Gerhard on the cellar

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Gerhard auf dem Keller , spelling also aufn Keller , aufm Keller , uffm Keller , ufm Keller and Keller von Cleve , (* 1604, † 1675) was a German officer in the Swedish service and later commander of the city ​​military of Bremen . Johann Focke described him as "the best known among the old Bremen officers".

Life

Little is known about the origin of Gerhard auf dem Keller, possibly he comes from Kleve , as he was also known as the Cleve cellar . He was an evangelical reformist and served as a young officer in the body regiment of Swedish General Lennart Torstensson during the Thirty Years' War . On June 1, 1644, he succeeded Ludwig Sarrazin as the commander of the city military in the service of Bremen, initially in the rank of lieutenant colonel and later a colonel . Gerhard auf dem Keller was married to Anna Maria Busch (1614–1679). His daughter Katharina Margaretha (1645–1721) married the Hessian Vice Chancellor in Marburg Hermann von Vultejus (1634–1723) in 1693 .

In peacetime, the top officer of the city military commanded 500 to 600 professional soldiers on the cellar, but in times of external threats the strength of the regiment was increased significantly - the troops were reinforced in times of war by the civil and rifle companies , which were directly subordinate to the council . During Gerhard auf dem Keller's service time, there were two significant armed conflicts for Bremen, which led the city to defend its independence against the Kingdom of Sweden , which did not recognize Bremen's status as a Free Imperial City .

The First Bremen-Swedish War

During the First Bremen-Swedish War in 1654, Bremen was appointed city ​​commander on the cellar . During this time over 3,000 men were under his command. Colonel Balthasar and Lieutenant Colonel Scharnhorst were subordinate to him as councilors. In the eventful course of the conflict, the relatively small Bremen garrison in the basement managed to hold its own against Hans Christoph von Königsmarck's troops, until an armistice was concluded with the First Stade Settlement at the end of the year .

The Second Bremen-Swedish War

When Sweden made a new attempt a few years later in the Second Bremen-Swedish War under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel to integrate Bremen into its territory, the cellar was once again responsible for defending the city. On this occasion he was subordinate to 1,500 men, 240 of whom belonged to his body regiment. Originally Heinrich von Uffeln, General Feldzeugmeister from the Princely Lüneburg district, was supposed to be Bremen's new city commander, but he was captured by the Swedes when he tried to get into the city. On October 8, 1666, he was appointed chairman of the town council of war, which consisted of all senior officers of the town military and four members of the council. After the unsuccessful Swedish siege of the city, Bremen was able to maintain its independence and settle the conflict with Sweden in the Peace of habenhausen.

Due to his many years of meritorious work, Gerhard enjoyed a high reputation in the city throughout his life. On August 19, 1672, the now frail colonel retired and handed over the post of commandant to Johann Albrecht Freyse. Subsequently, he received 700 thalers pension on the cellar  . He died in 1675.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Koster: Chronicle of the Imperial Free Imperial and Hanseatic City of Bremen 1600–1700 . Edition Temmen , Bremen 2004, ISBN 3-86108-687-5 , p. 207 .
  2. ^ A b Peter Koster: Chronicle of the Imperial Free Imperial and Hanseatic City of Bremen 1600–1700 . Temmen, Bremen 2004, ISBN 3-86108-687-5 , p. 213 .
  3. ^ Hans Stuckenschmidt: The artillery system of the city of Bremen . In: Historical Society of the Artists' Association (Hrsg.): Bremisches Jahrbuch . tape 32 . Bremen 1929, p. 117 .
  4. ^ A b Johann Focke: From the Bremen city military . In: Historical Society of the Artists' Association (Hrsg.): Bremisches Jahrbuch . tape 19 . Bremen 1900, p. 25 .
  5. ^ A b Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato (handed down by H. Motz): Bremen in the year 1663. Report by Count Priorato . In: Historical Society of the Artists' Association (Hrsg.): Bremisches Jahrbuch . tape 6 . Bremen 1872, p. 21 .
  6. ↑ a b Vultejus, Hermann von d. Ä .. Hessian biography. (As of May 7, 2014). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  7. ^ Johann Hermann Duntze : History of the free city of Bremen . tape 4 . Heyse Verlag, Bremen 1851, p. 161 .
personal data
SURNAME Keller, Gerhard on the
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Keller, Gerhard aufn; Keller, Gerhard aufm; Keller, Gerhard ufm; Keller, Gerhard uffm; Cellar from Celve, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer and city commander of Bremen
DATE OF BIRTH 1604
DATE OF DEATH 1675