Christian von Schmaltz

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Christian von Schmaltz

Johann Heinrich Christian Maria Schmaltz , from 1850 Knight von Schmaltz (born September 26, 1787 in Homburg , Duchy of Pfalz-Zweibrücken , Karlsberg Palace ; † April 28, 1865 in Ansbach ) was a Palatine-Bavarian nobleman, officer and Greek Minister of War . He built up the first Greek armed forces after the country's independence, which is why he is also known as the "father of the Greek army ".

biography

Schmaltz was born at Karlsberg Castle in what is now Saarland and was the son of Johann Philipp Schmaltz from Landau in the Palatinate , government councilor and cabinet secretary of Duke Karl II of Zweibrücken . The mother's name was Maria Magdalena geb. Leclerc, daughter of the court painter Jakob Friedrich Leclerc .

After training in the Bavarian Cadet Corps and at the Bavarian War Academy in Munich, Schmaltz took part in the Bavarian Army campaigns between 1805 and 1814. On April 25, 1814, he was awarded the Prussian order Pour le Mérite for bravery in the battles of Bar-sur-Aube and Arcis-sur-Aube . For his services to Bavaria, King Max I Joseph elevated him to hereditary nobility in 1817 .

In 1832 King Ludwig I appointed the officer as inspector of the Bavarian Auxiliary Corps for Greece . Schmaltz accompanied his son, King Otto I , to take over the government in Greece. Initially, he was Inspector General of the newly formed Greek troops and served from June 13, 1833 to March 23, 1834 and again from June 22, 1835 to July 14, 1841 as Minister of War of the Kingdom of Greece . He completely rebuilt the armed forces of the country, which had only just become independent, which earned him the unofficial honorary title of “father of the Greek army”.

In 1841, political displeasure with foreigners in Greece had grown so much that Schmaltz was the last minister of non-Greek nationality to resign and return to the Kingdom of Bavaria . Here in 1842 he became the commandant of the fortress Germersheim in the Rhine district , in 1845 he advanced to major general and took over the 3rd Cavalry Brigade in Ansbach. In 1849 he commanded the Bavarian troop contingent that took part in the national campaign against Denmark , and in 1850 he was promoted to head of the 2nd Bavarian Cavalry Division.

His son Christian von Schmaltz published a memorial booklet about his father in 1911 with the title From the life of Major General von Schmaltz, with a special focus on the train to Greece .

Awards

Awarded the aforementioned order Pour le Mérite, Schmaltz was also a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown since 1850 . He also wore the Grand Cross of the Greek Order of Redeemer , the Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honor , the Prussian Red Eagle Order II. Class, the Commander's Cross 1st Class of the Swedish Order of the Sword and the Knight's Cross of the Russian Order of St. Andrew .

Family relationships

Christian von Schmaltz married Freiin Henriette Fuchs von Bimbach on July 12, 1821 , but she died in 1828. In 1843 he married Marie Elise Adelheid von Zandt (1817–1863), the daughter of Major General Leopold Balduin von Zandt . From this connection the only son and two daughters emerged. The youngest daughter married Philipp Ludwig Freiherr von Seefried on Buttenheim in 1869. Both son, Otto Ludwig Philipp von Seefried auf Buttenheim, married the Wittelsbach princess Elisabeth Marie of Bavaria (1874–1957) in 1893 in what was then a spectacular love affair . A daughter from this connection (Auguste von Seefried auf Buttenheim) became the wife of the Bavarian Prince and historian Adalbert von Bayern (1886–1970) .

literature

  • Christian von Schmaltz: From the life of Major General von Schmaltz with special consideration of the train to Greece , 1911 Finding advice .
  • Wolf Seidl: Bavaria in Greece . Prestel Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-7913-0556-5 , p. 352.
  • Heinz Lieberich: Die Schmaltz , in: Mitteilungen des Historisches Verein der Pfalz , Volume 75, 1977, pp. 75–89 ( PDF file ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ z. B. in the entry in the New German Biography.
  2. ↑ cf. Jakob Friedrich Leclerc in the index of the German biography.
  3. ↑ Anton von Schönhueb: History of the Royal Bavarian cadet corps . Munich 1856, p. 130 ( digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Order list Pour le Mérite -träger 1814 ( Memento of the original of September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pourlemerite.org
  5. ↑ Hubert Glaser: King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Leo von Klenze: Der Briefwechsel , Volumes 2-3, Commission for Bavarian State History, 2007, p. 12 ( preview on Google Books ).
  6. ^ Website on Greek ministers .
  7. ↑ Army order of June 20, 1850 ( digitized version ).
  8. ^ Bavarian Army Order of December 25, 1841 ( digitized version ).
  9. ^ Military manual of the Kingdom of Bavaria , 1840, p. 179 ( digitized version ).
  10. ^ Seefried von Buttenheim , in: Pierer's Universal-Lexikon . Volume 15. Altenburg 1862, p. 740.
personal data
SURNAME Schmaltz, Christian von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmaltz, Johann Heinrich Christian Maria Ritter von (full name); Schmaltz, Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bavarian officer, Greek Minister of War
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1787
PLACE OF BIRTH Homburg , Karlsberg Castle
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1865
Place of death Ansbach