Hermann Weinacht
Hermann Weinacht (born December 8, 1845 in Schifferstadt , Palatinate , Kingdom of Bavaria , † after 1905 in Toronto , Canada) rescued a fallen Prussian hussar in the battle near Stürzelbronn on August 1, 1870 as a Bavarian Chevauleger by riding back in the hostile hail of bullets pulled up on his horse and escaped with him. Weinacht and his heroic deed went down in Bavarian military history, and the well-known military painter Louis Braun immortalized the scene in a painting that precisely expressed the mood of the new friendship between Bavaria and Prussia and therefore also served as a postcard motif. The original picture is exhibited today in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt .
prehistory
When the danger of war with France loomed in the summer of 1870, memories of the events of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic era, barely 60 years ago, came up in the Palatinate, and a well-founded panic arose among the population that the region would once again could be devastated.
Even before it had been decided on July 20, 1870 that Bavaria would join Prussia and the North German Confederation and not remain neutral, mobilization had already been ordered in the kingdom to protect against danger and the most important places in the border area had at least been occupied with small units. It was generally expected that the dreaded French army would advance rapidly inland, and serious plans existed for a boiler battle in the hinterland of Worms, up to where the French were expected to break in. In order to find out the state of the French war preparations, several "violent explorations" were carried out into the French border area. They represent the first combat operations of the Franco-German War , but were largely forgotten due to the later, much more important battles. The most famous such undertakings were the exploratory ride of the later airship builder Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin , where the first German soldiers of the war died on July 25, 1870 in the hamlet of Schirlenhof, as well as the exploration or the battle near Stürzelbronn on August 1, 1870, because of the symbolic Deed by Hermann Weinacht.
The person of Christmas and the rescue act of Stürzelbronn
Hermann Weinacht was born as the son of Christian Weinacht and Magdalena, geb. Construction crack was born in Schifferstadt in the Upper Palatinate. When war broke out in 1870, he served as a rider in the 5th Bavarian Chevaulegers regiment "Prince Otto" , which was garrison in Zweibrücken at the time . The Chevaulegers - also called "Schwolleschee" or "Schwolli" in Bavaria - were one of the most popular troops there. As light riders, as the French word "Chevauleger" describes it, they corresponded to the hussars or the dragoons in Prussia.
On July 18, 1870, Weinacht moved to Pirmasens as a member of the 2nd Squadron of the 5th Chevaulegers Regiment in order to militarily secure this border town. The Bavarian soldiers moved into permanent quarters here and remained in constant readiness. On July 31, at 5 p.m., the 2nd Squadron of the 12th Thuringian Hussar Regiment joined them. The Prussian formation also quartered in the city. The next morning, August 1, 1870, a platoon of Bavarian Chevaulegers under the command of Major Max von Egloffstein and a platoon of Prussian hussars under the command of Major von Parry undertook a joint, violent reconnaissance into France. Shortly after the border, at a sharp bend in the Bitscher Landstrasse, they came across a French unit not far from the village of Stürzelbronn , which was receiving food. A skirmish developed, with several French dead and wounded. However, after the initial shock, the French immediately took advantage of the terrain, fled into the steep walls of the valley and opened a strong fire on the German riders. They had to flee through a steep and narrow valley gorge to get out of the field of fire. Several horses fell and a Prussian hussar, whose saddle had slipped, fell. Chevauleger Weinacht had also lost his saddle, but was already safely under cover. When he recognized the plight of his Prussian comrade, he swung himself onto his saddleless mount and galloped in the hail of bullets to the hussar, pulled him onto the horse behind him and escaped with him. Both were not wounded.
Even if the action had not been very successful from a military point of view, the moral effect was enormous. Bavaria and Prussia faced each other four years earlier as bitter enemies. In Lower Franconia, Bavarian Chevaulegers even fled the Prussian hussars in panic during the war in 1866 , which is why the regimental commander, Colonel Freiherr von Pechmann, shot himself. After the selfless act of Hermann Weinacht, the honor of the Bavarian Chevaulegers towards the Prussian hussars was felt to have been restored. In addition, as a result of the transnational rescue act at the beginning of the war - even before the first battle had even been fought - the new Bavarian-Prussian Brotherhood of Arms was formally sealed by a symbolic act. The event was felt, celebrated and made known accordingly. When the riders entered Pirmasens in the evening, the Bavarian Chevauleger Hermann Weinacht had his Prussian hussar behind him on horseback, and the Pirmasens Kommerzienrat Louis Leinenweber reports in his memories that this patriotic image of the two northern and southern German riders united on one horse " caused a colossal joy and excitement among the population who cheered as if a battle had been won ”. The event had a direct "electrifying" effect on people.
The Bavarian-Prussian rescue act by Hermann Weinacht has been recognized and described in many contemporary publications. The facts were included in the official regimental history of Oskar von Sichlern in 1876 with a detailed description. Hermann Weinacht received the Prussian Iron Cross 2nd class for his selfless deed , a rare award for personal bravery at the time. The deed of Christmas was the first that led to the award of the Iron Cross in the war of 1870/71.
Around 1905, the famous Munich military and panorama painter Professor Louis Braun created an oil painting of the patriotic scene on behalf of former officers of the 5th Chevaulegers Regiment. The picture with the title “The battle near Stürzelbronn” was often copied and also reproduced in print. It was also a popular postcard motif in the Wilhelmine era. The original is currently in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt . Also in later publications - for the last time in the home yearbook of the Ludwigshafen am Rhein district, 2000 - the rescue act of the Schifferstadter or the well-known painting that resulted from it was mentioned and described again and again.
Hermann Weinacht was a civilian tailor and in 1871, after the end of the war, married Henriette Elisabeth Cajar, who came from there, in his garrison town of Zweibrücken. Apparently the couple emigrated to Canada. The Sunday edition “Zeitbilder” of the Palatinate Press in Kaiserslautern printed Braun's painting in No. 11 of March 12, 1905 and reported that it was “recently” and that Hermann Weinacht is currently living as a master tailor in Toronto, Canada, wherever he is send a copy. No information is available about the further life and time of death at Christmas.
literature
- Oskar von Sichlern: History of the Royal Bavarian 5th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prince Otto" . Munich 1876
- An episode from the Franco-German war . In: Zeitbilder , illustrated Sunday supplement of the newspaper Pfälzische Presse , Kaiserslautern, No. 11 of March 12, 1905 (with a reprint of the painting)
- Louis Linen Weaver : My War Experiences 1870/71 . Verlag Lützel und Co., Pirmasens 1911, pages 33/34 (with a reprint of the painting); Reprint Verlag für Zeitgeschichte, Bad Dürkheim 2005
- Gerd Schulz, in: Kaskett , magazine of the friends of the Bavarian Army Museum e. V., No. 7, 1996
- Bernhard Kukatzki : Schifferstadt's heroic deeds are also fleeting . In: Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Ludwigshafen am Rhein , 2000, ISBN 3-931717-04-6 , pages 62-64 (with a reprint of the painting)
Individual evidence
- ^ Website on Count Zeppelin's violent exploration
- ^ Website of the 12th Thuringian Hussar Regiment
- ↑ Louis Leinenweber : My War Experiences 1870/71 . Verlag Lützel and Co., Pirmasens 1911, pages 33/34
- ^ Oskar von Sichlern: History of the Royal Bavarian 5th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prinz Otto" , Munich 1876
- ^ Ordinance sheet Bavarian War Ministry , March 1871
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Christmas, Hermann |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bavarian Chevauleger and hero of a patriotic rescue act |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 8, 1845 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schifferstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 1905 |
| Place of death | Toronto |