Heinrich Otto von Scheel

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Heinrich Otto von Scheel (born November 1, 1745 in Rendsburg , † May 1, 1808 in Berlin ) was a Danish lieutenant colonel and later Prussian major general and first director of the military engineering academy in Potsdam .

Life

origin

His parents were Danish Colonel of Artillery Georg Heinrich Scheel (1706-1757) and his wife Elisabeth Dorothea, born of Lutzow (1716-1790).

Military career

Scheel was initially in Danish service from January 4, 1753, became a fireworker for the Holstein artillery and in October 1760 advanced to the rank of junker . On March 17, 1762 he received the character as a lieutenant and on June 23, 1762 the patent for his rank. On January 18, 1763 he became Prime Lieutenant . Scheel also took part in the campaign in Mecklenburg. On the king's orders, he went to Strasbourg in 1767 to inspect the French artillery. Based on this knowledge, new material was purchased in 1775. The study was published in 1777 as Memoire d'Artillerie concernant l'Artillerie francaise . It was so good that French officers revised it and a new edition was brought out in Paris in 1795.

On February 6, 1772 Scheel received the character as captain and on December 4, 1773 the patent for it. In 1773 he also became a member of the examination committee for the Danish artillery. He collected his findings from this period in a report in 1781 that is still in the Danish artillery archive.

On June 1, 1776, Scheel was appointed adjutant general to Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark . During the War of the Bavarian Succession he volunteered in the Prussian Army . He remained in the Danish service and got the character of major on March 28, 1781 . Scheel received money from the king so that he could continue to write and travel. He made trips to Skane and Pomerania . This is how the book War History and in 1785 the military terrain description General Draft of a Theater of War for the Danish and Swedish states was created . In 1784 he became Chamberlain and on February 25, 1785 Premier Major of the Artillery. Nevertheless, the relationship must have been disturbed, because he complained about the resetting and on September 21, 1787 he resigned from the Danish service.

The Cabinet House at Potsdamer Neuer Markt 1: the seat of the former engineering academy of the Prussian army

Scheel then went into Prussian service and was hired as a major on October 7, 1787 with a patent from December 1, 1782. On March 9, 1788, he became the first director of the engineering academy in Potsdam. On August 19, 1790, he received an order to visit the Silesian fortresses. A month later he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Before the beginning of the First Coalition War , Scheel asked on May 16, 1793 for a use at the front. But he stayed at his post and was not mobilized. Nevertheless he became a colonel on January 10, 1793 and a brigadier of the 2nd Engineer Brigade on December 31, 1796 with a bonus of 400 thalers. His successor at the Academy was Major General Bonaventura von Rauch .

On May 20, 1800, Scheel was promoted to major general with a patent from May 23, 1800. Due to his health, however, he was released from his duties on March 27, 1804. During the Fourth Coalition War , Scheel was in the fortress of Stettin when it surrendered. He was taken prisoner by the French, but was quickly released. In 1807 he was put on half pay. He died on May 1, 1808 in Berlin and was buried on May 4, 1808 in the Potsdam Garrison Church.

family

Scheel married Anna Katharina Fortling (* 1758), a daughter of the Danish-German court architect Jakob Fortling , on August 4, 1775 in the St. Petri Church in Copenhagen . The daughter Dorothea Sophie Friederike (* 1788) emerged from the marriage. After the marriage was divorced in 1790, Scheel married Albertine Sophie Dorothea Necker (1780–1831) on November 16, 1791 in Brandenburg an der Havel . The couple had several children:

  • Elisabeth Karoline (* 1792)
  • Karl Friedrich Heinrich (1794-1851), Lieutenant Colonel ret. D. ⚭ 1818 Elise Therese Marie Schuler von Senden (1798–1861)
  • Otto Albert (1795–1865), Colonel a. D., military writer

The general died in modest circumstances, the king regretted not being able to help. After his death, the widow received a pension of 200 thalers from August 20, 1812.

plant

Scheel was in Danish service when his first work, Der Schauplatz des Krieg , was published. Even before he went to war with Frederick II as a volunteer , he had written contact with the king. Even after the war he stayed with Frederick II for some time before returning to Denmark. After the king's death, the new King Friedrich Wilhelm II brought the Dane into Prussian service and made him director of the first engineering academy. Scheel created the first lesson plan and received 2000 thalers from the king for teaching material. Major Winanko was appointed second director. The king valued his achievements very much and so Scheel remained director of the school until 1804, although he repeatedly applied for a field use.

Fonts

  • Memoire d'Artillerie concernant l'Artillerie francaise. 1777, books.google.de
  • General draft of a theater of war for the Danish and Swedish states. 1785.
  • Modern fastening of an octagon.
  • The scene of the war.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to Dansk biografisk Lexikon 1765, which makes little sense here
  2. ↑ Friedrich von Senden: History of the barons of sending and baron Schuler of sending. P. 411.
  3. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses for the year 1862. Twelfth year, Nekrolog. P. 972.
  4. ↑ Dansk biografisk Lexikon writes that he divorced in 1804, but then the widow would hardly have received a pension
personal data
SURNAME Scheel, Heinrich Otto von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian major general
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH Rendsburg
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1808
Place of death Berlin