Paul von Münch

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Paul von Münch (* 1641 probably in Meuselwitz ; † 1669 in Reitzenhain near Marienberg ) was a Saxon dragoon officer who was the victim of a spectacular murder. The death stone near Marienberg reminds of this.

resume

When Hauptmann von Münch died in 1646, he left four children behind. Paul, the youngest child, was taken in by Major von Nordhaft (called Nothhorst in other sources) from Meuselwitz, a friend of the deceased.

Nordhaft had Paul trained carefully, he was like a father to him. At the age of 16 Paul von Münch learned riding and fencing and joined the Saxon army at the age of 21 (Meuselwitz was then part of Saxony). He served as a lieutenant in the Marienberg Dragoon Regiment. At the insistence of his foster father, he soon left Saxony to join the imperial army. He took part in the Turkish War under Raimondo Montecuccoli in 1663 and 1664 , was promoted to Rittmeister in the Battle of Mogersdorf (August 1, 1664) and took over a squadron .

In October 1664 he returned to Meuselwitz. There he became engaged to Anna von Nordhaft, the daughter of his foster father.

From 1645 to 1648 the Turks conquered almost the entire island of Crete , then called "Candia", which was under Venetian rule . Venice recruited mercenaries to liberate the island . Mönch therefore traveled to Vienna in June 1665 to join the mercenary troops. As Rittmeister, he became the chief of a dragoon squadron in Crete. The Venetian troops could not prevail against the Turks. Mönch left Crete in 1668 because he foresaw the victory of the Turks. On the journey home to Meuselwitz he fell ill, which led to a longer stay in Vienna.

In April 1669 he travels through Bohemia to Sebastiansberg (today: Hora_Svatého_Šebestiána ). There he met 4 Austrian officers, whom he joined: Lieutenant Hans Bayer, Kapitänleutnant Christoph Richter, Oberwachtmeister Wilhelm von Haitmar and Captain Ritter von P.

Immediately after the border with Saxony, near Reitzenhain , the Austrians shot him on April 23, 1669. His servant Philipp Schiller escaped and fled to Wolkenstein on foot. The Wolkenstein bailiff immediately rode to Reitzenhain, but could only find Münch's completely looted corpse there.

He was buried on May 2, 1669 in Meuselwitz. The murderers were arrested just 13 days after the murder in the Stern inn in Eisenach . Three of the accused were tortured and then whacked to death or beheaded, Ritter von P. (his last name was not published because he belonged to the nobility) remained unmolested.

In memory of this murder case, the Totenstein (Lage) stands in the forest north of Reitzenhain .

  • Dead stone

  • Information board on the murder of Paul von Münch

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Anna von Nothhorst and the robbery murderers in Böhmerwalde: A criminal investigation from the 16th century. edited by Wilhelm Ferdinand Bischoff, criminal judge and criminal court conductor in Eisenach, publisher Joh. Fried. Bärecke, 1833 Jerome Htop printing works, Kassel 1933
  2. ↑ "Die Heimat", illustrated supplement to the Meuselwitzer Zeitung, 1939, No. 6, article "Meuselwitz in pictures 100 years ago: 1840"
  3. ^ Egon Erwin Kisch, "Prager Pitaval", Aufbau-Verlag Berlin, 1969, ISBN 3-351-02092-9

literature

  • Wilhelm Ferdinand Bischoff: Anna von Nothhorst and the robbery murderers in Böhmerwalde ( Google Books ).
personal data
SURNAME Münch, Paul von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Münch, Johann Paul von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saxon dragoon officer
DATE OF BIRTH 1641
PLACE OF BIRTH unsure: Meuselwitz
DATE OF DEATH 1669
Place of death Reitzenhain near Marienberg