Johann Heinrich von Günther

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Johann Heinrich von Günther (1736–1803)

Johann Heinrich Günther , since 1798 Freiherr von Günther (born December 8, 1736 in Neu-Ruppin , † April 22, 1803 in Tykoczyn ) was a Prussian lieutenant general and was considered a master of the Little War .

Life

origin

Johann Heinrich was the son of the field preacher in the infantry regiment "Crown Prince" David Heinrich Günther († 1742) and his wife Sophie Dorothea, née Thile (1718–1781).

Military career

After the early death of his father, Johann Heinrich grew up with his widowed mother in cramped conditions. He attended the Joachimsthal Gymnasium in 1752/55 and matriculated at the University of Frankfurt (Oder) in 1755 . First he studied law and from 1757 Protestant theology at the University of Halle . With his fellow students, Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq , Johann Georg Scheffner and David von Neumann , he soon joined the Prussian Army in order to take part in the Seven Years War . First at the Commissariat , he fought in the Angelelli Free Battalion , in the Trümbach Free Corps and in the regiment of General Friedrich Wilhelm Bauer , whose adjutant he became. Honored and wounded, in 1763 he was promoted to staff assistant master in the “Vasold” Cuirassier Regiment .

As a major , Günther was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility on June 9, 1773 . He took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession in 1778/79 , was appointed lieutenant colonel at the end of May 1783 and on October 15, 1783 commander of the “von Hohenstock” hussar regiment . Colonel since 1785 , Günther was appointed chief of the Bosniak regiment by King Friedrich Wilhelm II in mid-January 1788 and promoted to major general in mid-May 1789 . On the occasion of the review at Heiligenbeil , he received the order Pour le Mérite on June 2, 1789 .

The monument for Lieutenant General von Günther erected in 1840/41

After 25 years of peace, Günther shone in the Prussian-Polish War in 1794 as a "quick and bold cavalry general" of Zieten's style . Antoni Madaliński's attacks on South Prussia were repulsed and the rebels under General Tadeusz Kościuszko were crushed. The defeat was followed by the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 . Although the organizationally gifted Günther was only the third oldest general in the corps, Friedrich Wilhelm appointed him commander of all troops on the left bank of the Vistula . With the Russian general Alexander Wassiljewitsch Suvorov he was to occupy Warsaw and turn it off as the source of the uprising. When Praga surrendered to Suvorov without any action, he returned to the garrisons with his Bosniaks .

When he was military governor of New East Prussia from 1794 to 1796 , Günther was awarded the Great Red Eagle Order in mid-July 1794 and promoted to lieutenant general in 1795 the following year. In addition, he was Drost von Friedeburg in East Frisia since July 17, 1795 . Friedrich Wilhelm III. immediately after his accession to the throne in November 1797 raised him to the rank of baron . In 1799 there was an exchange of letters between Günther and the later Bishop Ludwig Ernst von Borowski . Some letters were published in the Prussian Provincial Papers (Königsberg 1836) in 1836. Receiving the Order of the Black Eagle , he became Inspector General of the Regiment and Battalion "Towarczys" on May 3, 1800. Günther died unmarried while exercising his service.

From his salary he took only 300 thalers for himself ; the rest he used for the benefit of the officer corps and the army. Theodor Fontane devotes an entire chapter to Günther in his hikes through the Mark Brandenburg . The general died on April 22, 1803 and, according to his last will, was buried on April 26, 1803 in the German cemetery in Tycoczyn. In 1840 his remains were transferred to Lyck , where a large monument was placed over the grave.

Hermann von Boyen , Günther's adjutant and biographer, wrote:

“Günther withdrew from the hustle and bustle of the world and society at an early age. What determined him to this seclusion, whether it was painfully broken life connections (that is, unhappy love, but nothing of a vow of chastity) may remain open. "

- Hermann von Boyen

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Moritz Arndt : Walks and changes with the Baron von Stein. 2nd edition, Langensalza 1930,
  2. ↑ a b c Th. Fontane (textlog.de)
personal data
SURNAME Günther, Johann Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Günther, Johann Heinrich Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general and military governor
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1736
PLACE OF BIRTH New Ruppin
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 1803
Place of death Tykoczyn