Karl Wilhelm Eugen von Freydorf

Karl Wilhelm Eugen von Freydorf

Karl Wilhelm Eugen von Freydorf (born February 3, 1781 in Karlsruhe , † July 25, 1854 there ) was a Baden lieutenant general and minister of war .

Career

The son of the imperial field marshal and titular margrave Christoph von Baden from his morganatic marriage with Katharina Höllischer on September 28, 1779 founded the noble Protestant family von Freydorf , from which a number of important officers and civil servants emerged.

After the death of his father in 1789, Eugen von Freydorf was under the tutelage of the Secret Legation and Cabinet Councilor Griesbach. He attended the pedagogy in Durlach and the Lyceum in Karlsruhe and also received extensive private tuition, including from Johann Gottfried Tulla .

In 1800 Freydorf became a lieutenant in the Baden artillery and for two years attended the artillery and engineering school in Vienna, which is known for its math teacher Georg von Vega , also attended lectures at the University of Vienna and came into contact with numerous personalities in social circles, for example among others with Ludwig van Beethoven .

In 1802 Freydorf was appointed Second Lieutenant of the Artillery and in 1805 Prime Lieutenant . In the Third Coalition War in 1805, Freydorf took part in the campaign against Austria as a staff captain and head of a company with six guns for the Electorate of Baden . In 1806 he organized the newly established company of horse artillery as captain for the state elevated to the Grand Duchy of Baden and took part in the siege of Stralsund with four guns in the Fourth Coalition War in 1807 . In the Fifth Coalition War , he again moved with his battery against Austria and was seriously wounded in the battle of Wagram after fighting at Schärding, Ebersberg, Paga and Raab . The right leg, which was torn by a cannonball, had to be amputated and after the wound had healed it was replaced by a wooden prosthesis.

As a war invalid, Freydorf could no longer do any further service at the front. Now he took part in administrative and organizational tasks in the service of the Baden Army . In particular after the catastrophic end of Baden in the Russian campaign in 1812 , the Baden Army Corps had to be set up and equipped from scratch in terms of personnel and material. In 1813 Freydorf became a lieutenant colonel as revue inspector for the entire army corps and in 1814 a full member of the war ministry as a colonel .

In 1818 Freydorf was a member of a commission to draft the organization of the German Armed Forces in Frankfurt . In 1821 he took part in a similar commission for the organization of the VIII Army Corps . In 1823, 1826 and 1829 he acted as voting agent for the VIII Army Corps at the Military Commission in Frankfurt. In 1831 he was a member of the commission for the revision and final conclusion of the organizational acts of the VIII Army Corps drafted in 1821. In 1832 he was promoted to major general and president of the military study commission.

Baden Minister of War

From December 9, 1833, until his retirement on March 22, 1848, Freydorf was Baden's Minister of War, and during this period he belonged to the governments of Winter , Nebenius I , Blittersdorf , Boeckh , Nebenius II and Bekk . In 1840 he was appointed lieutenant general.

During Freydorf's service management, the following organizational changes occurred in the Baden army:

• In the infantry, the body infantry regiment received a second carbine battalion of six companies in 1841, so that it then comprised three battalions.
• All five infantry regiments were divided into three battalions of four companies each in 1847.

In 1847 Freydorf became the owner of the “von Freydorf” regiment , later the body grenadier regiment. The previous designation was the line infantry regiment "von Stockhorn".

family

Eugen von Freydorf was married twice and had a total of five sons. From his first marriage to Luise Dorothea von Mentzingen (1784-1809) came the later Major General Karl von Freydorf (1809-1809). The Baden Foreign Minister Rudolf von Freydorf (1819-1882) and the Prussian Major General Berthold von Freydorf (1820-1878) emerged from the second marriage with Clementine Stöcklern von Grünholzegg (1789–1832) .

literature

• L. Löhlein: Karl Wilhelm Eugen von Freydorf. in: Friedrich von Weech (Ed.): Badische Biographien . First part, Friedrich Bassermann publishing house, Heidelberg 1875, pp. 258–261. ( Digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Karl Wilhelm Eugen von Freydorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Konrad von Schäffer	Minister of War of the Grand Duchy of Baden 1833–1848	Friedrich Hoffmann