Louis Christoph Friedrich Heinrich von Kleist

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Louis Christoph Friedrich Heinrich von Kleist (born November 8, 1790 ; † May 1, 1854 in Libau ) was a German-Baltic landowner , Russian officer and holder of the Pour le Mérite military order .

Life

origin

Louis von Kleist came from the Kurland Susten branch of the Muttrin-Damen line of the old noble von Kleist family from Pomerania , which provided the Prussian crown with numerous high officers and administrative officials since the 17th century. He was born in 1790 as the second son of Christian Ewald von Kleist (1758–1812), Lord of Kreuzburg and Susten ( Kurland ), and Maria Julie Theresia Elise von Keyserlingk (1761–1800).

Military career

Louis von Kleist joined the Russian army at the age of sixteen and already distinguished himself in the battles against Napoleon in 1806 , after he had invaded the part of Poland that was then part of Russia in the war against Prussia and Russians. He fought in the Battle of Pultusk , in which the Russians were victorious on December 26, 1806, and also distinguished himself in the Battle of Preussisch Eylau on December 7, which was a draw for the Prussians and Russians under the command of Russian General Levin August von Bennigsen . and February 8, 1807. After the city of Danzig, bitterly defended by the Prussians , fell into French hands on May 26, 1807, Napoleon attacked the Prussian-Russian army near Heilsberg on June 10, 1807 and was repulsed by the allies. After the French defeated the Russians and Prussians at Friedland , the Russians concluded a separate peace with Napoleon. In all of these battles Louis von Kleist was so bravely present that Tsar Alexander I promoted him to captain despite his youth and awarded him the Order of St. Anne and the Order of St. Vladimir . The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. retrospectively paid tribute to his services and awarded him the order Pour le Mérite on February 8, 1808 . In a royal handwriting to Louis 'father it says: ' ... My vester dear faithful! , --- and now I want your son, Lieutenant von Kleist, ---- because his commander, Major General Prince Dolgoruky V, gave him the testimony in the certificate that he was ---- special in the war Has shown courage and bravery to appoint Kleist as a knight of my order fdV and will make him the insignia of the same-- .

Life as a large landowner

After the war, von Kleist retired from military service and devoted himself to managing his property in Courland. After the death of his father, he took over his majorate in Kreuzburg-Susten, after he had already received the Gawesen, Niehoff and Ingenhoff estates from his maternal grandfather Johann Emmerich von Keyserlingk as entails , against the requirement that each entrant must add Keyserlingk to his name would have. Louis died on May 1, 1854 in Libau . He was married three times and had four sons and four daughters from his first marriage and a son and a daughter from his third marriage.

literature

  • Gustav Kratz : The story of the von Kleist family , Volume III, No. 682, p. 87. digitized
  • Gustav Lehmann: The Knights of the Order pour le merite , 2 volumes, Mittler, Berlin 1913.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility , Volume A XIII, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg, 1975, p. 269 ff.
  2. ^ Gustav Kratz : History of the von Kleist family , Volume III, No. 549, P. 85/86.
  3. ^ Gustav Lehmann: The Knights of the Order pour le merite , 2 volumes, Mittler, Berlin 1913. Volume 1, awards under Friedrich Wilhelm III., No. 518, page 577.
  4. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Nels , Volume A XIII, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg, 1975, p. 283.
  5. ↑ Gustav Kratz, History of the von Kleist Family , Volume III, Supplements 2015, No. 682.
personal data
SURNAME Kleist, Louis Christoph Friedrich Heinrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Baltic landowner and Russian officer in the coalition wars
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1790
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1854
Place of death Libau