Joachim von Heydebreck

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Lieutenant Colonel Joachim von Heydebreck (1861–1914) around 1912.

Joachim Friedrich von Heydebreck (born October 6, 1861 in Schwedt ; † November 12, 1914 in Kalkfontein ) was a Prussian lieutenant colonel and commander of the protection force in German South West Africa .

Life

Joachim von Heydebreck was after Claus von Heydebreck the second eldest son of the Prussian lieutenant general and MP Henning von Heydebreck (1828-1904) and his wife Anna, born von Colmar (1837-1879). He was born in Schwedt in 1861 and grew up on the nearby family estate in Zützen . After completing his school education at the Royal Pedagogy Putbus on Rügen in 1882 , he joined the 2nd Guard Field Artillery Regiment of the Prussian Army in Berlin. In the course of his military career he was promoted to second lieutenant in 1884 , then to prime lieutenant in 1891 , captain in 1898 , major in 1907 and lieutenant colonel in 1913.

In 1896, Joachim von Heydebreck signed up for the protection force in German South West Africa. There he took part in the Battle of Grootberg (1897/98). Then he took command of a company of the force. In 1903 he accompanied Theodor Leutwein to the south to suppress the Bondelswart uprising . During the Herero and Nama uprising , he commanded an artillery unit.

In 1905 Joachim von Heydebreck returned to Germany temporarily for health reasons. He then worked as a military advisor to the governor of the colony. From 1907 he was involved in the reorganization of the police apparatus in German South West Africa and was appointed the first police inspector, which he remained until 1910. At the same time he had a seat in the government. From 1910 to 1912 he was acting commander of the protection force, then permanently until his death in 1914. He was tasked with preparing the protection force for the suppression of local uprisings and attacks from neighboring countries.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, he fought with the Schutztruppe against the troops of Prime Minister Louis Bothas and War Minister Jan Smuts from South Africa. The protection force consisted of 1,800 men in peacetime; by the state police, reservists and the Landsturm it was reinforced to almost 6,000 men. With a column of 300 men Heydebreck forced the only victory of the protection force in South West Africa in the battle of Sandfontein . Using unconventional methods, he tried to stop the outnumbered South Africans - General Botha had 50,000 men and 15,000 vehicles. His motto was: "A Schutztruppler can do everything, give him some wire, a pair of pliers and some tin cans and he can turn it into a submarine!" Before the armistice between Governor Seitz and General Botha at 500 km of the Otavia Railway , von Heydebrink died an accident caused by an exploding self-made rifle grenade of his own men.

Joachim von Heydebreck was an honorary knight of the Order of St. John . He was married to the widowed Ruth Selle, née von Werder , and the adoptive father of their son from his first marriage.

literature

  • Bernd G. Längin: The German colonies. Mittler Verlag, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-8132-0821-4 , p. 305 ff.
  • Hans Emil Lenssen: Chronicle of South West Africa 1883-1915. Publishing house of the SWA Scientific Society, Windhoek 1966.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ http://www.klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_V.htm
  2. ↑ a b c d A. C. Stern: Von Heydebreck, Joachim. In: WJ Dictionary of South African Biography. Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 1968-1987. Retrieved from the African Biographical Archive, pp. 168–170.
  3. ↑ Hansjürgen Heinrich Friedrich Heydebreck-Selle (born August 18, 1903), from 1925 "von Heydebreck-Selle", cf. Heydebreck: Familiengeschichte 1254 to 1999, p. 163, in Volume 13 by Institut Deutsche Adelsforschung, series of publications by the Institut Deutsche Adelsforschung
personal data
SURNAME Heydebreck, Joachim von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant colonel, commander of the protection force for German South West Africa
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Schwedt
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1914
Place of death Kalkfontein , German South West Africa