Hans Henrik of Essen

Hans Heinrich Count of Essen

Hans Henrik von Essen (born September 26, 1755 in Kavlås mansion , Tidaholm municipality ; † June 28, 1824 in Uddevalla ) was a Swedish imperial marshal and statesman .

Life

Essen came from an old Livonian family, was trained in Uppsala and Göttingen , and then entered Swedish military service.

Essen accompanied King Gustav III. on his travels to Italy , France and Germany and followed him to Finland in 1788 at the beginning of the war against Russia . For the evacuation from Gothenburg that he managed , he was appointed Colonel and Commander of the Guard . Essen was also at the king's side when he was fatally wounded on March 16, 1792 in Stockholm at a masked ball .

Essen was also held in high esteem under the subsequent governments and served as governor of Stockholm between 1795 and 1797 . In 1800, he became governor general in Swedish Pomerania . In this function he defended Stralsund against the French in 1807 until he was able to negotiate the Schlatkow armistice with Marshal Mortier in April of that year after a successful failure . About this he came into conflict with King Gustav IV , whereupon Essen said goodbye and withdrew to his estates. Only when the king was dethroned in 1809 did Essen return to the Imperial Council and was elevated to the rank of count on April 29, 1809 .

In 1810 he was appointed Reichsmarschall , and in 1811 he was also Reichsfeldmarschall . On behalf of Charles XIII. Essen went to Paris as Sweden’s envoy to make peace with France, through which Sweden regained possession of Western Pomerania .

In 1813, under Charles XIV , the Crown Prince of Sweden, Essen received command of the troops that were marching against Norway . After the unification of the two empires, Essen became the imperial governor of Norway and a Norwegian field marshal. Although he was dismissed from this post in 1816, he was appointed General Commander in Skåne in 1817 .

On October 29, 1802 he married Hedvig Eleonora Charlotta von Krassow , who died in Stockholm in 1855. Through this marriage he acquired the Falkenhagen estate near Reinberg , which belonged to the von Essen family until 1945.

literature

• Hans Henrik of Essen . 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. 314 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

Web links

• Genealogical manual of the Baltic knighthoods
• Hans Henrik von Essen at government.no

predecessor	Office	successor
Viceroy Charles (XIV.) Johan Viceroy Charles (XIV.) Johan	Prime Minister of Norway 1814–1816 July 16, 1816–2. August 1816	Viceroy Karl (XIV.) Johan Carl Carlsson Mörner