Hans Wichard von Rochow

Hans Wichard von Rochow-Stülpe ad H. Plessow (born June 25, 1898 in Stülpe ; † May 2 or 4, 1945 in Summt ) was Canon of Brandenburg and the last curator of the Knight's Academy there until it was closed by the Nazi regime in July 1944.

Life

Hans Wichard von Rochow-Stülpe ad H. Plessow, nickname Hans, was born on June 25, 1898 at Stülpe Castle near Luckenwalde. After two girls, he was the third child of the manor owner Rochus von Rochow (1856–1901) and his wife Margarete, b. von Lücken (1867–1927). He came from the von Rochow family line Plessow and was a grandson of Hans Wilhelm von Rochow-Plessow (1824-1891), who became known through the duel with the Berlin police chief Carl Ludwig Friedrich von Hinckeldey in 1856.

The early years

With the early death of his father in 1901, at the age of three, Hans Wichard became the owner of the Stülpe allodial knight estate with Vorwerk Holbeck, Ließen, Schmielickendorf and the Riesdorfer Heide (4590.00 ha). The Stülper manor complex, which has been in family hands since the end of the Thirty Years War, was looked after for the heir by a chief forester as forest and estate manager. Rochow grew up in Schwerin from the age of five and, after completing the obligatory private tuition, went to the local high school as a student. Subsequently he was a pupil from Easter 1913 to January 1, 1916 (most recently Primus omnium = first senior) at the Knight Academy in Brandenburg Cathedral . Almost all ancestors of the Plessow family and many cousins ​​of the von Rochow family visited this school facility. In 1914, Hans Wichard von Rochow-Stülpe inherited from his uncle, the Knighthood Councilor Friedrich (Fritz) Ludwig von Rochow (1858–1914), the Plessow family fideikommiss with Vorwerk Zolchow (formerly Burg), Ferch, Kammerode and Resau (2765 ha) . The Plessow manor complex belonged to the von Rochow family from the Brandenburg aristocracy as early as the middle of the 14th century.

In June 1916 Hans Wichard became a flag junior in the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment in Potsdam, in March 1917 he joined the regiment's front troops as an ensign , and in February 1918 he became a royal Prussian lieutenant . His regiment belonged to the so-called Baltic Division and was in Finland. In February 1919 Rochow was decommissioned as a lieutenant. Then Hans Wichard took up residence with his mother at his castle in Plessow near Werder an der Havel. In 1920 he briefly attended the Eberswalde Forest Academy in preparation for his duties as a forester . Rochow, supported by forest and rent officials, successfully took over the estate business into its own hands. There have been good timber sales for many years.

On June 15, 1921, he married Irmgard von Gundlach ad H. Rumpshagen (1901–1955). She was his maternal cousin and the daughter of the Mecklenburg landowner Günther von Gundlach (1868–1945) and Ida, née. von Lücken (1870–1945). The couple Hans Wichard and Irmgard moved to Stülpe Castle near Luckenwalde and had four sons: Rochus Hans (1922–1943), Bernd Wichard (1925–2004), Friedrich (Friedel) Wilhelm (1928–1976) and Sieghart (1941–2004) . According to tradition, Rochow was privately considered a modern Junker. He was an avid car driver and hobby filmmaker, but of course he still cultivated the riding tradition.

Hans Wichard von Rochow became a member of the Stahlhelm in 1923 and was a member of the DNVP until October 1931. At times the district chairman of this party, the manor owner sat in the Jüterbog-Luckenwalde district assembly . Furthermore, its membership of the Agrarian League, in Waldbesitzerverband , in the German aristocracy cooperative , the Pan-German League , in the officers' association of the former. Kgl. Prussian 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment as well as in the association of former pupils of the Brandenburg Knight Academy. From 1930 to 1938 he was also Knight of Honor of the Protestant Order of St. John .

At the height of the economic crisis in 1931, he set up a coffee plantation in Angola . The plantation was about 450 km northeast of Luanda, was called Roca Canzele and remained in family ownership until the mid-1970s.

From 1930

In early November 1931 Rochow joined the NSDAP with his wife Irmgard and his eldest sister Anna Luise (1889–1945) . At the same time he became a simple member of the SS -Standarte (Regiment) 15 in Potsdam , but stayed in the Stahlhelm for several months. In July 1932 he left the SS, only to become a member of the SA a few days later. In the fall of 1932 Rochow became a troop leader, in December 1932 a storm leader, adjutant and financial sponsor of Standard 206, resp. ff. of Standard 444. The promotion to Sturmbannführer (which roughly corresponds to the major rank) of the SA followed in July 1933.

In the same summer Rochow became a member of the main board of the German Nobility Association . The other members under the noble marshal Adolf Fürst zu Bentheim-Tecklenburg , who had been in office since the previous year, were Prof. Achim von Arnim , Georg von Detten (shot on July 1 or 2, 1934), Dietrich von Jagow and the Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten , all high SA leaders. After the so-called Röhmaffair , Rochow, like many other SA leaders, was initially suspended, but later acquitted by a party court.

In January 1941, the Rochow protective forest Stülpe-Plessow was declared a protective forest under new law. The necessary negotiations with the relevant authorities to reorganize the Plessow family affidavit began as early as 1936. He used the economic boom at that time to modernize and make further structural changes to his mansions in Plessow (summer residence) and Stülpe. In the same phase, in 1937, it became possible to acquire the former Kleßen Bredow estate (798 ha) to equip his third son. The landlord was the owner of a total of 8,000 hectares of land (mainly forest) and one of the largest landowners in the province of Brandenburg .

Also in 1937, Hans Wichard von Rochow was elected Canon of Brandenburg and curator of the Knight Academy there, founded in 1705. At the time when the official business was taken over, this institution only existed as an alumnate (boarding school). Thanks to Rochow's influence and initiative, the number of pupils rose again very quickly from 18 to 80. As the local church patron, Rochow contributed financially to the renovation of the beautiful baroque Stülper village church. Little is known about his work as the landscape councilor of the Märkische Landschaft (successor to the Ritterschaftsbank since 1934). In contrast, the re-election to the main board of the German Aristocratic Association at the end of the 1930s can be proven.

In 1938 Rochow was called up several times for reserve exercises in order to be promoted to first lieutenant dR. He was drafted at the beginning of the Second World War and served on the Western Front in France in 1940 . There Rochow was promoted to Rittmeister dR. In 1941, the beginning of the attack on the Soviet Union, it went to the Eastern Front and Rochow later became chief of Reconnaissance Department 176 of the 76th Infantry Division. In 1943 he was named Major d. Usually flown out of Stalingrad wounded two days after the order was issued on January 23rd . In the spring of 1943 he was briefly appointed district administrator of the Jüterbog-Luckenwalde district (Luckenwalde-Land). In the early autumn of 1944 Rochow was appointed manager of the Brandenburg possessions of the Prince of Baruth (Mark), Golßen and Kasel-Golzig by his neighbor Friedrich Fürst zu Solms-Baruth after his arrest on July 21, 1944 . Rochow is likely to have only performed this task for a few weeks.

Hans Wichard von Rochow-Stülpe ad H. Plessow was activated again in February 1945 as a reserve officer and deployed as regimental commander in Berlin . The Märkische landlord died on May 2 or 4, 1945 north of Berlin and is buried in the Mühlenbeck district of Summt. The grave has been re-marked since 1999.

literature

• Andreas Kitzing: The life of a Brandenburg Junker - Hans Wichard von Rochow-Stülpe (1898-1945) . Verlag Thomas March, 1998. ISBN 3-00-00-2916-8 .
• see. File inventory Bundesarchiv III Berlin, formerly Berlin Document Center (BDC), personnel questionnaire of the SA personnel file

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans Wichard von Rochow in the catalog of the German National Library