Reinhold von Krockow

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Count Wilhelm Joachim Reinhold von Krockow (born December 18, 1767 in Sohrau , † September 15, 1821 in Thyn ) was a Prussian officer and free corps leader .

Life

Wilhelm Joachim Reinhold von Krockow was born as the son of Heinrich Joachim Reinhold (1733–1796), Herr auf Peest , from the Old Pomeranian family Krockow and Margarethe (Elisabeth) Louise Regine von Göppel (1749–1803) in Sohrau. The father was there as an officer in the Zieten Hussar Regiment . Krockow spent his childhood in Berlin , where he attended the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster . At the request of his father in 1777 the cavalry general Belling , chief of the "Red Hussars", accepted him into his regiment. In 1784 Krockow began his career as an officer in this regiment in Stolp . In 1786 King Friedrich Wilhelm II raised the Krockow family, including the Junker Reinhold, to the rank of count . In the campaigns of the First Coalition War , most recently under Blücher , Krockow made a career. After his father's death in 1796, he took his leave as staff assistant to devote himself to the inherited Peester estates. His successful economy earned him reputation and considerable fortune.

His mother married Casimir Egbert Theodor von Brauneck in 1797 (born January 26, 1776, † July 15, 1854).

The Krockow Freikorps

When, after the disaster in Jena and Auerstedt, the escape of the Prussian king with the remnants of the army ended on the right of the Vistula in East Prussia in December 1806 , Krockow went to see Friedrich Wilhelm III. to Koenigsberg . He introduced himself to him as a Pomeranian deputy and offered to “dress and arm a freehunter corps through voluntary contributions”. The king gave Krockow permission at the end of December, promoted him to major and assigned him Danzig as the place of installation. From there, Krockow issued a sweeping patriotic appeal with a special appeal to women to support his corps. The proclamation was particularly well received by the Danzig and East Prussian public, and the corps was established in February 1807. It comprised five companies of hunters on foot with two mounted three-pounder cannons and a squadron of 180 riders - a little over 1,000 men in total.

In contrast to the Schill Free Corps, which was formed at the same time, the Krockow Corps equipment, clothing and armament were uniform and complete. It wore a green uniform with black facings and the iron pear helmets of the former Gdańsk citizenry. The approximately two hundred year old pieces were modernized by adding a skull and a horsehair tail . The infantry carried partly rifles with bayonets , partly rifles , the cavalry carbines , sabers and pistols. The team did not consist exclusively of rancied or dispersed soldiers from the Prussian army, as was the case with Schill , but Krockow also hired patriotically-minded trainees, students, civil servants and merchants, who had previously been exempt from military service, as Vice-Oberjäger. For these "educated men", the service should provide a "nursery school" for officers.

Krockow intended to secure the area between the not yet besieged Prussian fortresses Kolberg and Danzig against the insurgent Poles invading Pomerania in the Little War . He determined the location of the corps he was familiar with Stolp, where he stationed a company of his Freikorps on February 10, 1807. On February 18, superior Polish forces launched an attack on Stolp . The company had to give up the city on February 19 and withdrew to the advancing Krockowsche Hauptkraft. In view of the beginning of the siege of Danzig by the French, Krockow was ordered to turn back and use his corps to defend the fortress, initially in the outpost service . After the encirclement of Danzig on March 11th, the corps was assigned the Neufahrwasser section at the mouth of the Vistula , from where Krockow at the head of his riders fought off an attack on March 13th. During the large outage of the crew on March 26th, Krockow wanted to use the turmoil to capture a storage facility in Oliva , 7 kilometers away . He left the battlefield with part of his troops and was cut off by a superior force on the way back. Krockow was taken prisoner, wounded several times when he was "cut through", but allowed his soldiers to return. The usual exchange of prisoners did not take place. The leaderless troops no longer played an important role, but at least escaped the surrender of the Danzig garrison on May 24th by sea to Pillau . Weakened by indiscipline and desertion , the corps failed on June 17th in a battle near Labiau and was no longer operational. With the peace of Tilsit in July 1807 Krockow was released, while his corps, only 550 men strong, was disbanded.

Friedrich Wilhelm received Major Krockow, honored him by awarding him the hunter's uniform and the offer to pay waiting allowance until “further use” in the army. Krockow refused modestly, but asked the king's promise "in the event of a war to be able to act again as a partisan " and went to his property.

The Krokow Affair

Krockow observed the political developments and, probably as a result of vague information from the environment of General Rüchel , who was on friendly terms with him , came to the decision in the spring of 1809 to set up a volunteer corps again. According to his impression, an imminent Prussian war of liberation on Austria's side was to be triggered by a general uprising in northern Germany. A former Freikorps officer he had appointed as a recruiter caught sight of some self-appointed guardians of order in Neustadt in April 1809 and was arrested. The background to the following event was the turbulent mood due to Austria's declaration of war against France that had become known in those days . The Austrian propaganda had called for a people's war in all of Germany against the French rule and thus triggered a fear in the Prussian authorities of the release of uncontrollable forces.

During the recruiting officer's interrogation, boasting out of the air by a young relative of Krockow's who happened to be present aroused the suspicion among the spokesmen that Krockow's advertising was in preparation for a coup d'état intended by Scharnhorst to replace the king with his brother Wilhelm . They started a manhunt for Krockow and notified the king. When Krockow found out that he was about to be arrested, he fled to Austria, believing that his disappearance would make it easier for the Prussian government to calm down the nervous French occupiers. In fact, with his escape, from the perspective of the Prussian government, Krockow had confirmed the suspicion of high treason . Now she was looking for him at home and abroad. In Prague , where he now wanted to set up his Freikorps with Austrian permission, Krockow saw the Prussian profile , which made it clear to him the incident in Neustadt and the actual cause of the arrest warrant. Krockow presented himself immediately to the Higher Regional Court in Köslin on June 14, which imprisoned him in the Kolberg fortress.

Krockow's case in court

The Kösliner Court immediately recognized the groundlessness of the accusations of conspiracy and sentenced Krockow only because of secret advertising to three months imprisonment . This mild judgment outraged the king. In the meantime, during the ongoing war, several unsuccessful uprisings had occurred in northern Germany, such as the Dörnbergs and Schills , some of whose officers were imprisoned with Krockow in Kolberg. The king saw dangers for the credibility of his neutrality policy in the eyes of the victorious French and after the intervention of the Justice Minister Beyme of the East Prussian Higher Regional Court in Königsberg, his residence city , he reached a decision with a much more severe punishment: ten years imprisonment and loss of character as major and the Ability to exercise public office. Krockow went to the second instance and obtained an overturning of the Königsberg decision through his attorney before the Superior Court in Berlin. The sentence was changed to a fine of 1000 thalers, to be served as a one-year imprisonment. Although Krockow had sacrificed a large part of his fortune to the Freikorps, he was able to avoid imprisonment by paying this fine. The king did not like that and he referred the matter to the East Prussian Tribunal in Königsberg. His judges only came to meet him insofar as they did not recognize a fine, but instead sentenced Krockow to one year imprisonment. This exhausted the legal process for the king , but he insisted on expressing his “disapproval” in both courts because “... this judgment was so mild ... and not a much harsher punishment was arbitrated”.

End of life

When the war of liberation of Prussia, which Krockow had longed for, began in the spring of 1813 , he reminded the king of the promise of 1807 and applied to be allowed to set up another volunteer corps. Friedrich Wilhelm, however, hadn't forgotten anything - in a short letter he rejected Krockow's request. Krockow, still a major in the Prussian hunters, received no command and had to stay at home.

Although deeply disappointed by this, Krockow did not lose his courage to face life. After the capture of Paris in 1814 by Wilhelm Dieterici in Berlin, he published the bard song of an abdicated warrior, consecrated to the guardian spirits and heroes of his fatherland, and in 1817 in Breslau as a self-illustrated humorous review of life A colorful ABC of pictures, for children already grown up, also, if you want, Auto da Fée for sinners who turn gray at an early age .

Krockow handed over to his son, who had distinguished himself in the campaign of 1815, management of Peest and moved to the Vorwerk back Thyn, where he spent his last years. He died there in 1821.

family

Krockow married Jakobine Dorothe Frederike von Below (* August 8, 1777, † December 23, 1840). The marriage would result in two sons. The marriage produced two sons:

⚭ July 24, 1823 Laura Adelaide Lembke († April 30, 1842), daughter of the Privy Council and Swedish Consul Lembke
⚭ May 17, 1844 Rosa Pauline Adolphine von Kayserlingk (* ​​April 5, 1820 - † June 13, 1845)
⚭ June 23, 1847 Philippine Edzardi, widow of the Sallbach government councilor
  • Joachim Reinhold (March 14, 1797; † June 7, 1829), heir of Peest ⚭ Ulrike von Zitzewitz (* September 16, 1797; † October 7, 1874)

literature

Web link

Prussia. von Krockow'sches Freikorps 1807 . Uniforms of the Freikorps with explanations from Richard Knötel : Uniformkunde , Vol. 13, No. 56.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Klaje: Count Reinhold von Krockow, 1767-1821. see under literature, p. 220.
  2. ↑ To the helmet: Königliche Zeughausverwaltung (Ed.): The Royal Armory. Guide to the Hall of Fame and the Collections , Julius Bard Publishing House, Berlin 1914, p. 150
  3. ^ Hermann Klaje: Count Reinhold von Krockow, 1767-1821. see under literature, p. 225.
  4. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses. P. 458, digitized
  5. ↑ Family tree
personal data
SURNAME Krockow, Reinhold von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Krockow, Wilhelm Joachim Reinhold von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian officer and free corps leader
DATE OF BIRTH December 18, 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Sohrau
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1821
Place of death Thyn