Otto von Gemmingen (1852-1892)

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Otto Franz Sigmund Karl von Gemmingen (* 15. January 1852 St. Castle Groth at Szombathely , † 27. March 1892 in Edéa in Cameroon) was Grand Duke of Hesse captain . He was in command of the protection forces in the German post in Edéa in what is now Cameroon , where he died of tropical fever in 1892. A memorial plaque in the Sarolta Chapel in Fränkisch-Crumbach commemorates him.

Life

View into the crypt of the Sarolta Chapel in Fränkisch-Crumbach with the mother's sarcophagus and memorial plaque for Otto von Gemmingen, drawing around 1895

He was the son of the Hessian Chamberlain Adolph von Gemmingen (1822-1902) and Countess Sarolta Batthyány von Németh-Ujvár (1823-1892). The parents were wealthy in Fränkisch-Crumbach , but there were also contacts to Hungary through their mother and other relatives. Otto was raised in his parents' house until 1863, after which he attended grammar school in Feldkirch until 1866 and a private institute until 1869 as well as the grand ducal secondary school in Mainz . In 1870 he joined the 1st Grand Ducal Hessian Life Guard Chevauxlegers Regiment as an avantageur . In the squadron of his brother Karl (1846-1923) he took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. In 1872 he was promoted to second lieutenant, in the same year he was appointed by the Hessian Grand Duke Ludwig III. awarded the Military Merit Cross. In 1876 he was promoted to regimental adjutant and in 1890 to Rittmeister. As such he came to the Posensche Uhlan Regiment No. 10 Prince August von Württemberg. In 1891 he was offered command of the protection force in Edéa in German West Africa . He followed the call, but soon fell ill with tropical fever , from which he died in March 1892. In the meantime, his mother Sarolta died in January 1892 at home and was buried in Fränkisch-Crumbach. Her father had an elaborate mausoleum , the so-called Sarolta Chapel , built for her in the palace gardens , in which a memorial plaque for Otto von Gemmingen was installed for the inauguration in October 1892.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Gemmingen, Otto von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Ducal Hessian cavalry officer and commander of the protection forces in Edéa (German West Africa)
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Gróth Castle near Steinamanger
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1892
Place of death Edéa