Gudenus manuscript

Detail from the folio with the foot troops. The caricatural representation of the different characteristics of Prussian troops and the contingents of the Imperial Army is easy to recognize . The soldiers of Friedrich Wilhelm I are tall and wear a tight uniform skirt.

The Gudenus manuscript is an illuminated manuscript depicting imperial troops in the Heilbronn camp during the War of the Polish Succession in 1734. The camp existed during the siege of the fortress Philippsburg by France . The manuscript consists of two large folio sheets with caricature-like, but also very detailed depictions of individual soldiers. The sheets are contained in a bundle of Manuscripta ad militiam spectantia in the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe .

Artist

Hans Bleckwenn attributed the depictions to Philipp Franz von Gudenus (1710–1783), about whose life relatively little is known. From 1770 to 1783 Gudenus is named as the owner of an Electoral Mainz infantry regiment. In Heilbronn, Gudenus proved to be an extremely conscientious observer.

Depicted troops

Are represented Denmark , the Imperial Army (with the realm circles Franken , Schwaben , Upper Rhine , the Lower Rhine-Westphalia , Upper Saxony ), Imperial-Habsburg , Prussia , cure-Hannover , Hesse-Kassel , Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , Würzburg, Bamberg, Württemberg, Saxony-Weimar , Saxe-Eisenach and Saxe-Gotha.

meaning

The handwriting is important insofar as it is the first time that it depicts uniforms of the most varied of contingents in a figurative (and not schematic) representation. The figures themselves are about 6 centimeters tall (foot soldier). Here the different traditions and fashions become clear (e.g. predominantly white uniforms for Catholic countries, blue for Protestant countries and red for trade-oriented / rich countries). The Prussian soldiers, who are tall compared to soldiers of the Reichsarmee and wear an extremely tight uniform cut, are striking. Herbert Knötel used the depictions in particular to reconstruct historical uniforms that became common property in cigarette pictures .

See also

• List of the Standing Armies of the Early Modern Period

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Loan from the Grand Ducal Badischer Hausfideikommiss, signature Hfk-Hs No. 105

literature

• Hans Bleckwenn : Horsemen, Hussars and Grenadiers. The uniforms of the Imperial Army on the Rhine in 1734 . Harenberg, Dortmund 1979, ISBN 3-88379-125-3 ( The bibliophile paperbacks . Volume 125)

Web links

Commons : Gudenus manuscript  - collection of images, videos and audio files