Joseph von Stutterheim

Joseph von Stutterheim

Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order

Joseph Freiherr von Stutterheim (born June 19, 1764 in Neustadt in Moravia; † July 21, 1831 in Lemberg ) was an imperial Austrian field marshal lieutenant , secretary and court war councilor , knight of the Military Maria Theresa Order and commander of the Leopold Order .

life and career

Trained at the Vienna-Neustädter Military Academy , Stutterheim joined Infantry Regiment No. 8 on September 1, 1783 as a cadet . In 1789 he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1798 to first lieutenant . He took part in the campaigns against France from 1793 to 1795. In 1796 he was transferred as a captain to the quartermaster general . As such, he fought against France in the wars of 1796 and 1797.

On August 31, 1799 he became major and was in the field in Italy. There he distinguished himself at Verona (March 26th), Magnano (April 5th), in the battle of Novi (August 15th) and Genola ( Savigliano ) (November 4th / 5th). On September 1, 1805 he became a lieutenant colonel , on August 3, 1807, a colonel . During the 1809 campaign he was at the headquarters of Archduke Karl. His excellent service received the recognition he deserved when he was promoted to major general two days after the battle of Aspern .

As adjutant to Field Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg , he took part in the Austrian Auxiliary Corps in the 1812 war against Russia . In 1813 he led a grenadier brigade in Italy , defended the bridge over the Alpone (November 15), and in the following year in the Battle of Mincio (February 8, 1814), his cold-blooded determination and prudence rendered Field Marshal Count Bellegarde such essential service awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Maria Theresa Order on February 15 .

Promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal in 1815, he commanded a division of the Austrian Reserve Corps under Archduke Ferdinand d'Este . 1817-1823 he held the post of District Chief of - - at that time belonging to Galicia Bukovina held. Because of his merits, he was elevated to the status of Austrian baron by the emperor in 1819 and appointed court war councilor on January 24, 1824. In 1828 Emperor Franz appointed the tried and tested military to the post of commanding general in Galicia . His efforts at the outbreak of cholera in that province (1831) were extraordinary ; he himself became one of the first victims of the devastating epidemic in Lemberg.

Ludwig van Beethoven dedicated his string quartet in C sharp minor op.131 to Stutterheim, who looked after Beethoven's nephew Karl van Beethoven after he entered the military .

In 1912 in Vienna Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus (15th district), Stutterheimstrasse was named after him.

Works (selection)

• The campaign in Italy in 1799 until the Russians withdrew to Switzerland , in: Oesterreichischemilische Zeitschrift , 2nd edition of the year 1811/12, Vienna 1820, pp. 337-577 (digitized version )

In addition to other publications, the war archive in Vienna keeps his manuscripts of his war history works on the campaigns of 1793, 1794, 1795 and 1796 in addition to a few strategic drafts.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Stutterheim, Joseph Freiherr . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 40th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1880, p. 240 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Carl von Duncker:  Stutterheim, Joseph Freiherr von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 37, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, p. 76 f.
• Eckart von Stutterheim and Kurt von Stutterheim: The gentlemen and barons of Stutterheim / Alt-Stutterheim . Verlag Degener & Co., Neustadt an der Aisch 1965, pp. 116–118 and 244–246, plate after p. 244
• Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial and Royal Generals 1618–1815. Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano 2006 p. 99 (PDF; 453 kB)