Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Schmettau

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Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Graf von Schmettau , also Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau , Friedrich von Schmettau (born April 13, 1743 in Berlin , † October 18, 1806 in Weimar ) was a Prussian lieutenant general , topographer and cartographer .

Gravestone for Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Schmettau
Pyramid Garzau , 2014

Life

Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Schmettau was the son of the Prussian Field Marshal Samuel Graf von Schmettau (1684–1751) and his second wife Anna, née. von Rüffer (1718–1771).

He came to the knight academy in Brandenburg an der Havel on October 30, 1752 . From there he was on 1 October 1756 Corporal Corporal in the Infantry Regiment. 34 . On October 10, 1756 he became an ensign and took part in the Seven Years War . He fought in the battles of Breslau , Leuthen and Torgau . He was wounded six times in the battle of Hochkirch . On August 30, 1758 he was second lieutenant, on October 3, 1762 Premier-Lieutenant and adjutant to Prince Ferdinand of Prussia . On January 7, 1772, he became staff captain and was transferred to the king's suite on April 2, 1778. There he became brigade major of the cavalry on July 16, 1778. In 1778 he took part at the beginning of the War of the Bavarian Succession , but received his resignation on September 15, 1778 .

The general was a close friend of Prince Ferdinand. As a lieutenant, he had a fight with a student that attracted the attention of King Friedrich II . After investigating the facts, Schmettau received three months of imprisonment . Attempts by the prince to have Schmettau promoted to staff captain also failed. Schmettau began to create the Schmettauschen cards . In 1770 he presented the cards to the king in order to get a promotion, which he was denied. He was now also active as a writer. In 1773 he presented a book about the campaign against the Turks in 1769 . Eventually Schmettau was promoted to staff captain. For a long time, Prince Ferdinand tried to get Schmettau promoted to major, which was only granted after several attempts. In 1778 there was a break with the king and the resignation of Schmettau.

When Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia ascended the throne, Schmettau returned as a colonel in the Prussian army on January 15, 1787. He brought his maps with him and was commissioned by the king to map the Silesian mountains. On May 14, 1789, he gave the king 104 cards. Schmettau got into court intrigues, z. B. with General Hans Rudolf von Bischoffwerder . Schmettau was envied, among other things, for his cartographic successes, and he had to fight for recognition of his achievement. As a result, Schmettau resigned from Prussian service on June 19, 1790.

He traveled a lot now and drew more maps. When the First Coalition War began in 1792 , Schmettau offered to return to the army. But his offer was refused. Only when Friedrich Wilhelm III. When he became King of Prussia, Schmettau returned on December 1, 1797 - now as Major General - to his old Infantry Regiment No. 34.

In the summer of 1798 he was sent again to the Silesian Mountains to explore their defenses. However, his hope for prestigious orders was not fulfilled. On November 26, 1798 he received the Swedish Order of the Sword , and on May 20, 1799 he was made lieutenant general with a patent from May 24, 1799. On May 10, 1805 he was awarded the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle . In the run-up to the Fourth Coalition War , his wish to use the field was finally granted, and he was put on field budget on September 21, 1805. On October 10, 1805 he was appointed to the Prussian General Staff. On November 28, 1805 he came to Kassel as leader of the Prussian troops, which were to come under the orders of the Elector of Hesse-Kassel. On December 3, 1805, he received the promise of a salary of 3,200 thalers from October 1, 1805.

In the Battle of Auerstedt on October 14, 1806, Schmettau was wounded by a bullet right at the beginning of the attack on Hassenhausen , and later by a second. In Weimar he first fled to the house of Goethe's friend Charlotte von Stein and from there to the Weimar City Palace , where he finally succumbed to his wounds. He was buried in the Jacobsfriedhof Weimar .

Schmettau had built a manor house in Garzau from 1780–1784 and laid out a landscape park with a pyramid made of field stones . According to tradition, it was supposed to serve as a mausoleum , but Schmettau had sold the property in 1804 and purchased Köpenick Castle instead . The Garzau pyramid has been the largest fieldstone pyramid in Germany since its reconstruction between 2001 and 2010.

Works

Military writer and creator of the Schmettauschen map series :

literature

  • Matthias G. Graf von Schmettow: Schmettau and Schmettow. History of a family from Silesia. Self-published, Büderich near Düsseldorf 1961, pp. 173–193.
  • Oliver Flint, Lothar Jordan (eds.): Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau (1743–1806). Pioneer of modern cartography, military writer, designer of parks and gardens . Kleist-Museum Frankfurt (Oder) / State surveying and geographic base information Potsdam, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7490-4175-6 .
  • Christian Reimann: The English garden of Garzau. A contribution to its interpretation. In: The garden art. Issue 1/2000, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2000, pp. 63–73.
  • Jürgen Reimann: The pyramid in the landscape garden Garzau and the will of its builder Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau. Findling Verlag, Kunersdorf 2010, ISBN 978-3-933603-46-3 .
  • Bernhard von Poten :  Schmettau, Carl Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, p. 640 f.
  • Lutz Kreßner: Digital analysis of the accuracy as well as the recording and display quality of old maps from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - shown in the map series of Wiebeking (approx. 1786) and Schmettau (approx. 1788). Dissertation, University of Rostock 2009 ( full text )
  • Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 2, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632772 , pp. 463-467, no. 940.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Various information circulates about the date of birth; the church book of 1743 names April 13th.

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Schmettau, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmettau, Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von; Schmettau, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Count of; Schmettau, Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Graf von; Schmettau, Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general, topographer and cartographer
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1743
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1806
Place of death Weimar