Karl Leopold von Köckritz
Karl Leopold von Köckritz (born June 16, 1744 in Zielenzig , † September 30, 1821 in Berlin ) was a Prussian officer , most recently lieutenant general and head of the Reitende Feldjägerkorps .
Life
Karl Leopold was the son of Friedrich Albrecht von Köckritz († 1761) and his wife Bertha Helene, née von Unruh .
Köckritz was a cadet in Berlin from June 17, 1757 to December 14, 1761 . He then joined the Grenadier Guard Battalion No. 6 of the Prussian Army as a private corporal . In the campaign of 1794 against rebellious Poland under the leadership of General Tadeusz Kościuszko , he accompanied the then Crown Prince and later King Friedrich Wilhelm III. For the battle near Weißenburg he was awarded the Pour le Mérite . On November 17, 1797, Köckritz became adjutant general to the king and, as a colonel (since May 20, 1798), from May 20, 1801, he was also chief of the Feldjägerkorps. In this position he was promoted to major general on May 20, 1803 . He took part in the Fourth Coalition War accompanied by the king, who finally promoted him to lieutenant general on March 10, 1809 and made him Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle on December 15, 1811 . Köckritz was released from his position as adjutant general on December 20, 1814, but continued to be head of the Reitenden Feldjägerkorps.
In his time, Köckritz was considered a consummate courtier and, as a favorite and advisor, had a great influence on the undecided King Friedrich Wilhelm III until 1814, especially in personnel matters. As an advocate of an alliance with revolutionary France and a representative of the “Peace Party” at court, he, like Foreign Minister Christian Graf Haugwitz and Field Marshal Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, underestimated Napoleon I's imperial ambitions and instead saw Austria as the main opponent. This leads to a momentous development that isolates Prussia in terms of foreign policy and maneuvers it into the hopeless situation that leads to the fall of the army in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806 and Old Prussia to the brink of collapse.
In the judgment of contemporaries
- Freiherr vom Stein publicly called Köckritz a: restricted, uneducated head of common character and way of thinking .
literature
- Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 3, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632780 , pp. 148-149, no. 1053.
- Olaf Jessen: Prussia's Napoleon? Ernst von Rüchel (1754–1823). War in the Age of Reason. Verlag Schöningh, Paderborn / Munich / Vienna / Zurich 2007 ISBN 3-506-75699-0 .
- Schlosser's world history. Volume 15.
- Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch , Pantheon of the Prussian Army , p.183
- Friedrich Buchholz, Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach, Johann Wilhelm Lombard, Gallery of Prussian Characters: translated from the French manuscript , p.3ff
Web links
- 2 portraits with digital portrait index
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Köckritz, Karl Leopold von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prussian officer, most recently lieutenant general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 16, 1744 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Targeted |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 30, 1821 |
| Place of death | Berlin |