Hans Axel von Fersen

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Hans Axel von Fersen

Hans Axel Graf von Fersen (born September 4, 1755 in Stockholm ; † June 20, 1810 there ) was a Swedish statesman and a favorite of the French Queen Marie Antoinette . In Sweden he is called "Axel von Fersen the Younger" to distinguish him from his father ( Axel von Fersen the Elder ).

Life

Hans Axel von Fersen came from the originally Baltic noble family Fersen , which in turn had its roots in northern Germany. He was trained at home, at the Carolinum in Braunschweig and in Turin . In 1779 he entered the French military service (in the German regiment Royal Bavière ) and accompanied General Rochambeau to America as an adjutant . There he distinguished himself during the War of Independence with England , especially during the siege of Yorktown in 1781. In 1785 he was appointed Colonel propriétaire of the Régiment Royal-Suédois , known as "allemand" . The young noblewoman was a favorite of the French court from the start, partly out of memory of his father's devotion to France, but mainly because of his own qualities. Queen Marie Antoinette was particularly taken with the charm, wit and good looks of le beau Suédois heels.

If it weren't for his sovereign Gustav III. had been asked to join his entourage, Fersen might have spent most of his life in Versailles . Gustav III was at the time in Pisa . He accompanied Gustav III. on his trip to Italy and returned home with him in 1784. When war broke out with Russia in 1788 , Fersen accompanied his regiment to Finland , but in the autumn of that year he was sent to France, where the French Revolution was already on the horizon. Gustav needed a representative who was completely in the confidence of the French royal family and at the same time capable and daring enough to help them in their desperate plight. Since he had lost confidence in his ambassador, the Baron de Staël, he decided on Fersen, who took up his post in early 1790. Before the end of the year he had to realize that the situation of the French monarchy was hopeless as long as the King and Queen of France were practically prisoners in their own capital, at the mercy of an irresponsible mob. He played a leading role in the escape to Varennes . He raised the necessary funds at the last minute. On behalf of the Baroness von Korff, he ordered the construction of the famous carriage for six people and parked it in his hotel courtyard on Rue Matignon so that all of Paris could get used to its sight. He was the driver of the fiaker who drove the royal family from the Carrousel to the Porte Saint-Martin . And he accompanied her to Bondy , the first stage on their journey.

Hans Axel von Fersen

In August 1791, Fersen was sent to Vienna to persuade Emperor Leopold to form a new coalition against revolutionary France; but he soon concluded that the Austrian court had no intention of doing anything. At his own request he was transferred to Brussels , where he could be more useful to the Queen of France. In February 1792 he went to Paris again at risk of death, with forged certificates that showed him to be the general representative of Portugal . He arrived on the 13th, and on the same evening he managed to talk to the queen unobserved. The following day he was with the royal family from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. the next morning, making sure that a second escape was impossible. On the afternoon of the 21st he was able to visit the Tuileries a third time , where he stayed until midnight. He returned to Brussels on February 27 with great difficulty. The dangerous expedition, a sign of loyalty to the French queen, had no significant result. The French monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792. Louis XVI died on January 21, 1793 and Marie-Antoinette on October 16, 1793 on the scaffold.

In 1797 Fersen was sent to the Rastatt Congress as the Swedish representative , but following a protest by the French government, he was not allowed to attend the Congress.

Until the death of the French Queen Marie Antoinette, Hans Axel von Fersen was a philanthropist who did not shy away from helping a farmer once in a while. According to a legend, he rode past a field in the countryside in noble clothes and saw how the farmers brought in the harvest. He got off his horse, took off his shoes and stockings and some of his fine clothes. Then he helped the farmers barefoot and wearing only shirt and trousers to bring the harvest into the field until late in the evening.

The time after the French Revolution

During the reign of the Duke of Södermanland (1792–1796), Fersen fell out of favor, like Gustav's other favorites. But when Gustav IV came of age in 1796, he was welcomed back to the court and reinstated in all his offices and positions. In 1801 he was appointed Riksmarskalk . When the war against Napoleon broke out , Fersen accompanied Gustav IV to Germany to help him win new allies. He stopped Gustav from invading Prussia in revenge for the Prussian king's refusal to declare war on France. During the remainder of the reign, his influence over the king declined significantly, although he was generally a member of the government while the king was absent.

Hans Axel von Fersen

Fersen largely stayed away from the 1809 revolution (see History of Sweden ). His sympathies lay with Prince Gustav, son of the unfortunate Gustav IV, and it was generally assumed that he wanted him to be king. When the newly elected heir to the throne, the popular Prince Christian August von Augustenburg , suddenly died on May 28, 1810 in Kvidinge hed, Skåne , there were rumors that he had been poisoned and that Fersen and his sister, Countess Piper (b. Sophie von Fersen ), are accomplices. The source of this claim has never been discovered. But it was eagerly received by the anti-Gustav press, and the usual suspicions were particularly fueled by the fable Die Füchse , which appeared in the Nya Posten and was directed against the heel.

death

On June 20, 1810, the prince's body was transferred to Stockholm. When Fersen, in his capacity as Riksmarskalk, led the funeral procession into the city, the people saw his splendid robes as an open mockery of the general grief. The crowd began to grumble, throw stones and scream "murderer". He took refuge in a house on Riddarhus Square, but the mob rushed after him, tortured him and tore his clothes to shreds. To calm the people down and save the unfortunate victim, two officers offered to accompany him to the Senate House and arrest him there. The crowd followed him on the way and beat him with sticks and umbrellas. No sooner had he climbed the steps to the entrance than she knocked him down and trampled him to death. The seaman Otto Johan Tandefelt jumped with both feet on heels upper body and caused a fracture of the chest. This atrocity, which lasted more than an hour, took place in the presence of numerous troops who did nothing to protect the Riksmarskalk from its tormentors.

Under the circumstances, one has to take the view of Fersen's contemporary, Baron Gustav Armfelt : “One is inclined to say that the government wanted to make a sacrifice to the people to play with; just like throwing something at an irritated wild beast to divert attention. The more I look at it all, the more certain I am that the mob had the least to do with it ... but in God's name, what are the troops for? How could something like this happen in broad daylight during a parade, when troops and a military escort were present? ”The responsibility certainly rests with the government of Charles XIII. who apparently intended to intimidate Gustav's supporters by eliminating one of their main leaders. Since Armfelt escaped in time, Fersen became the victim.

At his death, von Fersen was the highest official next to the king. The news of his passing sparked national grief. Von Fersen received a state funeral .

A few months after the murder of Fersens, all suspicions against his family that they were involved in the death of Christian August von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg were dropped. His sister Sophie withdrew from Stockholm and spent the rest of her life near Norrköping . Here she had her brother erected a memorial with the following inscription:

Åt en oförgätlig broder, mannamodet uti hans sista stunder the 20 June 1810 vittna om hans dygder och sinnes lugn (German: “For an unforgettable brother whose bravery in the last moments of June 20, 1810 was a testimony to his virtues and a clear conscience. ")

literature

  • Alma Söderhjelm (Ed.): Axel von Fersens Dagbok , 4 volumes. Stockholm 1925
  • Oscar Gustaf von Heidenstam (ed.): Marie-Antoinette, Fersen et Barnave: leur correspondance . 2nd edition, Paris 1913
  • Axel von Fersen: Save the queen. Revolution diary 1789–1793 . Munich 1969.
  • Ralf Turander, Herman Lindqvist: Axel von Fersen och hans kärlek till Marie Antoinette , Stockholm 1998, ISBN 91-87214-79-2 - numerous illustrations; Text Swedish, English, German and French
  • Herman Lindqvist: Axel von Fersen . Stockholm 1995, ISBN 91-7054-780-7
  • Ture Nerman : Fersenska murders . Stockholm 1933.
  • Stig Hallesvik: Axel von Fersen och gustaviansk politik, 1771–1779 . Gothenburg 1977
  • Hildor Arnold Barton: Count Hans Axel von Fersen: aristocrat in an age of revolution . Boston MA 1975
  • Hans Axel von Fersen . In: Herman Hofberg, Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, Olof Rubenson (eds.): Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon . 2nd Edition. tape 1 : A-K . Albert Bonniers Verlag, Stockholm 1906, p. 334 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).