Karl Ludwig von Erlach

Karl Ludwig von Erlach

Karl Ludwig Reichsgraf von Erlach (born November 10, 1746 in Bern , † March 5, 1798 near Wichtrach ), Lord of Hindelbank , Bäriswil , Mattstetten and Urtenen , was a general in old Bern .

He came from the Bernese noble family von Erlach . After first serving in the French Swiss Guard, he led the Bernese troops in the suppression of the unrest that broke out in Vaud in 1791 . In 1798, after the French invasion , he was again entrusted with the command of the Bernese troops, but was hampered by the indecision of the Grand Council .

After bitter resistance at Fraubrunnen and in the Battle of Grauholz , he was forced to retreat from Schauenburg , and after the French captured Bern and on the way to the Bernese Oberland , where he wanted to organize further resistance, soldiers from his camp took him mistakenly believed to be a traitor, killed.

literature

• Barbara Braun-Bucher: Erlach, Karl Ludwig von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Emil Blösch :  Erlach, Karl Ludwig von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 220.
• Moritz von Stürler : About the murder of Major General Carl Ludwig von Erlach, Supreme Commander of the Bern troops, on March 5, 1798 in Niederwichtrach. Lecture In: Archive of the Historical Association of the Canton of Bern, Vol. 8 (1872–1875) Digitized