Joachim Bernhard von Prittwitz

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Joachim Bernhard von Prittwitz, Prussian general of the cavalry
The coat of arms of the von Prittwitz and Gaffron family
Lieutenant General von Prittwitz (behind) on Frederick the Great's deathbed (1786; detail from a lithograph by Georg Schöbel )

Joachim Bernhard von Prittwitz (born February 3, 1726 at Gut Lahserwitz, Wohlau district ; †  June 4, 1793 in Berlin ) was a Prussian cavalry general , inspector of the Märkische and Magdeburg cavalry and landowner on the Brandenburg estates Quilitz , Rosenthal, Görlsdorf, Quappendorf, Sägewitz, Kienswerder and others in the Lebus district .

Life

origin

He came from the old, widely branched Silesian noble family von Prittwitz and was the son of the Prussian captain and landowner Joachim Wilhelm von Prittwitz (born March 13, 1693 - June 5, 1758), lord of Lahserwitz, and his wife Sophie Wilhelmine Gottliebe, born von Dompnig and Nippern (born February 9, 1698 - † October 28, 1752).

Military career

Prittwitz first went to a village school and later to the Oelser Gymnasium . In August 1741 he came to the cadet house in Berlin , in November of the same year as a flagjunker in the "von Posadowsky" dragoon regiment of the Prussian army . During the Second Silesian War he took part in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg on June 7, 1745 . On April 4, 1746, he was promoted to ensign , was in Schwedt in garrison and on May 8, 1751 was promoted to second lieutenant . In the Seven Years' War Prittwitz was wounded in the Battle of Kolin and received the order Pour le Mérite for his work in the Battle of Zorndorf . Once again in need of money, he asked his king for money in a lengthy poem in 1758 and received the following reply: “ Whoever put this into verse so nicely, will be bequeathed 500 ducats . - I am your well-informed King Friedrich. "

At the end of 1758 the king allowed his general von Zieten to choose the best officers for his hussar regiment from the entire army, and the latter also chose Premier Lieutenant Prittwitz. As captain and head of a squadron , he saved King Frederick the Great from death or at least imprisonment in the battle of Kunersdorf by sprinting on his white horse and knocking the king out of the distressed situation he got into. After further battles, Prittwitz was promoted to major on December 10, 1760 and was given command of the 1st battalion of his regiment. In 1761 Prittwitz often worked for the king on a personal assignment. Due to his services acquired in the battles, he was promoted out of turn to lieutenant colonel in 1763 after the end of the Seven Years' War, which he had started as a lieutenant , and was soon also regimental commander . In addition, on April 18, 1763, he was rewarded with the gift of several goods in the Lebus district - including Quilitz, whose business was very important to Frederick the Great, which is why he often interfered personally. In October 1764 he received the Johanniter - Komtur on Schivelbein .

In the years after 1763 Prittwitz followed the king's civil orders, such as B. 1765 the examination of the suitability of the Finow'schen Canal for shipping, 1767 the examination of irregularities at the Berlin Mint. On December 12, 1768 he became a colonel . Prittwitz was a frequent guest in Sanssouci during the past, but especially in the years to come, up to the king's death . On May 20, 1775 he became major general and shortly afterwards regiment chief of the Gens d'armes in Berlin. At the same time, the king appointed him General Inspector of the Märkische and Magdeburg Cavalry.

In 1778, during the War of the Bavarian Succession , Prittwitz commanded the right wing brigade consisting of thirteen squadrons . In the years 1779/83 Prittwitz founded the “Prittwitzdorf” colony on his Gut Rudelstadt near Kupferberg, the inhabitants of which were predominantly weavers and miners. The promotion to lieutenant general took place on May 20, 1785 and on May 26 of that year Prittwitz was knighted in Magdeburg to the Knight of the Black Eagle . A lithograph by Georg Schöbel shows Prittwitz with other generals when they said goodbye to Frederick the Great's deathbed on August 17, 1786 at Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam .

On May 20, 1789, Prittwitz was finally appointed General of the Cavalry by King Friedrich Wilhelm II with an annual allowance of 1,500 thalers. In mid-August 1790 he handed the inspection over to the Duke of Weimar. He died only four years later on June 4, 1793. The Prittwitz family history of 1870 says: “ On that day, at lunchtime, in his living room to receive the officers commanded to eat, he fell to the floor . ... The dead shell was brought to Quilitz and buried in the church there in a vault next to the altar. - His wife rests there by his side. "

The grave of General von Prittwitz and his wife Maria Eleonore in the former patronage church of today's Neuhardenberg, which was remodeled by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1815/1817, has been preserved. In the floor of the chancel there is a cast-iron grave plaque with gilded letters, which reminds of the Prittwitz couple.

Prittwitz was also immortalized on monuments together with Frederick the Great, for example on the front of the large equestrian statue of Frederick the Great in Berlin. Prince Heinrich of Prussia dedicated a plaque on his Rheinsberg obelisk to him .

family

As a young officer he could not handle money himself, so he was constantly in need of money and the resulting difficulties, but at the age of 36 he married the widowed Maria Eleonore von Paczensky and Tenczin , née Freiin von Seherr-Thoß, on December 16, 1762 in Berlin (* January 12, 1739 at Gut Schönfeld, Schweidnitz district ; † February 23, 1799 in Berlin), the daughter of the landowner Karl Heinrich von Seherr-Thoß, master of the Schönfeld and Ludwigsdorf estates, and his wife Anna Elisabeth, née. von Zedlitz and Leipe . As a wealthy heiress, Eleonore brought the following Lower Silesian goods into her marriage: Peterwitz, Strehlen , Pollogwitz as well as Groß- and Klein-Sägewitz, all Breslau , Schönfeld, Ludwigsdorf, Schwenkfeld, Esdorf and Erlicht districts, all Schweidnitz , Rudelstadt near Kupferberg and Buchwald near Schmiedeberg, both in the Hirschberg district . She had previously been married to Hans Adam von Paczensky and Tenczin (1700–1761), gentlemen from Groß- and Klein-Sägewitz and Peterwitz. He had several children including:

  • Charlotte Eleonore (1763–1827) ∞ Friedrich Detlef Reichsgraf von Moltke (* August 28, 1750; † September 2, 1825)
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bernhard (* December 11, 1764; † October 2, 1843) Privy Finance Councilor ∞ Charlotte Friederike von Bernard (1767–1815)
  • Karl Heinrich (February 5, 1766; † June 9, 1826) ∞ Countess Friederike von Blankensee (* July 12, 1783; † December 17, 1856)

His granddaughter Laurette Countess von Moltke (1790–1864) was married to Lieutenant General Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch , Adjutant General of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And Plenipotentiary at the Tsar's court in Saint Petersburg .

  • Prittwitz saves Frederick the Great from captivity in the Battle of Kunersdorf on August 12, 1759 (engraving by JF Krethlow)

  • Monument to Friedrich II at Neuhardenberg Castle

  • Lieutenant General von Prittwitz (under the chandelier) on Frederick the Great's deathbed (lithograph by Georg Schöbel)

Neuhardenberg Castle

Cast-iron grave plaque with gilded letters for the couple Joachim Bernhard and Maria Eleonore von Prittwitz in the chancel of the Schinkel Church in Neuhardenberg

Quilitz became Neu-Hardenberg in 1814 , then Marxwalde in 1949 and Neuhardenberg in a different spelling in 1991.

Around 1770, Prittwitz had various farm buildings built and rebuilt on the manorial estate. From 1785–1790 he had a castle built instead of the margravial office building, a single-storey three-wing complex with a high mansard roof. Around 1790, the baroque garden was partially redesigned into an English landscape park.

After the king's death in 1786, he had a monument made of Prieborn marble ( Prieborn , Strehlen district ) in his honor in Rome for 10,000 thalers . Another monument (depicting himself and his wife as Mars and Minerva) was erected in 1792 for Frederick II, designed by Johann Wilhelm Meil and made by the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Martini .

In June 1801 there was a devastating fire in the village, with almost the entire old village, the parish and school house, the church and parts of the manor complex at the castle being destroyed. As a result of this disaster, the plans for village renewal previously drawn up by the general's son Friedrich Wilhelm Bernhard von Prittwitz (1764–1843) have now been expanded to include the burned down village areas. The only 20-year-old Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) was responsible for the reconstruction of the representative buildings (church, rectory, school, manor and office). The dike construction inspector Gotthilf Friedrich Heyfelder and the rent master Scheibel were responsible for the reconstruction of the village.

In the same year Prittwitz jun. reinforced by the expansion and beautification of the stately park. Presumably the spatial considerations came from himself. The park was extended significantly to the southeast. The former rectangular moat was opened to the south and integrated into a drainage system.

Conclusion: The current appearance of the village of Neuhardenberg comes largely from the Prittwitz era.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Prittwitz, Joachim Bernhard von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the cavalry, savior of Frederick the Great (Kunersdorf)
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1726
PLACE OF BIRTH Gut Lahserwitz, Wohlau district
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1793
Place of death Berlin