettingen , the Convention Niederschönenfeld out, shocked the following year Munich and tossed after several vicissitudes, the Austrians finally to Bohemia back, whereupon he resigned his command. After the death of Charles VII, he contributed to the reconciliation between Austria and Bavaria in the Peace of Füssen (April 22, 1745). Confirmed in all his positions of honor by Emperor Franz I , he lived in seclusion on his estate in Meuselwitz near Altenburg, until he was arrested from there in December 1758 on the orders of Frederick II on suspicion that he had had an exchange of letters with Austria that was disadvantageous for Prussia and was held in Magdeburg for half a year .

Seckendorff was close to Halle Pietism throughout his life and largely supported its universal goals. As early as 1717, Seckendorff, together with the Holstein general Christoph Dietrich von Barner, smuggled religious writings, primarily the New Testament, which he had acquired from the Glauchaschen establishments , into Hungary. At regular intervals, Seckendorff made donations for the orphanage and the missionary activities of the Glauchasch institutions. On the mediation of Gotthilf August Francke , Seckendorff also supported the diaspora work of Halle Pietism by sponsoring the first publication of Johann Arndt's "True Christianity". Seckendorff also supported, together with Samuel Urlsperger, the Bohemian translation of the "Württemberg Summaries" published by the Ödenburg preacher Johann Gottfried Örtel . Seckendorff's successes as the imperial envoy at the court of Friedrich Wilhelm I from 1726–1734 are partly due to his religious attitude and proximity to pietism in Halle. However, from 1740/45 to 1763, after he had largely withdrawn from his military-diplomatic activities, Seckendorff tried to achieve a real improvement of the world on a small scale, especially at his manor Meuselwitz . In particular because of his function as patron saint, Seckendorff was able to influence the Meuselwitz community. Particularly noteworthy is the appointment made by Seckendorff in 1744 of the pastor primarius of Pressburg , Johann Andreas Rabbacher, who was influenced by Halle Pietism, as the new pastor. Encouraged by the success of the orphan welfare in the Glauchasch institutions, Seckendorff also endeavored to rededicate the hospital he had rebuilt for the poor into an orphanage or a combination of poor and orphanage in Meuselwitz. In addition, Seckendorff took care of the upkeep and upbringing of nine children, six of whom came from Meuselwitz and three from Hungary, in the orphanage of the Glauchasch institutions. Seckendorff also intensified his private religious practice during this time. Even today , numerous works with sacred songs and poems by his hand have been preserved in the Seckendorff family archive , which is kept in the Altenburg State Archive . In addition to his official correspondence, which is now primarily kept in the Austrian State Archives, Seckendorff conducted extensive private correspondence, especially with supporters of pietism in Halle. The correspondence with August Hermann Francke , Gotthilf August Francke, Samuel Urlsperger, Georg Wenndrich, Benjamin Lindner , Johann Philipp Fresenius and Erdmann Heinrich Henckel von Donnersmarck should be emphasized .

Seckendorff died on November 23, 1763 in Meuselwitz.

family

In 1699 in Ödenburg he married Clara Dorothea von Hohenwarth (1674–1757), a daughter of Hans Friedrich von Hohenwarth and Anna Dorothea von Speydel . The marriage remained childless.

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

This article is based on a text in the public domain from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon , 4th edition from 1888 to 1890.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Kingdom of Serbia and the Serbian People, S142 ff
  2. ↑ Björn Schmalz: Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff's world of faith. A study of pietism in Halle and nobility in the 18th century. 1st edition. Verlag der Francke Foundations, Halle 2017, ISBN 978-3-447-10880-5 , p. 295-301 .
personal data
SURNAME Seckendorff, Friedrich Heinrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION imperial field marshal and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1673
PLACE OF BIRTH Koenigsberg , Franconia
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1763
Place of death Meuselwitz