Otto Philipp Braun

Otto Philipp Braun

Otto Philipp Braun (born December 13, 1798 in Kassel , Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel ; † July 24, 1869 in Nieder Wildungen , Principality of Waldeck ) took part in the South American War of Independence. He was several times Bolivian Minister of War, Grand Marshal of Montenegro and a companion of Simón Bolívar , Antonio José de Sucre and Andrés de Santa Cruz .

Origin and family

In 1798 Braun was the seventh child of the court saddler and wagon maker Ludwig Theodor Braun and his wife Sophie, née Franke, in Kassel. Braun married Justa Germana de Rivero in 1828. She died in 1837. This marriage resulted in a daughter and two sons. One of his sons was the mining engineer and Bolivian ambassador to Peru José Manuel Braun (1832-1909). In his second marriage, Braun was married to Emma Barensfeld. With her he had five daughters.

Career

At the age of 16, Braun took part in the campaign against Napoleon in France in 1814 as a volunteer for the Hessian hunters on horseback . He then studied veterinary medicine in Hanover and Göttingen from 1815 to 1818 and trained in military and court riding.

In 1818 Braun emigrated first to the USA and then to Haiti . Attempts to settle there as a veterinarian or stud director with Henri Christophe failed.

Braun reached Colombia in mid-1820 . After a short time as a horse dealer, he managed to become a simple cavalry officer in the army of Simón Bolívar . As a result, Braun took part in the Siege of Cartagena , the Battle of Santa Marta and, most likely, the Battle of Carabobo . In between, Braun had worked as an officer in Bogotá for Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander . From October 1821 Braun took part in the campaign in southern Greater Colombia (now Ecuador ) under Simón Bolívar. Until the autumn of 1823 Braun stayed with the Colombian grenadiers he commanded on horseback as part of the Bolivar army in Guayaquil .

With one of the last units of the Independence Army, he reached Lima in October 1823 . This was the beginning of his participation in the War of Independence of Peru . Due to a hitherto unusual combat tactics, personal courage and his excellently trained squadron, "Otón Felipe" Braun contributed significantly to the victory in the Battle of Junín . Afterwards, Braun was not only promoted, but also continuously established himself in the management team around Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre . In the Battle of Ayacucho , Braun distinguished himself again.

Under Antonio José de Sucre Braun took part in the campaign in high Peru (now Bolivia ) and entered La Paz with the independence army . Braun served as a loyal officer to the President of Bolivia, Antonio José de Sucre, from 1825 to 1828. However, after the revolt of the Colombian grenadiers in 1826, Braun fell out of favor at Sucre. Through continuous loyalty during the political and military crises of the Sucre government, Braun was able to emerge stronger from the situation; he was then part of the military-political leadership of the political group around Bolívar and Sucre.

During the Peruvian invasion of 1828 under Agustín Gamarra , Braun organized considerable resistance despite being numerically inferior. It was here that he held political office for the first time as governor of La Paz. After the surrender, Braun ensured a safe withdrawal of the Colombian troops and guaranteed the safety of the isolated Sucre. He himself left Bolivia at the end of 1828 for Greater Colombia.

In the Peruvian-Greater Colombian War from 1828 to 1829, Braun, who had meanwhile been promoted to general, was part of the direct leadership circle around Simón Bolívar, Antonio José de Sucre and Juan José Flores . After the victory of Greater Colombia against Peru, Braun was entrusted with a diplomatic mission. He then traveled to Valparaíso , Chile. In Arequipa , southern Peru , Braun stayed with his wife, who was married by proxy, for a year.

In 1830 the Bolivian President Andrés de Santa Cruz recruited Braun as a military and functionary. Braun held many offices and posts during his nine-year career under Santa Cruz. Braun was a general, commander-in-chief, military commander and prefect of several departments (especially of La Paz ) and finally, as minister of war, a direct member of the government. From the mid-1830s, Braun exerted considerable influence on Santa Cruz.

In 1835 Andrés de Santa Cruz appointed Braun Minister of War and in 1836 promoted him to division general. During the Bolivian-Peruvian Confederation (1836-1839) Braun supported President Santa Cruz as a loyal functionary and capable military. This was also necessary because the neighboring countries Chile and Argentina attacked the Peruvian-Bolivian confederation several times militarily. It was Braun's job to repel the invasion of Argentina in the south. In June 1838 there was a battle against Argentina on Mount Montenegro in the south of what is now the Tarija Department . Braun carried away the victory with inferior forces and was then appointed Grand Marshal of Montenegro - the highest military honor - by Andrés de Santa Cruz. After the Battle of Yungay in February 1839, the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation imploded . An attack was carried out on Braun, he was arrested and expelled from the country.

network

Braun had cultivated his network during the long career under Santa Cruz. His communication partners included: Simon Bolivar, Antonio José de Sucre, the presidents of Bolivia Andres de Santa Cruz, José Miguel de Velasco, José Ballivián, Sebastían Ágreda and Manuel Isidoro Belzu, the vice-presidents Mariano Enrique Calvo, politicians like Francisco de Paula Belzu, Casimiro Olaneta, Manuel Buitrago, José Joauín de Mora, Ramón Herrera. In addition, Braun created a network with Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Argentine and Chilean politicians such as Luis José de Orbegoso, Agustín Gamarra, Juan José Flores, Elías Bedoya, Facundo de Zuviría, Manuel Solá and Benjamín Viel. In Europe, Braun was given access to British Foreign Minister Lord Henry Palmerston , French President Louis Napoleon and - decades after his time as a politician - French Foreign Minister Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys .

Influential actor in the Atlantic world

Otto Philipp Braun

Otto Philipp Braun's political career did not end with the end of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. Braun succeeded - supported by a substantial fortune acquired in Bolivia - to act as a politician in the Atlantic world. Until 1843 Braun actively supported a possible return of Andrés de Santa Cruz to the Bolivian presidential palace. After the final failure of this idea, Braun had access to the most important political actors, above all the presidents José Ballivián, José Miguel Velasco and Manuel Isidoro Belzu.

At the beginning of Belzu's presidency, Braun was the central player in the alliance of Santa Cruz supporters and President Belzu. In an emergency in early 1849, Braun openly supported his former subordinate Belzu and took over the command of La Paz. This episode shows that Braun had been able to maintain his standing and influence over time and distance.

After the end of the alliance, Braun - always traveling between Europe and South America - organized the participation of the aged Andrés de Santa Cruz in the presidential elections in Bolivia in 1855.

Elder Statesman

Afterwards, Braun still had political influence behind the scenes. For example, he repeatedly appeared alongside others as a mediator between political groups - especially during the presidencies of José María Linares and José María Achá. Braun spent his twilight years in Europe. Just a few years before his death, high-quality contacts in top European politics - especially in Paris - can be proven. Braun died on July 24, 1869 and was buried in Kassel . Dozens of appreciative obituaries appeared in South America.

Afterlife

To this day, Braun was continuously the subject of German-South American, but above all German-Bolivian, relations. Brauns is remembered regularly in Kassel .

The German School La Paz has been named after him since 1942 .

Two historical novels appeared about Braun during the National Socialist era :

• Otto Grube: A life for freedom. The adventurous fate of Grand Marshal Otto Philipp Braun . Kassel 1939
• Karl Martin: The undefeated soldier. Otto Philipp Braun the Grand Marshal of the Black Mountains. A German heroic life in South America . Nuremberg 1942.

literature

• Robin Kiera: Otto Philipp Braun (1798–1869). A transatlantic biography . Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2014, ISBN 978-3-412-22378-6 .
• Robin Kiera: The big son of the city of Kassel? The Grand Marshal Otto Philipp Braun as a symbol of local history politics . Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies eV, Kassel 2009, ISBN 3-925333-49-5 .

Further literature:

• Hans Joachim Bock:  Braun, Otto Philipp. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 547 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Julio Diaz: El Gran Mariscal de Montenegro, Otto Felipe Braun, ilustre extranjero al servico de Bolivia, 1798–1969 . La Paz 1945.
• Manuel Michaelis-Braun: Otto Philipp Braun, Grand Marshal of Montenegro . In: Hans Braun: Basics of a history of the Braun family, with contributions to the Hessian family and place description. A home book . Hoffmann, Berlin and Leipzig 1914, pp. 219–258.
• Wilfried Nölle: La vida de Otto Felipe Braun, Gran Mariscal de Montenegro, a través de cartas y documentos de la épocha, expuesta por Wilfried Noelle . La Paz 1969.
• Hubert Walbaum: "Otto Philipp Braun compagnon de Bolivar". Sa vie et sa contribution aux Guerres d'Indépendance sud-américaines. Précédé d'un résumé de l'histoire de ce Continent et des Guerres d'Indépendances . Editeur Connaissance et Mémoires, 2001, ISBN 2-914473-06-0 .
• Karl Martin: Otto Philipp Braun (1798–1869), Grand Marshal of Montenegro . In: Lebensbilder from Kurhessen and Waldeck 1830–1930 , Vol. 2 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse and Waldeck, Vol. 20, 2). Elwert, Marburg 1940, pp. 79-90.

Web links

• Literature by and about Otto Philipp Braun in the catalog of the German National Library
• Life story at the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies (from the middle of the page)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Proof of German biography: Otto Philipp Braun does not contain the place of death. The reference to the death register is credible: Died around noon in the Badelogierhaus (register of the deceased and buried of the Protestant parish Nieder Wildungen 1869 No. 33)
2. ^ Georg Petersen, Hartmut Fröschle : The Germans in Peru . In: Hartmut Fröschle (ed.): The Germans in Latin America. Fate and achievement . Erdmann, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-7711-0293-6 , pp. 696-741, here p. 701.
3. ^ Institute for Foreign Relations, Journal for Cultural Exchange , 1969 p. 262