Karl von Prittwitz

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Karl von Prittwitz
Karl von Prittwitz
The coat of arms of the von Prittwitz and Gaffron family

Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst von Prittwitz (born October 16, 1790 at Gut Karisch, Strehlen district , † June 8, 1871 in Görlitz ) was a Prussian infantry general and Knight of Honor of the Order of St. John . He played a role in the Berlin barricade uprising of 1848.

He should not be confused with Carl Baron von Prittwitz (1797–1881), Imperial Russian cavalry general and adjutant general of the tsar .

Life

origin

Karl came from the old, widely branched Silesian noble family von Prittwitz and was the son of the Prussian district administrator and landowner Karl Julius Wilhelm von Prittwitz (1758–1835), landlord in Karisch, and his wife Wilhelmine Ernestine Luise, née von Voss (1769–1828) , a daughter of Major General Ludwig Ernst von Voss .

Military career

After traveling by stagecoach 15 days from his father's estate, Prittwitz joined the Prussian Army in Königsberg as a flag junior on March 5, 1803 at the age of twelve as a flag junior in the “von Zenge” infantry regiment . On December 31, 1804 he was promoted to ensign and, at the age of 16, took part in the battle of Auerstedt on October 14, 1806. An alleged wounding in this battle is explicitly dismissed as a rumor in the family history of 1870. Until reactivation in 1810, Prittwitz lived in his parents' house again.

Promoted to Second Lieutenant on February 21, 1810 , he joined the 1st East Prussian Infantry Regiment and was transferred to the 1st West Prussian Infantry Regiment on August 5, 1811 . On February 26, 1812 he was assigned to the General Staff of Major General Yorck and promoted to Prime Lieutenant on October 20, 1812 in the campaign against Russia . In the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon in 1813 and 1814, Prittwitz a. a. at Großbeeren , Zahna and Dennewitz (August and September 1813) and in France. For the battle near Halle (Saale) , Prittwitz received the Iron Cross 2nd class on May 28, 1813 . He moved on June 12, 1813 Staff Captain and on 24 November 1813 Captain and was already at the age of 24 years on February 5, 1815 Major .

On December 30, 1818 Prittwitz received his appointment as adjutant to Prince Wilhelm . From May 3, 1821 he was head of department in the General Staff , from April 6, 1822 wing adjutant of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. On June 1, 1828, he had been a lieutenant colonel since 1824 and was appointed commander of the 1st Guards Regiment on foot and was promoted to colonel on March 30, 1829 . In this rank he took part in the Kalisch revue on September 12, 1835 , was then appointed commander of the 1st Guard Infantry Brigade on September 20, 1835 and promoted to major general on March 30, 1836 . Finally, on March 30, 1838, Prittwitz became the commandant of Potsdam . On March 1, 1843 Prittwitz was appointed commander of the 1st Guard Division . In his off-duty hours he also worked as an author. In 1843, for example, his military contributions to the history of 1813 appeared in two volumes about the army organization at the time. A year later he was promoted to lieutenant general on March 30, 1844 .

During the March Revolution of 1848 in Berlin , Prittwitz succeeded General Pfuel in the high command of the troops on the afternoon of March 18 . In the subsequent barricade fighting, in which the military also used cannons with grape ammunition, over 200 civilians and nearly 50 soldiers were killed. Prittwitz did not agree to the withdrawal from the reconquered inner city, ordered by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV , but remained in command. The public saw the blame for the disaster primarily on Prince Wilhelm, who was subsequently dubbed the “grape prince ” .

In May Prittwitz took over the official business of the General Command of the Guard Corps . In the following year, on March 16, 1849, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army in the Schleswig-Holstein War and took part in several battles (including at Düppel on April 13, 1849).

Friedrich Daniel Bassermann (1811–1855), then Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior, wrote to Prime Minister Heinrich von Gagern (1799–1880) on April 26, 1849 :

“ The King wrote a hand-held ticket to Prittwitz (probably concerning the crossing of the Jutian border, a note from the Prussian Minister of Foreign Affairs read out yesterday evening in the Council of Ministers recommends not to cross the border ) and asked him whether he, as a Prussian general, would not obey his orders . - He replied: With the permission of his Majesty, he had taken the oath of the central authority ( provisional central authority of the Frankfurt National Assembly ) and would therefore only obey it. "

- Friedrich Daniel Bassermann

On November 3, 1849, Prittwitz was appointed - initially interim - Commanding General of the Guard Corps (confirmed on March 23, 1852). A year later, on March 5, 1853, he celebrated his 50th anniversary in service and on this occasion received the Order of the Red Eagle First Class in diamonds with oak leaves and swords. Due to his health Prittwitz gave his farewell one who gave him on March 8, 1853 Presentation of the character as General of Infantry with the statutory pension was granted.

family

His first marriage was on May 10, 1824 in the Royal Palace of Charlottenburg near Berlin, the royal Prussian lady-in-waiting Henriette von Bergh (1804–1829), the daughter of the Prussian colonel and landowner Christian Karl Maximilian von Bergh, lord of Waldow, and Sophie Countess of Néale. The couple had three daughters, two of whom died young. The surviving daughter Henriette Luise Sophie Julie (* December 31, 1828 - May 1, 1852) married the district president Robert von Prittwitz and Gaffron .

After the death of his first wife, Prittwitz married the second marriage on April 25, 1830 at Gut Radewitz near Grünz, the royal Prussian court lady Antoinette Countess von Hacke (1799–1874), the daughter of the landowner Boguslaw Graf von Hacke and Wilhelmine von Kummer. From this marriage comes the Prussian major general Karl von Prittwitz and Gaffron (1833–1890) and two daughters. His daughter Henriette von Prittwitz (1831–1913) married the banker Friedrich Martin von Magnus (1796–1869) in 1857 , Wilhelmine Sophie Ernestine Emilie Anna (* July 16, 1836, † June 26, 1859) married the later General Rudolf Otto von Reibnitz (1829–1909).

Honors

  • Honorary Citizen of Potsdam (1843)
  • Allegedly he was also offered honorary citizenship of the city of Berlin, which Prittwitz refused.

Orders and decorations

Publications

  • (Anonymous) Contributions to the history of 1813. By a senior officer in the Prussian army. 2 vols. Potsdam, F. Riegel, 1843. With z. Partly folded inserts and 4 folded plans in lithography. Volume 1 , Volume 2
  • Berlin 1848. The memorial work of Lieutenant General Karl Ludwig von Prittwitz and other sources on the Berlin March Revolution and the history of Prussia around the middle of the 19th century , edited. u. a. v. Gerd Heinrich ( publications of the Historical Commission in Berlin ; Volume 60). de Gruyter, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-11-008326-4 .

literature

  • Karl Haenchen: From the estate of General v. Prittwitz. In: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian History (FBPG). Volume 45, 1933, pp. 99-123.
  • Karl Haenchen: From Nobiling's letters to Prittwitz. In: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Volume 53, 1941, pp. 129-154.
  • Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 5, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1938], DNB 367632802 , pp. 347-352, no. 1590.
  • Bernhard von Poten :  Prittwitz-Gaffron, Karl von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 26, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 606-608.
  • Robert von Prittwitz : The v. Prittwitz noble family. Publisher Wilhelm Gottl. Korn, Breslau 1870, pp. 207f
  • Felix Rachfahl : The opposition of General von Prittwitz. In: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Volume 18, 1905, pp. 252-257.
  • Friedrich Thimme : King Friedrich Wilhelm IV., Prittwitz and the Berlin March Revolution. In: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Volume 16, 1903, pp. 545-582.
  • Friedrich Thimme: General von Prittwitz and the 18./19. March 1848. In: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Volume 17, 1904, pp. 588-601.
  • Friedrich Thimme: The disobedience of General von Prittwitz (reply). In: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Volume 18, 1905, pp. 360-361.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lit: Robert von Prittwitz
  2. ^ Friedrich D. Bassermann: Memories. P. 288. Ed .: Ernst von Bassermann-Jordan u. Friedrich von Bassermann-Jordan , Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Frankfurt 1926.
  3. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelige Häuser A Volume VI, p. 380. Volume 29 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1962, ISSN  0435-2408
  4. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the German count's houses, Volume 13, S. 213f. Digitized
  5. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses . 21st year, Justus Perthes , Gotha 1871, pp. 429-430.
personal data
SURNAME Prittwitz, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prittwitz and Gaffron, Karl von; Prittwitz, Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1790
PLACE OF BIRTH Gut Karisch, district of Strehlen
DATE OF DEATH June 8, 1871
Place of death Goerlitz