Johann von Hille

Johann von Hille (* around 1609 in Hildesheim ; † March 18, 1684, presumably in the Königsberg area ), originally spelled probably Johann Hillenius , was a Brandenburg cavalry officer and commander of the Brandenburg flotilla , forerunner of the Kurbrandenburg Navy .

Business activity

All that is known about von Hille is that he came from a middle-class background in Hildesheim and was only ennobled in the Brandenburg service . The exact date of birth including the year of birth is currently unknown (as of 2019). According to the Rupin's loan book, he acquired a share in the Schönermark estate in 1647 as Rittmeister Johann Hillenius from Hildesheim .

In 1656 von Hille was chief of a cavalry squadron as colonel under Georg von Derfflinger . In April 1657, due to his extensive knowledge of seafaring and shipbuilding , which he had acquired in the seven provinces for Brandenburg conditions , he was commissioned by Elector Friedrich Wilhelm to take over the "supervision of the preparation and armoring of the electoral warships ". Evidently von Hille had also served in the Dutch military. He had detailed knowledge of the fortifications on Java .

When the command of the electoral flotilla was taken over in May 1657, it consisted of only three ships, the frigate Clevischer Lindenbaum , the Fleute Elector of Brandenburg and the so-called Lübischen Schute . Von Hille expanded the flotilla in 1657/58, which eventually comprised 30 units. It was used in the Second Northern War . Details of Hilles' activities are not known. In the winter, when maritime operations ceased, he commanded land troops.

After the peace agreement of Oliva in 1660, the flotilla was greatly reduced, but von Hille continued to work as ship director. Unclear when, he took over command on land again, as in command of Braunsberg and later as governor of the Friedrichsburg fortress with the simultaneous function of artillery director in Königsberg.

Von Hille died after a long illness on March 18, 1684, apparently 75 or 76 years old, probably in Königsberg.

Private life

His first wife was a Dutch widow whom he presumably married in Batavia . She died in Königsberg in the mid-1660s and was buried in the castle church. He then had relationships with a Maria Klein. A child emerged from the relationship who was legitimized by the elector. In 1673 von Hille remarried a widow, the daughter of court attorney Peter Weger. The marriage resulted in two daughters. Nothing is known about further descendants.

literature

• Bruno Roessel: The First Brandenburg Fleet in the Swedish-Polish War 1658-1660 and its commander Colonel Johann von Hille , Berlin (R. Eisenschmidt) 1903.
• Colonel on Horse von Hille. A soldier and seaman from Lower Saxony , in: OV: Obrist zu Roß von Hille and Admiral Scheer. Leader of the German Fleet , Hanover 1937, pp. 1–9. ( Lower Saxony Gestalten und Zeiten in connection with the magazine Lower Saxony , booklet 6).
• Hans Szymanski: Brandenburg-Prussia at sea 1605 to 1815 , Leipzig 1939.
• Wolfgang Petter: German fleet armor from Wallenstein to Tirpitz , in: Military History Research Office (ed.): German military history in six volumes 1648–1939 , Vol. V, Herrsching 1983, pp. 3–262. ISBN 3-88199-112-3
• Kurt Petsch: Seafaring for Brandenburg-Prussia 1650-1815. History of naval battles, overseas branches and state trading companies , Osnabrück (Biblio-Verlag) 1986. ISBN 3-7648-1192-7