Otto von Gemmingen (1838-1892)

This article deals with Field Marshal Lieutenant Otto von Gemmingen (1838–1892), who was active in Vienna. For the field marshal lieutenant of the same name in Prague, see Otto von Gemmingen (1823–1890) .

Otto von Gemmingen (born February 19, 1838 in Stuttgart ; † January 18, 1892 ) was a Lieutenant Field Marshal in Imperial Austrian service, adjutant wing of Emperor Franz Joseph I and head of the Vienna Military Riding Instructor Institute.

Life

He was a son of the Saxon-Meiningischen Land-Oberjägermeister Karl Weiprecht Reinhard von Gemmingen (1797-1882) from his first marriage to Emma von Uttenhofen (1804-1846). After his uncle Eduard Friedrich Ludwig and his mother died in 1846 and the father remarried in 1847, the revolutionary events of 1848 gave the father the opportunity to quit the Saxon-Meiningen service and in 1849 to move to the estate previously cultivated by his deceased brother to move to Bonfeld. There, Otto and four siblings were taught not only by a court master but also by graduates of a temporary teachers' college. In 1852 the family moved to Karlsruhe , where the sons were able to complete their training. Otto attended grammar school and polytechnic there and then studied mathematics. He entered Austrian military service at the age of 18. In 1856 he was a cadet in Count Civalart's 1st Uhlan Regiment in Moravia. He took part in the Italian campaign in 1859 and fought at Orlegno, Turbigo, Magenta and Solferino . After the battles of Bysokow, Skalitz and Königgrätz , he received the Military Merit Cross as a General Staff Officer . After the central cavalry course in 1871/72 he became a riding officer and instructor for Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. As a major he was promoted to wing adjutant to Emperor Franz Joseph in 1875. As a colonel in the 1st Uhlan Regiment, he headed the Vienna Military Riding Instructor Institute. In 1887 he was promoted to major general and in 1891 to field marshal lieutenant. He died of pneumonia in 1892 and was buried in Vienna with the highest honors.

family

He came from the Bonfeld Oberschloss branch within the 2nd branch (Bonfeld) of the II line (Gemmingen, Guttenberg) of the Barons of Gemmingen and was probably not married.

Gemmingen's great love

As a wing adjutant to Emperor Franz Joseph , Gemmingen always traveled with his master, of course. During a stay in Gödöllö he met Countess Marie Festetics , Empress Elisabeth's lady-in-waiting . The lady-in-waiting reported on this first meeting on December 14th, 1875: "The new wing adjutant has arrived, Baron Gemmingen. I think he is a very clever, very serious person, is very much to himself. He has strange eyes, of a transparent clarity and faithful as a child. He has an excellent reputation as a rider and officer. " (Walterskirchen / Meyer: The Diary of Countess Marie Festetics. 176.)

The two fell in love, the relationship lasted until Gemmingen passed away. The Empress supported the relationship, but she expressly forbade her lady-in-waiting to marry. In addition, for a long time neither Gemmingen nor the Countess felt financially in a position to enter into a befitting marriage. Empress Elisabeth asked the emperor several times to grant his adjutant and officer leave so that he could follow the empress, in whose vicinity Marie Festetics was staying as a lady-in-waiting. Gemmingen was also a frequent guest in the Hungarian Söjtör, where the Festetics family castle is located. The relationship between the two was well known at the Viennese court, so that when Gemmingen died unexpectedly in 1892 of pneumonia due to flu, the military leadership assumed that the burial of the body would take place in Söjtör, in the Festetics family crypt. which was then published in several daily newspapers. The newspapers only corrected the hoax the following day. Marie Festetics was very desperate about the death, especially since her mother also died barely a month later - the last member of the family still alive, so that she could not do any work for half a year. Otto von Gemmingen's grave looked after her until her death in 1923, also making sure that there were always fresh flowers on the grave. During her travels with the Empress, she always asked Ida Ferenczy , the reader and closest confidante of the Empress, to look after the grave.

Shortly after Gemmingen's death, there were hints in the press of a possible engagement between Gemmingen and Countess Festetics. However, this has not yet been proven.

literature

• Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig Stocker : Family Chronicle of the Barons of Gemmingen , Heidelberg 1895, p. 127f.
• Gudula Walterskirchen / Beatrix Meyer: The diary of Countess Marie Festetics. Empress Elisabeth's most intimate friend, St. Pölten - Salzburg - Vienna 2014.