Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen

Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen (1781)

Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Count of Doggersbank (born May 1, 1735 in Doesburg , † May 22, 1819 in Apeldoorn ) was a Dutch admiral.

Life

His father Johann Henrich Ginsberg was born on January 7, 1706 in Salchendorf near Siegen in the Nassau region and emigrated to the Netherlands to become a soldier. In 1727 he got a job as a sergeant and married on June 6, 1734 Petronella ten Nuyl in Zutphen , the bride's place of residence. Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen married in 1786 with Hester Hooft , a daughter of the Amsterdam regent Hendrik Hooft .

Kinsbergen entered naval service at the age of 15 and quickly rose to the top of the military ladder (1762 first officer, 1768 commander). When war broke out between the Ottoman Empire and Russia in 1771, he entered the service of the Russian Tsarina Catherine II and was given command of a squadron in the Black Sea . There he defeated a Turkish fleet that was far superior in strength by skillful maneuvering in September 1773 and for the first time tested the use of moving signals. His draft for the construction of gunboats and a memorandum that he submitted to the Tsarina on free navigation on the Black Sea show that he was an able diplomat and seaman.

1775 Holland returned, he was commissioned with the Sultan of Morocco to negotiate a peace, and fought with flying colors on August 5, 1781 as a first officer on the flagship of Admiral Johan Arnold Zoutman in the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781) against the English people. When the French invaded Holland under General Dumouriez in 1793 and 1794, it was Kinsbergen's plans to defend the Moerdijk and the Zuidersee that delayed the enemy for some time.

After the establishment of the Batavian Republic in January 1795, which had ordered him to hand over the Dutch fleet to France, he retired to his estate near Apeldoorn in Gelderland and later entered Danish service. In 1806 he was appointed Count ("the Doggers Bank") by King Louis Bonaparte and in 1811 by Napoleon as Senator.

The Netherlands owes him the establishment of the naval establishment in Amsterdam, the deaf-mute establishment in Groningen , the academies in Utrecht and Harderwijk and several other charitable foundations. His writings on marine life and naval warfare are also valued. He was a member of several learned societies. He died on May 22, 1819.

In his will, Kinsbergen had, among other things, stipulated that the needy descendants of his grandfather Adam Ginsberg, who had got into trouble through no fault of their own, would receive support from the interest on his property upon application. Payments stopped after the last war.

Regarding the settlement of payments from the foundation fund at that time, an announcement from 1847 is quoted as follows:

“My domestic circumstances do not currently allow me to accept applications from the descendants of Adam Ginsberg zu Salchendorf for support from the legacy donated by Sr. Excellenz to Lieutnant-Admiral von Kinsbergen.

So I refer those who intend to make such requests to the Carl Gontermann trades in Neunkirchen. She will accept the same in my place and also pay out the approved support in the course of the year.

The above-mentioned descendants will be informed by this institution.

(Neunkirchen-) Zeppenfeld, March 6, 1847 Councilor Gontermann "

Honors

• The Dutch Navy named several of their ships after him.
• The municipality of Salchendorf (today Neunkirchen near Siegen) named a street after him in honor of Kinsbergen and placed a memorial stone in the center of the village.
• The composer Johann Wilhelm Wilms wrote his “Chants nationaux” for piano for him. The work published by HCSteup (Amsterdam) with plate number 191 contains the following text on the title page: “ Chants nationaux selon le Program de Son Excellence Mr le Lieut.t Amiral JHde Kirnsbergen, Grand Croix de differens Ordres en Europe etc. etc. etc. etc. Composés et variés pour [Pianoforte] by JW Wilms, Membre de l'Institut royal des Pays-Bas ”.

• 

  Kinsbergen grave monument in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam

• 

  Kinsbergen monument in Apeldoorn

• 

  Monument in Neunkirchen-Salchendorf

literature

• RB Prud'homme van Reine: Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen 1735-1819. Admiraal en Filantroop. De Bataafsche Leeuw, Amsterdam, 1990, ISBN 90-6707237-0 (Dutch)
• MC van Hall: Het Leven en Karakter van den Admiraal Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen. Johannes Müller, Amsterdam, 1841 (Dutch)
• Marie-Josèphe Furet-Ginsberg, Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen (1735–1819) (Master's thesis University of Clermont-Ferrand). German edition published by Heimatverein Salchendorf eV, 57290 Neunkirchen, published in 1996.
• Karl Heinz Gerhards: The legacy of Admiral Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen (in SIEGERLAND, vol. 89, issue 2, 2012, p. 239 ff.)

Web links

Commons : Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files