Friedrich von Veterani

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Friedrich Count Veterani
Bust in the Heldenberg memorial

Friedrich Ambros Graf Veterani (* around 1650 in the Duchy of Urbino ; † September 21, 1695 near Lugos ) was an imperial general of the cavalry .

Life

Born in Italy, he was likely to have joined the imperial army at an early age . An officer’s license issued on February 12, 1682 relates to military service and military experience up to that point. During the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna , Veterani defended one of the Danube bridges as a colonel with 1,000 cuirassiers . In the Great Turkish War that followed , Veterani took part in several campaigns . In 1684, under the command of Field Marshal Antonio von Caraffa, he excelled in the battle for the Neuhäusel fortress , where he liberated several regiments trapped by enemy troops under Emmerich Thököly . In the following year Veterani had a significant share in the conquest of Eperjes , whereupon he was promoted to General Field Sergeant on September 12, 1685 . In 1686 he again earned great merits with the conquest of Szeged . On July 13, 1688 Veterani was appointed Lieutenant Field Marshal , shortly afterwards he marched with his troops under the command of Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden along the right bank of the Danube towards Belgrade . In the battle of Widdin in 1689 he was wounded by a musket ball and was subsequently given command of the Nissa fortress , which he successfully defended against several attacks. On August 16, 1690 he was promoted to general of the cavalry , the following year he handed over the fortress command to Guidobald von Starhemberg and rejoined the main army under Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden, in whose absence he was sometimes in command himself.

Veteran cave

In 1691 Veterani succeeded in conquering the fortress Lippa , his main focus was now on the defense of Transylvania , in particular the prevention of Turkish activities on the Danube. So in 1692 he had the embankment cave known until then under the name “Piskabara” explored by the imperial captain d'Arnau, occupied with 300 men and fortified. At the end of March, a Turkish army began to attack the fortified cave. First attacks by Turkish Chaiken - ships with a crew of up to 300 men and 3 cannons - were initially rejected, but after a 45-day siege by land forces attacking again and again, the imperial crew ultimately had to surrender to the superiority. Subsequently, the cave was named Veteran Cave because of these battles . During the Russo-Austrian Turkish War (1787–1792) , the Veteran Cave was again defended against the Turks by imperial troops. This time, too, the commandant, Major Stein, had to bow to the Turkish superiority and surrendered after a tough defense on August 31, 1788. The imperial troops were allowed to withdraw freely.

Today the cave is flooded by a Danube power plant at the Iron Gate and is therefore not accessible.

As a result, Veterani was again occupied with the defense of Transylvania and the Banat , so he fortified Caransebes and Orsova . On May 17, 1694, Emperor Leopold I appointed him Field Marshal. In September 1695 there was finally a battle at Lugos , where Veterani with seven regiments of cavalry (about 6,500 men) and 800 foot soldiers awaited the oncoming Turks. In the battles that followed, Veterani was unable to counter the more than tenfold Turkish superiority. He was badly wounded and his soldiers tried to remove him from the battlefield, but were caught up and killed. Veterani was beheaded and his head was brought to Sultan Mustafa II , who ordered that Veterani's body be buried on the spot.

reception

Through the imperial resolution of Franz Joseph I on February 28, 1863, Friedrich von Veterani was added to the list of the "most famous warlords and generals of Austria worthy of perpetual emulation" , in whose honor and memory there was also a life-size statue in the general hall of that time The newly established Imperial and Royal Court Weapons Museum (today: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien ) was built. The statue was created in 1867 by the sculptor Karl Costenoble from Carrara marble and was dedicated by the emperor himself. There is a portrait bust in the Heldenallee of the Heldenberg memorial .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck : The Army History Museum Vienna. The museum and its representative rooms. Kiesel Verlag, Salzburg 1981, ISBN 3-7023-0113-5 , p. 33.
  2. ^ Johann Ritter von Rittersberg: Historical military almanac of the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. With special regard to the latter and the oesterr. Kaiserstaat (etc.) Enders, 1825, p. 353 ( online ).
  3. ^ Heinz Holzmann, Heinrich Salzer: The Veterani Cave at the Iron Gate (Romania). On the 200th anniversary of their defense against the Turks. In: The cave. 40, 1989 ( PDF on ZOBODAT , accessed July 9, 2014).
personal data
SURNAME Veterani, Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Veterani, Friedrich Ambros, Count of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION General of the cavalry
DATE OF BIRTH 1650
PLACE OF BIRTH Duchy of Urbino
DATE OF DEATH September 21, 1695
Place of death Lugos