Gerhard August von Witzleben

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Gerhard August von Witzleben (born December 27, 1808 in Düsseldorf , †  May 7, 1880 in Berlin ) was a Prussian lieutenant general and military writer .

Life

origin

Gerhard August came from the Thuringian noble family Witzleben . His parents were the Russian Colonel August von Witzleben (1773–1839), who wrote his novels in the Walter Scott style under the pseudonym A. von Tromlitz , and Antoinette, née. Freiin von Heine (1780-1810).

Career

From 1821 to 1825 he attended the monastery schools in Donndorf and Roßleben before joining the army on November 25th . There he came to the Kaiser Franz Guards Grenadier Regiment in Berlin. On April 12, 1826, he was promoted to portepeef ensign and on April 17, 1827 to aggregate secondary lieutenant , but was classified on December 17, 1829. From 1831 to 1834 he was assigned to the General War School and in 1838 to the Topographical Office , where he stayed until 1840. On June 27, 1843 he was promoted to prime lieutenant and came in 1846 for a year as a teacher at the divisional school of the Guard Corps. Also in 1846 he received the Cross of Merit of the Saxon-Ernestine House Order .

During the March Revolution he took part in the street fighting in Berlin in 1848, became captain on April 6, 1848 and then took part in the campaign against Denmark , where he took part in the battle of Schleswig as a company commander on April 23 . On February 3, 1853 he was promoted to major without a patent à la suite of the regiment and sent to Gotha to take over command of the ducal Saxon-Coburg-Gotha infantry regiment . He received his patent as a major on November 14, 1854 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1859 . Witzleben first urged the various Thuringian contingents to be united and then to join Prussia. On August 1, 1860, he became the commander of the 1st Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 13 in Münster and on October 18, 1860, he was promoted to colonel.

The Duchy of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha concluded a military convention with Prussia in 1861, in which Witzleben also played a part. On January 14, 1861 he received the Commander's Cross of the Saxon-Ernestine House Order and on September 20, 1861 the Order of the Red Eagle III. Class with a bow. On October 18, 1862, he was present at the coronation in Königsberg . He also led his regiment in the German-Danish War of 1864 , where he took part in the assault on the Düppeler Schanzen . On June 7, 1864 he received the swords for the Order of the Red Eagle III. Class and on August 21, 1864 of the Order of the Iron Crown with war decorations.

On April 18, 1865 he was aggregated to the 13th Infantry Regiment and retired on June 18, 1865 as major general with the transfer to the officers of the army from the front service. In May 1866 he came to the Kolberg Fortress as a commandant until he was put up for disposition as Lieutenant General on January 9, 1868 . He moved to Dessau to spend his retirement there and work as a military writer. On August 20, 1873 he took over the editing of the military weekly paper and moved to Berlin. On June 13, 1876, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the military weekly paper, he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with oak leaves and swords on the ring.

From 1836 to 1841 he worked for the military conversations lexicon of Hans Eggert Willibald von der Lühe. He also wrote for the military literary newspaper and the encyclopedia of Versch and Gruber for the concise dictionary of the entire military sciences of Bernhard von Poten and the general German biography he made contributions.

family

Witzleben was married twice, first from 1840 to the merchant's daughter Pauline Charlotte Brünning (1822–1846) and then as a widower from 1850 to Charlotte Karoline Helene von Broscovius (1826–1903). At least four daughters resulted from both marriages:

  • Auguste Charlotte Helene (* 1844) ⚭ 1876 Benno von Gillhausen, captain, Herr auf Esbach → Parents of Guido von Gillhaußen
  • Charlotte Antoinette Hedwig (1846–1848)
  • Olga Esther Maria Alice (born September 29, 1857; † 1928) ⚭ 1887 Dietrich von Gravert (1822–1889), Prussian lieutenant general
  • Clara Auguiste Mathilde Anna (born October 16, 1859) ⚭ 1885 (divorced in 1886) Alexander Freiherr von Pawel-Rammingen (1855–1883)

Works

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of baronial houses , 35th vol., Justus Perthes , Gotha 1885, p. 658.
personal data
SURNAME Witzleben, Gerhard August von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Witzleben, August von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general and military writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 1880
Place of death Berlin