Hans Bleckwenn

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Hans Bleckwenn (born December 15, 1912 in Leipzig , † July 10, 1990 in Münster ; former name: Hoffmann , also Hoffmann-Bleckwenn ) was a German doctor and an important historian of the military history of feudal Prussia .

Life

Hans Bleckwenn was born as Hans Hoffmann in 1912 in the Leipzig district of Gohlis , the son of a Hanoverian officer and a Mecklenburg mother . In 1931 he graduated from high school in Dresden-Neustadt . His original career aspiration, like his father to become a soldier, was denied to him due to illness and so he first studied law, history and art history in Freiburg , but switched to the medical faculty in 1934. In 1939 he completed his medical studies in Jena with a doctorate . At the same time, Hans Hoffmann changed his name to Hans Hoffmann-Bleckwenn, and later to Hans Bleckwenn.

His further professional career was closely linked to the fight against tuberculosis . In 1943 Bleckwenn became chief physician at the Tbc-Heilstädte in Gera-Ernsee . Bleckwenn was captured by the Red Army at the end of the war and even sentenced to death . However, his extensive knowledge as a tuberculosis doctor saved his life. Within the Soviet zone of occupation, he was even commissioned again to fight tuberculosis in Thuringia. He later became head of the SVA sanctuary in Klietz / Altmark, which was converted into a TB hospital for the barracked people's police in 1953 . He became a lieutenant colonel in the medical service of the National People's Army and got access to the highest military positions in the GDR .

Bleckwenn had never given up his interest in military history from his school days and, as a GDR military, gained exclusive access to otherwise closed archives on the history of the Prussian army . He was entrusted by the NVA with the restitution and scientific supervision of the collection in the Zeughaus Berlin as a sideline and in this function was able to save many documents from destruction. At the same time, through this activity, he was able to lay the foundation for the private archive “The Heere des Ancien Régime ”. Again for health reasons, Bleckwenn had to leave the NVA service and became chief senior physician at the GDR's tuberculosis research institute in Berlin-Buch . Immediately before the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 12, 1961, Hans Bleckwenn fled to West Berlin with his entire library and archive . At the beginning of 1962 he settled as a doctor in Münster in Westphalia . In 1969 he became an editor at Biblio-Verlag, which specializes in military history publications . In the period that followed, Bleckwenn began his second career as an important military historian in the field of military affairs in the 18th century. In a small apartment on Münzstrasse in Münster, he literally lived in his archive, which filled all the rooms and walls. Before his death, he transferred his archive to the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Rastatt .

Bleckwenn was the second marriage to the scientist Ruth Fasold , who from 1982 held a professorship in the field of textile design and its didactics in Münster. Bleckwenn, always in poor health, died on July 10, 1990.

Services

Despite his probably above-average achievements as a tuberculosis doctor, Bleckwenn dedicated himself entirely to military history. His historical work is based on several elements. On the one hand, Bleckwenn saved important archival sources, finds and literature on the military history of the 18th century for posterity. On the other hand, he set up an archive that provided comprehensive services to both his private research and third parties. Among the more than 100 publications by Hans Bleckwenn, The Old Prussian Army is one of the main works of 1713–1807 . It reflects a holistic approach to military history. For Bleckwenn, uniform studies or regimental history were a welcome introduction to a comprehensive assessment of social and economic conditions in the states of the 18th century. In doing so, he came into contradiction with the academic circles of historians without being able to measure himself appropriately. In particular, he advocated the thesis that the cantonal system and the extremely strict military service triggered the first peasant liberation in Prussia, which set narrow limits to the arbitrary rule of the noble landlords at an early stage.

He was co-editor ( Werner Hahlweg , Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck , Charles B. Burdick , Dermot Bradley , Othmar Hackl and Walter Schaufelberger ) of the 1973 studies on military history, military science and conflict research at Biblio Verlag .

Hans Bleckwenn's archive has meanwhile moved from Rastatt to the Military History Research Office in Potsdam . According to its own account, the research center thus houses what is currently probably the "most complete privately compiled inventory on the history of the Prussian army in the 18th century"

Works

editor

  • Old Prussian Commission - official, semi-official and private. Reprints from first editions and first publications from manuscripts. Osnabrück 1971ff.
  • The old Prussian army: appearance and character ; 1713–1807, 8 parts in 16 volumes, Osnabrück 1973ff, ISBN 3-7648-0187-5 .

author

Monographs

  • Under the Prussian eagle. The Brandenburg-Prussian Army 1640–1807 . Bertelsmann, 1978; ISBN 3-570-00522-4 .
  • Horsemen, hussars and grenadiers. The uniforms of the Imperial Army on the Rhine in 1734 . Harenberg, Dortmund 1979. ISBN 3-88379-125-3 .
  • The Frederician Uniforms 1753–1786 ; 4 volumes; Hardenberg, Dortmund 1984; ISBN 3-88379-444-9 .
  • On the military system of the Ancien Régime . Three basic essays. Reprinted in honor of the author on the occasion of his 75th birthday on December 15, 1987; Biblio Verlag 1987.

Essays

  • On the formation and equipment of Munster troops in the 18th century ; in: Ulf-Dietrich Korn: Johann Conrad Schlaun 1695–1773; Sleep study III; Pp. 173-205.

literature

  • Otto Büsch : Military System and Social Life in Old Prussia. The beginnings of the social militarization of Prussian-German society . In: Publications of the Berlin Historical Commission, Vol. 7 . Berlin 1962.
  • Joachim Niemeyer : Hans Bleckwenn on his 75th birthday . In: Hans Bleckwenn: On the military system of the Ancien Régime: Three basic essays; (Reprint in honor of the author on the occasion of his 75th birthday on December 15, 1987); Pp. IX-XI. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück.
  • Joachim Niemeyer: Obituary . In: Zeitschrift für Heereskunde, No. 350/351 (July / October), 1990; P. 129 .
  • Auwi Stargard: Dr. Hans Bleckwenn celebrated his 75th birthday . In: Die Zinnfigur , No. 2/88, 1988; P. 61 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Today in Potsdam at the Military History Research Office of the Bundeswehr - see web links.
  2. ↑ Cf. Bleckwenn 1987: 73 Bibliography of Publications.
  3. ↑ Cf. Bleckwenn 1987 in contradiction above all to Büsch 1962. Bleckwenn often regretted his lack of a degree in history, as he only supposedly found recognition within the university historians' circles.
  4. ↑ The collections of the library of the Military History Research Office
personal data
SURNAME Bleckwenn, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hoffmann-Bleckwenn, Hans; Hoffmann, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German military historian
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig - Gohlis
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1990
Place of death Muenster