Gustav Wilhelm von Wedel

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Baron Gustav Wilhelm von Wedel (born June 24, 1641 in Königsberg , † December 21, 1717 in Oldenburg ) was a general in the service of the Bishop of Munster and, as a Danish field marshal , commanding general of Norway .

origin

Wedel came from the original noble family Wedel and was the youngest son of Jürgen Ernst von Wedel , Herr auf Spiegel and Butow near Reetz in the Neumark, who was a major general in the Swedish service, and Anna von Ahlefeldt († 1660). When Gustav Wilhelm was born, his father was the envoy of Queen Christina of Sweden at the court of the Elector of Brandenburg . His brother Wilhelm Friedrich von Wedell (* December 4, 1640, † February 7, 1706) is the founder of the Wedel-Wedellsborg line.

Life

Gustav Wilhelm von Wedel was one of the volunteers in 1664 who fought against the Turks in Hungary with the emperor's troops on behalf of the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg . During the campaign he met the Bishop of Munster, Christoph Bernhard von Galen , who recruited him for his troops. At the bishop's court he met his future wife, the wealthy heiress Marie von Ehrentreuter.

In the Dutch War in 1672 he was a colonel of the Cologne-Munster troops on the side of France . The troops advanced quickly to Groningen . The local commander Carl von Rabenhaupt defended the city skillfully and had the surrounding area flooded. After the conquered Coevorden was lost on December 30, 1672, the bishop ordered Wedel to recapture the fortress. In May 1673 Wedel stood in front of the fortress. He had the Vechte that fed the moat dammed. The water is said to have been in the streets when a storm on October 1 burst the dam, drowning 1,400 soldiers. The Dutch now besieged Bonn , which capitulated at the end of November. On April 22, 1674, the Bishop of Münster made peace. As a result, he had to provide 10,000 Munsterland soldiers for the Imperial War against France. The command of the troops was given to Lieutenant General Hermann Lothar von Post . Wedel was promoted to major general and moved with the troops to the Upper Rhine, where no fighting took place. Post died in the fall and Wedel took command.

In the summer of 1675 the Brandenburgers had defeated the Swedes, allied with France, at Fehrbellin . In the Bremen-Verden campaign , the Elector of Brandenburg attacked the Swedish possessions of Bremen-Verden in alliance with the Brunswick-Lüneburg dukes, the Danish King Christian V and the Bishop of Münster . Wedel commanded his Münsteraner again. He included Stade and captured Carlsburg near Lehe on January 12, 1676 . After the surrender of Stade on August 13, the Swedish possessions were conquered. Then Wedel became lieutenant general and the bishop subordinated his army to the allied Spanish commander-in-chief Carlos de Gurrea, Duke of Villahermosa, without fighting.

In the Northern War against the Swedes in 1678, the bishop landed 11,000 soldiers in Skåne to support the Danes . After three days of bombardment, Wedel was able to conquer Helsingborg . Under the supreme command of General Friedrich von Arensdorff , the troops then marched to the relief of Christianstadt . The relief failed and Christianstadt capitulated on August 3rd. Nevertheless, the Danish king distinguished Wedel with the supreme command of the Danish troops.

In Danish service

The bishop died on September 19, 1678 and his successor called the troops back. But they had sworn an oath on the Danish king and stayed. Wedel switched to the Danish service as a Lieutenant Field Marshal and was made a Knight of the Elephant Order on February 6, 1679 . On January 8, 1684 he was raised to the Danish count status and in 1687 Danish field marshal until he was appointed governor of the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst on July 2, 1692 . In addition, from 1699 he was general en chief of the Norwegian army.

In 1693 he led the Danish troops for the last time. With 5000 men he was supposed to prevent the fortification of Ratzeburg by the Duke of Celle, which he achieved by bombarding the city. After Frederick IV's accession to the throne , he was transferred to Norway, where he reorganized the defense. He realized that one could not defend the country with the few soldiers and limited himself to occupying important passes and cities. But he couldn't make friends with the cold country because of his gout, and left Norway in 1704 and ruled Oldenburg from then on.

When he died in Oldenburg Castle in 1717 , he left an important fortune. This also included the Jarlsberg lordship near Christiania, which was elevated to the Jarlsberg feudal county in 1684 and which he had already bought in September 1683 from Ulrich Friedrich Gyldenlöwe , the king's son. In order to be able to pay, he had sold all of his Brandenburg goods.

family

Wedel married Marie von Ehrentreuter on June 21, 1665 (* July 31, 1633; † October 26, 1702). She was the daughter of the commandant in Leerort Eberhard von Ehrentreuter (born September 13, 1596 - December 31, 1664) and Eva von Ungnad , heiress of Evenburg , the glories of Loga and Logabirum in East Frisia . The couple had the following children:

  • Georg Ernst Graf von Wedel-Jarlsberg (* May 23, 1666; † January 30, 1717) Danish diplomat ⚭ April 2, 1699 in Copenhagen Wilhelmine Juliane von Aldenburg (* May 4, 1665; † November 18, 1746)
  • Charlotte Elisabeth (June 5, 1667 - August 22, 1758)
  • Erhard Frederik (born November 26, 1668; † July 24, 1740) Danish General Field Marshal ⚭ Marie Juliane von Freytag zu Gödens (born February 6, 1684; † October 2, 1727)
  • Anton Wilhelm (6 May 1670 - 4 November 1716)
  • Christoph Bernhard (born April 9, 1672; † June 10, 1678 [1676?])
  • Marie Juliane (9 December 1675 - 1747)

The son Georg Ernst founded the Danish Wedel-Jarlsberg line , but died before his father. His son Friedrich Anton von Wedel-Jarlsberg inherited the feudal county Jarlsberg from his grandfather Gustav Wilhelm. The son Erhard Frederik got the Evenburg and founded the East Frisian line.

literature

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