Johan Hartvig Ernst von Berger

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Johan Hartvig Ernst von Berger (born May 8, 1757 in Copenhagen , † August 31, 1809 in Antwerp ) was a Danish naval officer during the coalition wars

origin

Johan Hartvig Ernst Ritter and Edler von Berger was the first son of Konferentsraads and personal physician Johann Just von Berger (1723–1791) and Sara Margarethe, nee. von Ramdohr (1722–1780), a daughter of Albrecht Andreas von Ramdohr . It was probably named after his father's sponsor, Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff . His wife, whom he married on November 27, 1805, was Juliane Hansdatter Lindholm (* July 8, 1768 Aagaard; † July 27, 1853), a sister of the Danish admiral Hans Lindholm (* January 20, 1757 in Saint Petersburg; * 5 September 1821 in Copenhagen).

career

Early Career, West Indies, and Arrest

He began his service in the Danish-Norwegian Navy in 1768 as a volunteer cadet . He became a cadet in 1770, and second lieutenant on December 27, 1775 . He traveled to the North Cape, and from 1780–1781 on the frigate Bornholm to the Danish West Indies (under Captain PC Schiønning). Berger was the representative of Lieutenant A. Bill when the said frigate had to drop the flag in front of three English caper frigates in a convoy near the West Indies on December 29, 1780. On his return to Denmark, Berger was arrested at the Nyholm main station on May 26, 1781 and placed under house arrest. Because of his failure to keep the Bornholm in adequate defense readiness, and because of the agreement with the commander of that ship to finally drop the flag, Berger was demoted to a sailor for one year in court on October 9, 1781. On November 5th, however, the king reduced the sentence to 6 months of detention in the main guard, and on October 18th, 1781 Berger had already been promoted to prime lieutenant. On December 7, 1781 he was released from the remainder of his sentence, and Berger sailed again for the West Indies, this time during the years 1782 to 1783 on board the frigate Perlen .

With the ruler of Morocco and in Altona

The brig Lougen (center) in action at Saint Thomas in 1801

In 1787 he became the second in command of the frigate Store Bælt , a cadet ship. In 1788 he was employed on the warship Ditmarsken , and on March 6, 1789, he became captain of the warship Mars .

Berths of Mars and Nid before Copenhagen 1801 , top left

In 1791 he was in command of the frigate Gerner in front of Morocco , deputizing for the chief captain de Løvenørn (German from Lövenörn to Bregentved ), who was missing as ambassador to the ruler of Morocco . Berger sailed from Morocco via Cádiz in July to pick up the boss there.

In 1794 Berger was second in command on the frigate Thetis in a combined Danish-Swedish squadron, then in the same function on the liner Sælland in the roadstead of Copenhagen. In 1795 and 1796 he was in command of the brig Lougen , a guard ship off Altona , of which he became captain in January 1796. On May 22, 1797, he transferred the Lougen to Copenhagen when the Nidelven replaced her as a guard ship for Altona.

Secret mission in Italy and last command

Busts carried on the Triton
Bernstorff marble busts
Bust of Cicero

In 1799 Berger was on the warship Kronprinsesse Maria , and from 1800 to 1802 the commander of the frigate Triton , which set off for the Mediterranean in a squadron on 15 May 1800 with secret instructions. On March 7, 1801, Captain Berger reported from Port Mahon, a British naval base on Menorca at the time , that the frigate had been placed under the British embargo since February 15. On February 16, he briefly commanded Brigg Giommen . On July 3, the embargo on the Danish ships was lifted and Berger continues the trip on the Triton to Italy. He was on the way to fulfill his mission when the Triton, lying in the roadstead off Livorno , got caught in a violent hurricane on November 22, 1801 and could only be saved by the nautical skills of the second in command , Lieutenant Captain Johan Johansen, after losing four anchors by being aground on a mud bank. In January 1802, Captain Berger authorized the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to transport some items of cargo to Denmark. On December 10, 1802, the Triton finally returned to Copenhagen. As ordered, she brought some boxes with Thorvaldsen's works of art from Italy.

On December 16, 1803 Bergers was promoted to Kommandørkaptajn (with the rank of lieutenant colonel), in 1805 he was in command of the brig Nidelven in an evolutionary squadre . In 1808 he was sent to Russia to lead a Russian squadron, which however failed to pass through Danish waters. On February 3, 1809, Berger was entrusted with supply transports to Norway, and on February 27, he was ordered to Antwerp to take command of the liner Dantzich , which he also took on there on March 31. On August 31 of the same year, however, Berger died there, possibly in the course of incidents in the Walcheren expedition .

Literature and web links

  • Otto Lütken (1885): De Danske paa Schelden (1808-1809) . Verlag FH Eibes, Copenhagen
  • TA Topsøe-Jensen, Emil Marquard (1935): Officerer i Den Dansk-Norske Søetat 1660–1814 and Den Danske Søetat 1814–1932 , 1st volume Aalborg-Klog. Hagerup Publishing House, Copenhagen. P. 97
  • Article of the English language Wikipedia on the brig Lougen

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on threedecks.org . Accessed May 9, 2020
  2. ↑ Entry in the Thorvaldsen Museum archive. Accessed May 8, 2020
  3. ^ Johan (also: Johannes ) Johansen (born February 6, 1765 in Copenhagen; † June 25, 1847 ibid) was promoted to lieutenant captain on December 24, 1800 and was Danish vice admiral from 1835. The team also included Johann Christian August Bielke (born August 14, 1781; † November 25, 1846 in Copenhagen), who at that time served as a cadet on the Triton , and later on February 13, 1842, head of the Danish 2nd Division (Royal Res .) has been.
  4. ^ TA Topsøe-Jensen, Emil Marquard (1935): Officerer i Den Dansk-Norske Søetat 1660-1814 og Den Danske Søetat 1814-1932 , 1st volume Aalborg-Klog . Hagerup Publishing House, Copenhagen. P. 108 and p. 672 ff. ( Online as PDF , accessed May 14, 2020)
  5. ↑ The frigate Triton was one of the ships that the Danish Navy lost to the English in 1807, cf. H. Degenkolv: Oplysninger vedrørende den danske Flaades Skibe i sidste Aarhundrede (information about the ships of the Danish fleet in the last century), København 1906, p. 3.
  6. ↑ Entry in the Thorvaldsen Museum archive. Accessed May 8, 2020
  7. ↑ including: Raffael , Cicero , Agrippa (busts) and marble busts of Andreas Peter von Bernstorff
personal data
SURNAME Berger, Johan Hartvig Ernst from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berger, Johann Hartwig Ernst Ritter and Edler von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1809
Place of death Antwerp