Heinrich Wilhelm of Anhalt

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Heinrich Wilhelm of Anhalt

Heinrich Wilhelm von Anhalt (* 24. December 1734 in Capelle (Anhalt) ; † 10. December 1801 in Ziesar ) was a Prussian officer , most recently General of Infantry , Inspector General of Infantry in East Prussia and Amtshauptmann to Lebus and hereditary lord to Plaue .

Life

origin

Heinrich Wilhelm was the illegitimate son of the Hereditary Prince Wilhelm Gustav von Anhalt-Dessau and his lover Henriette Marianne, née Schardius. She was the daughter of the general superintendent of Dessau Johann Peter Schardius († 1733). She later married the secret consistorial councilor Günther in Köthen .

Military career

After his father's death in 1737, his uncle Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau took care of him. This was a Prussian field marshal . He learned the soldier's trade and engineering from him. On April 5, 1752, Anhalt was initially employed under the name of Wilhelmi as a second lieutenant in the regiment on foot "Prince Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau" .

At the beginning of the Seven Years' War he was recommended to Lieutenant General Johann Dietrich von Hülsen , who recommended him to the king. He thus became a wing adjutant and quartermaster of the king. After the Battle of Liegnitz he was promoted to captain . On January 3, 1761, Friedrich II raised him to the Prussian nobility under the name of Anhalt. In the same year he received the order Pour le Mérite for his courage in the battle of Schlesisch-Neustadt . He then became a major and was in charge of the royal planning and gardening chamber. In June 1762, after the battle of Burkersdorf , he became a lieutenant colonel . On April 13, 1763 he became governor of Lebus. In 1764 he became a colonel and, two years later, quartermaster general in June and, after the death of major general von Ingersleben, also court hunter master. He kept the posts until 1781. In October 1767 he also got the Münster monastery with the Frei-Grafschaft Heyden as a fief. It fell to the king after the death of the last count, Baron von Vehlen. On May 3, 1779, he was appointed major general. In 1778 he was still in the army in the War of the Bavarian Succession . But he fell with his horse and went to Schweidnitz to cure himself. He has had fainting spells since the fall. On June 4, 1781 Anhalt became chief of the regiment on foot stationed in Breslau "von Falkenhayn" .

On May 20, 1782 he was appointed lieutenant general. On September 22, 1783 he received the regiment on foot "von Stutterheim" as the successor to Lieutenant General Joachim Friedrich von Stutterheim in Königsberg . At the same time he became Inspector General of the East Prussian Infantry and Governor of Königsberg . He held this office until his Dimission on October 16, 1786. He then retired from active service with a pension of 4,000 thalers .

On November 9th, 1786 he was defeated by Friedrich Wilhelm II for his long service to the Knight of the Black Eagle . Anhalt retired to his Plaue Castle , which he sold again to buy a house in the town of Ziesar .

Heinrich Wilhelm von Anhalt was held in high regard by Friedrich II. So he came to Potsdam shortly before the king's death to discuss military matters. He inherited a valuable golden tobacco box from the king's estate. King Friedrich Wilhelm III. held him in high regard, so that on May 20, 1798 he was promoted to general of the infantry.

But it is said that he was unpopular in the army. He was considered an intriguer, so talented officers should have left the army because of him, for example Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben , who later went to America. General Prince Heinrich and General Seydlitz are said to have hated him.

Nobility rise

On January 3, 1761, the king raised him and his brother Karl Philipp - who was a lieutenant in the artillery at the time - to the Prussian nobility under the name of Anhalt . They became Lords of Anhalt , their half-brothers were given the title of Counts of Anhalt .

family

On March 10, 1768, Anhalt married Caroline Friederike von Wedel (1748–1780) in Berlin. She was the daughter of Lieutenant General Carl Heinrich von Wedel . The couple had the following children:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Franz (* June 22, 1769 - April 16, 1837), Prussian major general ⚭ 1795 Caroline Ludovika von Weiss (* October 10, 1773 - January 19, 1825), daughter of Johann Jakob von Weiss and Hanna Barbara Koppen
  • Christiane Friederike Wilhelmine (December 16, 1770 - December 31, 1832)
⚭ 1787 Otto Georg von Stutterheim († October 1, 1817) (divorced 1797), son of Joachim Friedrich von Stutterheim
⚭ Jules Gabriel de Seigneux (born January 24, 1768 - † November 27, 1834) (divorced 1804). He was the lover of Juliane von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld .

In his second marriage, he was married to the fisherman Sophie Gericke (1760-1826) from April 18, 1797.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Friedrich August von Retzow, Characteristics of the most important events of the Seven Years' War , Volume 2, p. 435 digitized
personal data
SURNAME Anhalt, Heinrich Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heinrich Wilhelm von Wilhelmi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH Capelle (Anhalt)
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 1801
Place of death Ziesar