Gustav Adolf von Baudissin

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Gustav Adolf von Baudissin (born October 4, 1626 in Elbing , † April 10, 1695 in Aurich ) was a lieutenant general , an Oldenburg privy councilor and entrepreneur in royal Danish service .

Life

Early years

Baudissin's parents were Field Marshal Wolff Heinrich von Baudissin (1579–1626) and his first wife Anna Sophia von Kißleben. He was thus a member of the Meissen noble family Baudissin , who originally came from Upper Lusatia . He was also a member of the Holstein Recepti and the Danish nobility. His mother died shortly after he was born.

In 1635, Count Anton Günther from Oldenburg gave his father the Neuenfelde estate near Elsfleth . The sources suggest that Baudissin spent his childhood there and then received his training from 1638 in the knight academy in Sorø on Zealand . At Gut Neuenfelde he also met the Oldenburg councilor Matthias von Wolzüge (1588–1665), who promoted him and later entrusted him with minor diplomatic tasks.

In Danish service

Baudissin was in the service of the Danish army from 1644 and took part in the campaign against Sweden in Skåne . In 1653 he was involved in a campaign in the Spanish Netherlands in the entourage of the Danish officer Ulrich Friedrich Gyldenlöwe . He was promoted and on April 25, 1660 was appointed lieutenant colonel by Field Marshal Eberstein , and according to other sources, a colonel . In 1662 he became general sergeant . In the same year he was sent to Bruges by the future Danish Chancellor Peder Schumacher Griffenfeld to arrest the Danish traitor Corfitz Ulfeldt . But this was there under the protection of the council and especially the mayor, so that his mission failed. Nevertheless, on June 29, 1663, Baudissin was appointed major general. On June 27, 1664 he was by King Friedrich III. appointed deputy governor in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst and commander of the fortresses and troops in these counties. Friedrich III. had already come into the possession of the counties in 1664, because the childless Oldenburg Count Anton Günther wanted to enforce his illegitimate son Anton I as governor and therefore the counties to the legal heir Friedrich III in 1664. handed over. He also became governor of the Danish rule of Jever . In 1664 he made another unsuccessful attempt to arrest Corfitz in Scotland . After the death of Oldenburg Count Anton Günther in 1667, Baudissin was supposed to become governor of the Jever rulership, which had meanwhile fallen to the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst , because of his services as court master . But Baudissin got ahead of these plans by asking for his release and accepting property (St. Jürgenshof) in Oldenburg as well as a valuable horse.

From January 2, 1668, Baudissin returned to Danish service and was taken over by Friedrich III. and his coadjutor Christian Albrecht appointed General Vogt and Commander-in-Chief of Oldenburg , Delmenhorst and Butjadingen . On January 14, 1672 he became a knight of the Danebrog Order (White Knight) and in the same year a member of the generals. In 1675 he was appointed lieutenant general of the cavalry .

In the Northern War

When the Northern War broke out, Baudissin took part in the Bremen-Verden campaign on behalf of the Danish king from autumn 1675 on the side of the anti-Swedish coalition. For this purpose he had recruited a cavalry regiment with six companies and an infantry regiment made up of 12 companies with 125 men each. The campaign was successful and the Swedish troops could only maintain the two fortresses of Stade and Carlsburg . On August 22, 1675, Baudissin was sent on diplomatic order to the Bishop of Münster, Christoph Bernhard von Galen , who was allied with Denmark, to negotiate over the occupied territories. From autumn 1675, Baudissin and his troops were involved in the conquest of the fortress Carlsburg and, after its fall, in January 1676 in the siege of the last Swedish fortress of Stade. He was wounded while taking Stade. Then Baudissin recruited the Oldenburg regional regiment in the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst and appointed Colonel Anton Günther von Ellebrecht as commander. After the operations in northern Germany were largely completed, Baudissin received the order on August 4, 1676 to join the army in the Danish-occupied Skåne . After the Danish defeat in the Battle of Halmstad , however, he was ordered to continue to Norway to support the Danish commander-in-chief Ulrich Friedrich Gyldenlöwe, who was now the governor . However, he never got there and his troops were tied to various other theaters of war.

For his services, Baudissin was appointed governor of the duchies of Schleswig , Holstein and the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst on January 20, 1677, in addition to his military command . Again he was entrusted with diplomatic missions to the Bishop of Munster to ask for additional troops. On July 14, 1677, Baudissin took part in the battle of Landskrona as commander of the right wing under Field Marshal Joachim Rüdiger von der Goltz . After the lost battle, there were disputes with Goltz, whom Baudissin accused of having poorly positioned the army. The argument led to bitter hostility between the generals. Baudissin led the cavalry back to Kristianstad . In a report dated August 21, 1677 he wrote that the cavalry was exhausted, there was a shortage of officers and the enemy Swedish cavalry was superior by 5000 to 2500; consequently she should be withdrawn to Denmark to recover.

The unfortunate campaign for Denmark from the summer of 1677 ultimately had a negative effect on Baudissin's career. He was withdrawn from the theater of war and on August 30, 1677 was given command of the militia of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. On September 1, 1677, he was given leave of absence due to private matters , which he presumably used for a duel with Goltz in Hamburg . Overall, his situation was unsatisfactory because he was denied further promotions, a regimental command, pay and other expenses. In the autumn of 1678 he was sent back to the Bishop of Munster to negotiate further auxiliary troops. On the way back, he stopped off at the estate Ihlow in East Friesland , of which he is a letter of complaint to the Danish King Christian V. wrote. An investigation, officially led by the king, into a failed mission by Baudissin at Kristianstad, which he felt was a defamation, and the fall of his protector Griffenfeld, also worsened the situation. It did not succeed in reaching an agreement, although the Danish government was fundamentally keen to keep Baudissin in its service. On August 8, 1678, he finally asked for his release.

As a private person

During his retirement, Baudissin spent a lot of time at the East Frisian court with the regent and princely widow Christine Charlotte . From there he also managed his property in Oldenburg. He had good bank connections in Amsterdam and had known the Nuremberg businessman Andreas Ingolstetter since 1681 . He must have made good profits, because when the Charlottenpolder near Bunde was diked in 1682 , he was able to lend the Princely House 2000 thalers. Even when a storm surge threatened to return to the country, he was able to borrow money for repairs. However, the Princely House had to give him the land as security. Despite his departure, his connections to the Danish royal court were still very good. When in 1682, through his mediation, the future Prince of East Frisia Christian Eberhard was awarded the Elephant Order in Copenhagen , he also achieved an exemption from the Weser tariff for his friend Baudissin.

In 1689 Baudissin went to England to finance a brass forge with a smelting house and wire drawing shop in Esher . There he met Maria Cotton , who came from an important noble family in Middlesex . He married her on July 14, 1692 and even converted to Catholicism for the marriage. In 1694 he returned to East Friesland without his wife, fell seriously ill and died in Aurich in April 1694. Apparently he hadn't told anyone that he had married and become a Catholic, because he was buried in the Lamberti Church according to the Lutheran rite . As planned, his estate went to the Princely House. When his wife found out about her husband's death, she traveled to Emden and asserted her claims. She was compensated with 6100 thalers and died in London in 1696 .

descendant

Since Baudissin's relationship with Princess Christine Charlotte was already described as very close by contemporaries, the rumor began to circulate from 1678 that she had a son by him. In fact, Baudissin had a natural son, Gustav, who, with financial support from him, possibly grew up in a foster family in southern Germany. However, direct connections to Christine Charlotte cannot be established. His marriage also remained childless.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Baudissin, Gustav Adolf von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bauditz, Gustav Adolf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION royal Danish lieutenant general and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1626
PLACE OF BIRTH Elblag
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1695
Place of death Aurich