Hans Albrecht von Barfus

Hans Albrecht von Barfus, engraving by an unknown artist (1702)

Johann (Hans) Albrecht von Barfus (also barefoot; * 1635 in Möglin near Wriezen , Mark Brandenburg ; † December 27, 1704 in Kossenblatt near Beeskow , Mark Brandenburg) was a Brandenburg-Prussian field marshal .

Hans Albrecht von Barfus joined the army at a young age . He fought in battles against Poland , Sweden , France and above all against the Ottoman Empire . In 1686 he was able to distinguish himself in the liberation of Oven and in 1691 help win the battle of Slankamen , which was believed to be lost . Barfus was praised for his bravery by Emperor Leopold I and in 1699 was elevated to the rank of imperial count , and was promoted by the Elector to Field Marshal General. By marrying the influential von Dönhoff family , he gained power at the Brandenburg court and was even prime minister for a short time in 1697 after the fall of Eberhard von Danckelman . Because of an intrigue against Count Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg , he finally had to say goodbye in 1702 and withdraw to his estates.

origin

Johann Albrecht von Barfus was born in 1635 on the Möglin manor. His father Georg Henning of Barfus (1611-1673) was at that time captain in the Imperial Cuirassier - Regiment of the Supreme of wins and yet in 1640 these services. He later became a colonel on horseback in the Brandenburg cavalry regiment of General Count Georg Friedrich zu Waldeck . In 1663 he appeared in a list of experienced officers of the Mark Brandenburg as a lieutenant colonel . He came from an old Brandenburg aristocratic family , which was first mentioned in 1251, and married Cäcilia Freiin von Wins , who also came from a wealthy Brandenburg family.

The father's estates Möglin , Reichenow , Bliesdorf and Altwriezen , some of which had been in the family for centuries, had been very hard hit by the Thirty Years' War , especially the lengthy stay of the imperial regiment of Field Marshal Torquato Conti .

The mother's two brothers were in imperial service and had achieved high honors there. The elder, Christoph von Wins, was a colonel and had acquired the manors Schützendorf and Gührau in the principalities of Münsterberg and Neisse in Silesia . The younger, Johann von Wins, was chamberlain , war councilor and colonel of a regiment of cuirassiers and was raised to the baron rank by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1630, together with his brother and sister . The emperor personally signed the diploma and named it Freiherr von Leis und Wins.

Military career

Under Elector Friedrich Wilhelm

The influence of his father, as well as his uncles, determined Hans Albrecht von Barfus for military service early on. In 1650 he joined the infantry in the Kurbrandenburg army and served " from the bottom up ", which he often mentioned when he was later promoted to general.

He undertook his first campaigns under Field Marshal Otto Christoph von Sparr , Generals Joachim Ernst von Görzke , Georg von Derfflinger and Count Georg Friedrich zu Waldeck . In 1656 he fought as a lieutenant on the Swedish side against the Poles and took part in the Battle of Warsaw . In his first years of service he rose slowly and was still lieutenant in January 1670 . It was not until the Franco-Dutch War , in which Brandenburg fought on the Dutch side, that he was made captain in 1672 and Oberstwachtmeister in 1673 . He seems to have thought of leaving the military service because of his slow promotion, since from 1673 to 1677 he bought several goods around Soldin in Neumark .

Promoted to colonel on December 25, 1677, he received the regiment of the late General Feldzeugmeister Christian Albrecht von Dohna at the beginning of 1678 and attended the campaign against the Swedes in Pomerania ; the Brandenburg elector had meanwhile changed sides. In September 1678 he was present at the landing on Rügen and the attack of the corps under General Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck . Finally the Brandenburgers were able to conquer Stralsund and all of Western Pomerania . On February 28, 1683 he became governor of the fortress Peitz , on June 9 of this year major general . In August, together with Major General Count Wolfgang Christoph Truchsess von Waldburg, he led 1,000 infantry and 200 dragoons to help Emperor Leopold I against the Turks . They united their troops with part of the Polish army, but were not able to intervene when the siege of Vienna was over on September 12, because the Viennese and Berlin courts could not agree on the terms. However , they were able to contribute to the liberation of the important Gran fortress on September 21, which the Polish King John III. Sobieski expressed his particular satisfaction in his letter to the Elector of Brandenburg. They also distinguished themselves when taking the Schretzein Fortress and captured an old Brandenburg cannon, which the Turks may have captured in an earlier war and which von Barfus was allowed to bring home to the Elector as a sign of victory. This ended the campaign in Hungary : the further advance of the Turks into Central Europe was stopped, north-west Hungary became part of the Habsburg family and the troops returned to the march.

On January 10, 1685 von Barfus became governor and captain of the fortress Spandau . In peacetime he also had administrative duties to perform. In April 1685, for example, he received an order from the elector to settle a dispute between the Fürstenwalder magistrate and the citizenship. The elector approved the recess proposed by him .

The Liberation of Buda, painting by an unknown artist (around 1700)

On December 27, 1685 von Barfus received the order to be ready for another campaign to Hungary. The Elector Friedrich Wilhelm had undertaken to send 8,000 men to help the Kaiser, including a 578-strong battalion from the Barfus Regiment . On April 17, 1686, the elector held the army show at Crossen and the corps marched through Silesia to Hungary under the command of Lieutenant General Hans Adam von Schöning . In June the troops arrived at Buda and were inspected on June 27th by the imperial commanding general Charles of Lorraine . After more than nine weeks of siege , the main attack took place on September 2, with Charles Eugène de Croÿ commanding the right wing and Hans Albrecht von Barfus the left wing . The Turks fled to the castle and surrendered the next day. Buda, then the capital of the Turks in Hungary, was liberated. The Brandenburgers marched back in October and reached Grünberg in Silesia on December 7th , where the corps broke up.

Under Elector Friedrich III.

The Brandenburg Elector Friedrich Wilhelm died on April 29, 1688. The following day was von Barfus by his successor, the Elector Friedrich III. , promoted to lieutenant general. The solemn burial of the “Great Elector” took place on September 19, with von Barfus commanding the troops set up in Berlin . On December 11th he was appointed a real secret council of war . This laid the foundation for his political career, which would later lead him to the highest offices. But first there were still a few campaigns ahead.

Siege and bombing of Bonn, copper engraving by JP Richermo (1689)

"Plan of the Siege of Bonn", copper engraving by JW Schleuen (1690)

At the beginning of 1689 von Barfus was on the Rhine and in February in The Hague , where he, with Count Georg Friedrich zu Waldeck and Dutch generals, was discussing the next campaign against the French . The Dutch then united at the Alps with the Brandenburg troops, which were concentrated on the Rhine, under Generals von Schöning, Alexander von Spaen and von Barfus. The Elector of Brandenburg took over the high command. On March 13, von Barfus contributed to the success of the Battle of Uerdingen . Then Neuss , Rheinberg , Zons and Kaiserswerth were taken and the army marched on Bonn . On June 22, von Barfus and his troops had arrived across from Bonn and had orders to take the Beueler Schanze on the right bank of the Rhine. It was coincidence that two days later a shell struck the powder magazine of the hill when it was fired and tore a breach in the defenses. The remnants of the crew were overwhelmed in the assault. Von Barfus had the conquered ski jump expanded and throw batteries installed, which bombed Bonn. The Brandenburg army enclosed Bonn on the left bank of the Rhine. The elector, who arrived at the Wesseling camp on July 11, was unsure whether he should force the French commandant of Bonn, Alexis Bidal Marquis d'Asfeld (1654–1689), to surrender by means of a blockade or a formal siege , which is why he urged his generals to respond in writing. Von Barfus voted for a formal siege and, in his letter of August 15, called for "more infantry, artillery , ammunition, bulwarks, fascines , money and several thousand peasants."

The argument with von Schöning

Hans Adam von Schöning, copper engraving by August Christian Fleischmann (around 1690)

On August 24th the news came that Marshal Louis de Crévant, duc d'Humières , had sent a corps against Mainz to break the siege by the allies . Von Barfus received the order to march with 6000 men to reinforce the siege army of Mainz under Duke Charles of Lorraine. The troops set out, and von Barfus was about to follow them on August 30th when a dispute broke out between him and the younger von Schöning, who was militarily above him. Lieutenant Field Marshal von Schöning, who is described as haughty and avaricious, often treated his subordinates with harshness and disdain. In a written statement, von Barfus commented on the incident as follows: He had received the order from the Elector to deregister from Schöning and to inform him ...

"To march to Mainz [...] to which he replied: it would be a miracle that I would do him civilianship and speak to him if he thought it was my duty long ago. I said that I was doing what my gracious lord commanded, and if I had known that I should not get another answer from him, I would have been silent. He said that if His Highness Elector had not ordered me, it would still have been my duty and if His Highness Elector were not present, he wanted to teach me what my duty would be if he repeated the next time, to which I replied when If his electoral highness were not present, I would have to see what he would teach me. "

Then Privy Councilor Eberhard von Danckelman came , from whom von Barfus said goodbye and left the two immediately to ride to his troops. Before he could mount his horse, the Lieutenant Field Marshal came and asked him aside:

“Since we were about 100 paces from the main guard, he stopped and said to me: I should draw my sword . I replied that he had brought me here: let him pull it himself, and he would see what I was going to do. Since he asked me on various occasions that I should draw the sword first, but I replied that I could already see what he wanted with it, he said: I did not have the heart to draw the sword against him, which he probably did ten times repeated and finally turned around to the bystanders and said with a contemptuous expression that the devil should fetch him where I had the heart to draw the sword against him, he turned back to me and struck mine with his stick, whereupon I myself supported with my left hand, from the fact that he fell away at three paces, whereupon I picked up the stick again and pushed at him, if he also did, and I took up my sword, and he did the same. "

The bystanders found it difficult to separate the generals from one another. The elector had both arrested temporarily and withdrew their command . He took the matter very seriously and requested expert opinions from the Real Privy Councilors Ezekiel Spanheim and Otto von Schwerin, among others . The result was Schöning's dismissal from the electoral service.

Despite this incident, the siege of Bonn continued and the fortress was taken on October 2nd. Then von Barfus moved into winter quarters in Neuss. In 1690 the aged Field Marshal von Derfflinger and von Barfus took command of the Brandenburg troops that besieged Dinant with their allies . Von Barfus soon assumed sole command, as von Derfflinger had to leave the army due to illness. He withdrew to the Lower Rhine and went to Brabant after the battle of Fleurus . Later the Brandenburg regiments were moved across the Maas , and von Barfus went to Berlin.

The Battle of Slankamen

→ Main article : Battle of Slankamen

In 1691 von Barfus received the order to lead a corps of Brandenburger to help Emperor Leopold I against the Turks. 4809 infantry and 1,444 mounted men were united at Crossen in mid-April and inspected by the elector on April 23. The corps then began its march through Silesia and Moravia to Hungary. In Göding on the Moravian-Hungarian border, the emperor inspected the troops. On June 9, von Barfus set out again and marched via Neuhäusel and Gran to join the imperial army under Margrave Ludwig von Baden . On July 20th the army set out from Essegg to Peterwardein , which they reached on August 18th.

The Turks had an entrenched camp near Slankamen on the heights along the Danube, in which the Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha stood with 50,000 Janissaries and other infantry. 200 guns defended the conveniently located entrenchment. The Turkish cavalry , also 50,000 strong, stood in the plain under Seraskier Pasha and the Hungarian Count Emmerich Thököly . The imperial army consisted of 55 battalions and 134 squadrons with 90 guns and a strength of about 45,000 men. The right wing was formed by the mass of infantry and 20 battalions under Feldzeugmeister Carl Graf Souches. The left wing was on the level opposite the Turkish cavalry and consisted of 85 squadrons and 16 battalions under Field Marshal Johann Heinrich von Dünewald . The center of 17 battalions and 31 squadrons commanded von Barfus.

The Battle of Slankamen, engraving by an unknown artist (1702)

On August 19, the imperial infantry attacked from the right wing. At a storm they reached the Turkish entrenchments and hoisted the emperor's banner . A bullet threw General Count Souches to the ground and the Janissaries urged the infantry to retreat. The cuirassiers of the Duke of Holstein's division forced the Janissaries back into the entrenchments with great losses and were repulsed for the second time. General Count Guido von Starhemberg , hit in the chest by an arrow, ordered the third attack. This too was unsuccessful - all leaders were now dead or wounded. The long-ordered attack by the left wing was halted by brush and tall grass. The imperial forces were unable to stop the onslaught of the Turkish cavalry. Their ranks were broken and the victory of the Turks was imminent. Von Barfus waved with the soldiers of the center and attacked the Turks in the flank , so that the right wing gained time to rally and fight back in community with the Brandenburgers. Margrave Ludwig took control of the left wing himself. Leaving the infantry behind, he led the cavalry of the outnumbered enemy cavalry into the right flank. The reserve of 6,000 cuirassiers rushed into the enemy camp. When von Barfus saw the successes of the left wing, he advanced with the center at an assault against the Turkish entrenchments, followed by the remains of the right wing. Although the Janissaries defended themselves into the night, they could not stop their defeat. 20,000 of them covered the battlefield the next morning. With the victory of the Imperialists, Transylvania became part of the Habsburg family and Austria was on the way to becoming a major European power. But the victory was bought at a high price: The loss was 7,300 men, 1,000 of them from Brandenburg. Margrave Ludwig wrote to Elector Friedrich III:

"I can not praise your high-electoral highness enough for the extraordinary valor and the good behavior of Dero-Lieutenant General von Barfus, as well as your good troops, and it is to them alone that the Kaiser has to thank for the victory and the annihilation of the Turks."

He wrote to the emperor:

"[...] that Dero the laudable general and all officers each testified to great bravery and Eiffer in his post, the higher general also as Field Marshal Graff Dünewald, General Field Equipment Master Graff Souches, General of the Cavalleria Graff Styrum and Brandenburgische Lieutenant-General von Barefoot, now and then, after time and hardship requires, have shown their valor, bravery and conduit consistently. "

Even then, Emperor Leopold intended to raise General von Barfus to the rank of imperial count . However, the latter forbade himself to do this because he was married to his wife without children. Elector Friedrich III. promoted him in recognition of his services to general of infantry and gave the entire family of which they forgave all Lehnsfehler and of Barfus a Lehnspardon investiture was renewed with all the family goods.

After the battle , von Barfus marched with the Brandenburgers and General Count Guido von Starhemberg with five battalions of Imperial soldiers to enclose the fortress Großwardein , which was taken by storm on October 16 under the personal leadership of the two generals. The winter quarters were based on this and the Brandenburgers returned home in spring 1692.

In 1692 von Barfus was with Field Marshal von Flemming and General Friedrich von Heiden in command of the Brandenburg troops on the Rhine and in the Netherlands. During this time he also stayed at the headquarters of the English King Wilhelm III. on. He and Elector Max Emmanuel of Bavaria led the liberation of Namur , which the French had occupied under Marshal Duke of Luxembourg . Von Barfus and the General Staff moved into winter quarters in Xanten . It is not known where he spent the next two years. Only the wedding with Eleonore from the influential von Dönhoff family is mentioned in the literature. However, he should not be used for further campaigns. From 1693 to 1702 he was commander of the life guard .

Political career

prime minister

On June 15, 1695, von Barfus became a field marshal lieutenant and tried to acquire Quittainen's goods in the district of Prussian Holland in East Prussia, which Field Marshal von Derfflinger had previously owned. After the death of Field Marshal he had finished with his heirs a purchase agreement and requested the top councils of the Prussian government in Konigsberg a jus indigenatus . The Elector Friedrich III. granted him this right on December 16, 1695.

After the death of the Polish King John III. Sobieski in June 1696 was ordered by Barfus with some regiments to Prussia to secure the borders. On June 11th the elector appointed him field marshal general. He now performed more representative duties. For example, in 1697 he accompanied the elector on a trip to Königsberg and to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Courland . In May the Russian embassy was received in Königsberg, with the field marshal standing behind Margrave Albrecht to the right of the throne .

Eberhard von Danckelman, oil painting by David Richter d. Ä. (around 1690)

Wording of the "Edict, due to the introduction of the car and Peruquen tax"

Spain still owed more than 400,000 thalers in debt to Brandenburg , for which the Duchy of Limburg an der Maas was granted as a pledge and was occupied by the Brandenburgers. The Dutch also had large monetary claims on Spain and were also striving for this pledge. The First Minister Freiherr Eberhard von Danckelman is said to have become accessible to bribes from the Dutch and prompted the withdrawal of the Brandenburg troops from Limburg, which the Dutch immediately occupied. After that Brandenburg never had the opportunity to secure his demands again. Von Barfus, Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg and Christoph von Dohna then initiated the fall of Danckelman. In November 1697 he was adopted - von Barfus brought him the elector's letter of dismissal - and in December was imprisoned in a fortress in Spandau, later in Peitz, his goods and most of his property were confiscated. When a criminal investigation into von Danckelman was opened a few months later, von Barfus was at the head of the commission charged with it. It cannot be ruled out that von Barfus had personal motives, v. a. because von Danckelman had made his brother Daniel Ludolph von Danckelman General War Commissioner in 1691 ; He also attributed the ousting from active military service to the First Minister.

After the overthrow of Danckelman, von Barfus temporarily assumed the role of Prime Minister, but without taking on the title of "Oberpräsident". Never a friend of the French, one of his first acts was the introduction of the wig tax to counter the French fashion . He also tried to improve the tense financial situation by reducing the army. However, his power was soon limited to the military. On December 2, 1699, an electoral decree was issued which stipulated that von Barfus should also sign every paper issued by the regent in matters of war, Count Kolbe von Wartenberg in financial matters and the Secret State Councilor Paul von Fuchs in matters of state, justice, feudal affairs and mercy . After the latter was increasingly ousted, Kolbe von Wartenberg was able to succeed Danckelman.

In 1698 von Barfus had an order from his elector to take possession of Elbing and its surroundings. In 1655, the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm granted King John II Casimir of Poland aid for the war against the Swedes and received the city of Elbing and the surrounding area as a pledge. In 1698, some regiments under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Brandt were concentrated in Prussia to occupy the important trading town. The mayor surrendered it peacefully after General von Brandt had shown him what military means were available. This year von Barfus became governor of Berlin , head of the war, commander of the guard on foot and chief of the former von Flemming cuirassier regiment. In September of this year he ceded the head of the Spandau to Oberhofmarschall Philipp Karl von Wylich and Lottum and on September 29 he was appointed governor of the states of Ruppin and Bellin .

1699 was the Count Christoph von Dohna from Elector to King Wilhelm III. sent from England to restore the friendly relationship which had been disturbed by the dismissal of the Minister von Danckelman. The king declared that he did not want to give his trust in any way to the then Lord Chamberlain, Count Kolbe von Wartenberg, but either to Field Marshal von Barfus, whom he knew from the wars against France, or to Count Alexander von Dohna , brother of Count Christoph.

Imperial Count and Knight of the Black Eagle Order

Von Barfus was elevated to the rank of imperial count by Emperor Leopold I in 1699. After he had rejected this increase in status in 1691 , he now gladly accepted because he had meanwhile been married to Countess Eleonore von Dönhoff , who had already given him two sons. The Count's Diploma was signed on September 10, 1699:

"If we [Leopold I.] now look graciously [...] the ancient, noble and knightly origins Virtue, great reason, skill and strange experience acquired in military service, with which [...] General Field Marshal and Supreme War President Hans Albrecht von Barfus has been praised [...] because he proceeded both at the fortress of Ofen , which was captured with a storming hand , as well as in the happy and brave leadership of the 6,000 men to help people at Szalankament, sent by the elector's love in the recently ended Turkish wars against the hereditary enemy of the Christian name bloody battle shows such an undaunted heroism and resolution that the same here demonstrated uncommon bravery and skill, praised to us by all our generals, also to him and intended auxiliary peoples, a no small part of the great victory that has been won has been granted cheaply. [...]
So we have, accordingly, to our own knowledge of such ancient origins, loyal and useful services, out of our own motivation, with well-considered courage and advice and right knowledge, him Hans Albrecht von Barfus together with all his present and future heirs of the body, both sexes descending line, for and for in eternal time, in the status, honor and dignity, of ours and the Holy Roman Empire , also of our hereditary kingdom, principality and country, counts and countesses raised and formed, that is, whether they are rightly born of their four ancestors, father and mother gender on both sides Counts and countesses would be. "

Casimir Count Kolbe von Wartenberg

On October 29, 1699, the imperial count status was recognized by an electoral decree . Friedrich III. traveled to Neumark and Pomerania in the autumn of 1699, accompanied by Field Marshal von Barfus and Lord Chamberlain Count Kolbe von Wartenberg. He made his festive entry into Küstrin and Stargard . In the latter the cuirassier regiment, whose chief the field marshal was, opened the train. That year, von Barfus also acquired goods in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, namely in the Beeskow area , after he had ceded his father's goods in the Oberbarnim district to his brothers. In July 1699 von Barfus bought the villages of Kossenblatt and Werder for 32,000 thalers and 100 ducats key money from Friedrich Wilhelm von Oppen (1664–1709), with whom he was related through his grandmother Catharina von Oppen. To round off the property, he acquired the manor Briescht in 1700 from Adam and Hans von Pannwitz , in 1702 from Caspar von Oppen (born June 10, 1683) the feudal estates Wiese , Plattkow with the "Splauheyde" and the sheep farm.

The Elector had been preoccupied with the plan to acquire the royal dignity for the sovereign Duchy of Prussia for a long time . The Prime Minister von Danckelman was always against it and thereby attracted the elector's displeasure. Emperor Leopold I was already favored by the victory at Slankamen, and his confessor was bribed. On November 6, 1700, a formal contract was finally signed. Elector Friedrich III. left Berlin for Koenigsberg on December 17th, to be crowned king there. Von Barfus accompanied him as a representative of the army. On January 17, 1701, the Black Eagle Order was donated as the highest Prussian award, in which Barfus was accepted on the same day.

Withdrawal to Kossenblatt

Kossenblatt Castle, lithograph by Theodor Albert (1870)

Prime Minister Kolbe von Wartenberg, who had come to power after the fall of Danckelmans, was said to have even greater arrogance than his predecessor, and there were also accumulations of assets, to which his wife contributed quite a bit. Von Barfus was the only one who dared to face him. Even if he had a powerful party on his side, such as Queen Sophie Charlotte , Count Christoph and Alexander von Dohna, General War Commissioner Otto Magnus von Dönhoff , Oberhofmarschall Graf von Wylich and Lottum and Hofmarschall Christoph Ludwig von der Wense, the failed Intrigue directed against Kolbe von Wartenberg . Von Barfus had to say goodbye to Berlin on August 18, 1702 and then occupied himself with the construction of the palace that had begun on a Spree island in Kossenblatt . Because the location was not very cheap - you had to drive many strong tree trunks into the swampy ground - the castle was not completed until 1712. The Field Marshal General died on December 27, 1704 and was buried in the hereditary funeral built next to the church. The funeral sermon was given by the royal court chaplain Daniel Ernst Jablonski .

Shape and character

Hans Albrecht von Barfus was tall, sturdy, over six feet (about 190 cm, when the Prussian foot is meant) and hardened by the strenuous military service. He is described as

"Strict and zealous in the exercise of his official duties, brave and fearless against the enemy, [he] possessed excellent and rare qualities of a general, namely the ability to recognize the enemy's faults in battle and in the great movements and to use what [ …] The capture of the Beueler Schanze in 1689 and the battle of Szalankament in 1691 particularly evident. He could not bear the arrogance of people who, like him, held a high position, but was prompted to offer them the top. This is proven by his dispute with General von Schöning and his actions against the Ministers von Dankelmann and Count Kolbe von Wartenberg. "

Carl Hinrichs described him as a “powerful and tough, stiff-necked soldiery figure, shrouded in the splendor of participating in the Turkish wars.” Kurt von Priesdorff, on the other hand, called him “exemplary, personally brave, popular with his soldiers, who liked to follow him. Barfus was a proven general in war and peace. ” Bernhard Erdmannsdörffer also made a similar statement:“ B [arfus] was indisputably one of the most capable of the older generals of the Prussian army who emerged from the school of the 17th century; In addition to personal bravery and discipline, he is especially praised for his ability to orientate himself quickly and skillfully use opportunities and mistakes of the enemy. "According to Theodor Fontane, " [he] was brave, soldierly, specifically German, anti-French [...], avaricious but incorruptible , opinionated, but not unjust, involved in intrigues, but not actually intriguing. "

Four portraits of him have survived:

1. a copper engraving by an unknown artist from the 14th volume of the “ Theatrum Europaeum ”, Matthäus Merians Erben, Frankfurt am Main 1702. This shows him in armor as a bust in front of a cross-hatched background in oval within a hatched rectangle. The coat of arms is shown at the bottom of the frame. The Latin legend of the 16 × 12 cm engraving reads “JOHAN [ne] S ALBERTUS A BARFUS DOMINUS IN QUITTENEN. SERENISS [i] MI ELECTORIS BRANDENBURG [urgi] CI CONSILIARIUS BELLI INTIMUS ET CAMPI MERECHALLUS GENERALIS ”.
2. a portrait, oil on canvas, of an unknown painter around 1702. Von Barfus is depicted with a shoulder ribbon and breast star of the Order of the Black Eagle and dressed in a uniform of the Kurmark Guard, whose command he resigned in mid-1702. The 42 × 32 cm painting is now kept in the Spandau Citadel .
3. a life-size oil painting, knee-length, painted by King Friedrich Wilhelm I.
4. a life-size oil painting by the painter Otto Mengelberg .

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  1. Engraving by an unknown artist (1702)

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  2. Oil painting by an unknown artist (around 1702)

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  3. Oil painting by King Friedrich Wilhelm I (1736)

progeny

On July 6, 1667, von Barfus entered into a marriage with Elisabeth von Schlabrendorff (* March 1, 1647 - September 30, 1691), which remained childless. After her death, von Barfus consecrated a magnificent marble monument with a self-written inscription in the cathedral in Brandenburg . In 1693 von Barfus was married to Eleonore von Barfus, nee. Countess von Dönhoff (* 23 May 1669; † 1726; daughter of Lord Chamberlain Friedrich von Dönhoff ), with whom he had three sons. The oldest, Friedrich Otto, was born in 1694 and like his father a soldier. In 1707 he studied at the Brandenburg Knight Academy and devoted himself to military service at an early stage. 1715 he was adjutant of Count Christoph von Dohna in the siege of Stralsund . In 1716 he attended the campaign against the Turks in Hungary , was seriously wounded as a major in a cuirassier regiment in the battle of Belgrade and died of these injuries in Vienna on September 3, 1717. The second son, Karl Friedrich, was also a pupil of the Knight Academy in Brandenburg in 1707, became an officer and died young.

Ludwig, born in 1700, appears to have received an intentionally neglected upbringing as his closest relatives sought after his inheritance. Count Alexander von Dönhoff , brother of his mother, general and adjutant of King Friedrich Wilhelm I , directed and promoted the sale of the Kossenblatter goods to the Prussian king in 1736 and brought about the allodification of Quittain's goods in Prussia, which he gave to his nephew Otto Philipp von Dönhoff bequeathed in will. Like his brothers, Ludwig died childless and with that the tribe of the Counts of Barfus was extinct.

Afterlife

In 1889 Kaiser Wilhelm II gave a regiment founded in 1813 the honorary name "Graf Barfuß", which it carried until it was dissolved after the First World War :

“I want to honor the memory of General Field Marshal Count Barfuß and keep it alive in my army by giving the 4th Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 17 the name Infantry Regiment Count Barefoot (4th Westphalian) No. 17 . I gave the regiment this distinction because it emerged from the 4th East Prussian Infantry Regiment, the part of the troops that took in the remains of the old Barefoot Regiment. I know that the regiment will always live up to its new name and will maintain its well-founded reputation for bravery and loyalty into the distant future. "

- Berlin, January 27, 1889 signed Wilhelm

In 1894, Barfusstraße was named after him in the “Turkish War Quarter” in Berlin-Wedding . In the saying “hate each other like Schöning and Barefoot”, the argument between the two officers lives on. In the novella "The old sergeant from the Anspach-Bayreuth dragoon regiment" by Detlev von Liliencron , "Count Barfuß" appears briefly at the end. The following story is told about him in Fontane's wife, Jenny Treibel :

"General Barfus [...] presided over a young officer during the siege of Bonn, a court-martial. [...] The person to be judged had behaved somewhat unheroically, to say the least, and everyone was guilty and shot dead. Only old Barfus didn't want to know about it and said: 'Let's turn a blind eye, gentlemen. I've taken part in thirty rebels and I have to tell you that one day is not like another, and people are unequal, and so are hearts, and courage even more. I felt like a coward at times. You have to be lenient as long as you can, because everyone can use it. '"

- Theodor Fontane : Mrs. Jenny Treibel , Fontane, Berlin 1892

In 1869, Albert Emil Brachvogel traced the life of Hans Albrecht von Barfus and his family from 1689 to 1740 in his historical novel “Die Grafen Barfus”. He portrayed him as a good, humble model soldier, as a faithful patriot with a Herculean figure, but also as malicious, unscrupulous, insatiable, greedy for power, dark, cold, derogatory, insidious, greedy and merciless. Brachvogel described the quarrel between von Schöning and von Barfus, depicting the former as an unfortunate hero, as a victim of the vengeful von Barfus. Von Danckelman also had to give way to him in the novel. It was only on his deathbed that von Barfus made it possible for his sons to be reconciled with the children of his enemies.

literature

• Franz Wilhelm von Barfus-Falkenberg : HA Graf von Barfus Königl. Prussia. General Field Marshal. A contribution to the history of the Electors Friedrich Wilhelm and Friedrich III. of Brandenburg, especially the campaigns against the Turks in 1683, 1686, 1691 . Hertz, Berlin 1854.
• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 1, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632764 , pp. 35f., No. 55.
• Bernhard Erdmannsdörffer :  Barefoot, Hans Albrecht Graf v. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 60-65.
• Hans Bellée :  Barfus, Johann Albrecht Graf v .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 588 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Hans Albrecht von Barfus  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ according to other sources 1631 or 1634
2. ↑ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelslexikon Volume I, Volume 53 of the complete series, Starke, Limburg (Lahn) 1972, ISSN  0435-2408
3. ↑ Family Association Ziering-Moritz-Alemann, No. 2 (PDF; 891 kB), self-published, Berlin 1936, names 1638 as the year of the advancement of rank.
4. ↑ according to other sources 1678
5. ↑ according to other sources 1684
6. ↑ The elector's marching order to Colonel von Barfus is printed in: Documents and pieces of files on the history of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg , Volume 14, de Gruyter, Berlin and Leipzig 1926, p. 115
7. ↑ vd Oelsnitz AC: history of k. prussia. First infantry regiment since its foundation in 1619 to the present: With the portrait of S. Maj. The King. Mittler, 1855, p. 205
8. ^ A report issued by Barfus for the Elector, August 15, 1689, quoted in Barfus-Falkenberg, p. 44.
9. ↑ Von Barfus: "Real course of things, what happened on August 30th between Field Marshal Lieutenant von Schöning and me", quoted from Franz Wilhelm von Barfus-Falkenburg : HA Graf von Barfus, royal prussia. General-Feldmarschall: a contribution to the history of war under the Electors Friedrich Wilhelm and Friedrich III. von Brandenburg , p. 9f. as Digalisat at the Munich digitization center
10. ↑ Von Barfus: “The true course of things, what happened on August 30th between Field Marshal Lieutenant von Schöning and me,” quoted from Barfus-Falkenberg, p. 10f.
11. ^ According to the electoral " Edict against the Duella " of August 6, 1688, even the death penalty would have been possible.
12. ^ A contemporary report of the events of 1691 can be found in Volume 14 of the Theatrum Europaeum. Another description is given in this PDF file ( memento of the original from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. quoted. 
13. ^ Margrave Ludwig von Baden to the Elector Friedrich III., Quoted from Barfus-Falkenberg, p. 21
14. ↑ Margrave Ludwig von Baden to Emperor Leopold I, quoted from Volume 14 of the “Theatrum Europaeum”, p. 6f., Quoted in a more modern way of writing in Barfus-Falkenberg, p. 21
15. ↑ according to other sources 1701
16. ↑ "Lovers, an abstract with which only princely, well-married people, as related and unrelated persons, use the pronouns yours or in the letter Ew., Yours, yours. Princely persons of the same class care for each other Ew. Addressing lovers, and royal and imperial persons only give this title to princely people either, or, as happens especially with the emperor in some cases, only your lovers. It means as much as loved, and is our love today, with which some preachers still use the pulpits to address their congregation. "( Johann Georg Krünitz : Oeconomische Encyclopädie . Berlin 1800, Volume 78, pp. 402f. )
17. ↑ from the imperial count's diploma, September 10, 1691, quoted from Barfus-Falkenberg, p. 58ff.
18. ↑ The electoral decree recognizing the elevation of rank is printed in: Karl Freiherr von Ledebur: King Friedrich I. von Prussia . Schulz, Leipzig 1878, pp. 454f.
19. ^ Karl Marx : The Divine Right of the Hohenzollern . In: The People's Paper . December 13, 1856 ( German at www.mlwerke.de )
20. ^ The correspondence between the Jesuit priest Friedrich Freiherr von Lüdinghausen called Wolff and the Brandenburg court is printed in: Max Lehmann: Prussia and the Catholic Church since 1640. Part 1. From 1640 to 1740 . Hirzel, Leipzig 1878, reprint: Zeller, Osnabrück 1965, pp. 455–73
21. ↑ completely printed in Theodor von Mörner : Kurbrandenburg State Contracts from 1601–1700 . Reimer, Berlin 1867, reprint: de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1965
22. ^ Peter-Michael Hahn and Hellmut Lorenz (eds.): Manor houses in Brandenburg and Niederlausitz. Commented new edition of Alexander Duncker's (1857–1883) works of views. Volume 2 catalog . Nicolai, Berlin 2000, p. 308, ISBN 3-87584-024-0
23. ↑ Barfus-Falkenberg, p. 34
24. ^ Carl Hinrichs : Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia. A biography . 2nd edition, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg [1943], p. 126
25. ↑ Priesdorff, p. 36
26. ↑ ADB, p. 65
27. ^ Theodor Fontane: Walks through the Mark Brandenburg. Second part: The Oderland in the Gutenberg-DE project
28. ↑ Peter Mortzfeld: The portrait collection of the Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel. Volume 29, Biographical and Bibliographical Descriptions with Register of Artists: Volume 1 . Saur, Munich [u. a.] 1996, p. 118, ISBN 3-598-31509-0
29. ↑ Hans-Dietrich von Diepenbroick-Grueter : portrait collection, 4th North Rhine (administrative districts Düsseldorf, Cologne, Aachen) . Selbstverlag, Tecklenburg, Westfalen [1955], mentions a copper engraving by Blesendorf under number 405 , which is perhaps identical to this one.
30. ↑ Rolf Wirtgen (Ed.): The Prussian Officer Corps 1701-1806 , Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement, Koblenz am Rhein, 2004, ISBN 3-927038-64-4
31. ↑ according to other sources 1720
32. ^ Wilhelm Bussler: Prussian generals and heroes . Schloessmann, Gotha, 1890, Volume 1, p. 102; also in Georg Pohlmann: History of the Infantry Regiment Graf Barfuss (4th Westphalian) No. 17 in the 19th century . Mittler, Berlin 1906, p. 264
33. ↑ Barefoot Street. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near  Kaupert )
34. ^ Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander : German Sprichwort Lexikon . Brockhaus, Leipzig 1880, volume 5, column 1715
35. ^ Detlev von Liliencron: Last harvest. Novellas left behind in the Gutenberg-DE project
36. ↑ Clash , enemy encounter
37. ↑ Theodor Fontane: Mrs. Jenny Treibel in the Gutenberg-DE project
38. ^ Albert Emil Brachvogel : The Counts Barfus. Historical novel . Dürr, Leipzig 1869 (4 volumes).

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on December 18, 2006 .