Stefan von Wernhardt

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Stefan Freiherr von Wernhardt 1858

Stefan Wilhelm Freiherr von Wernhardt (born March 26, 1806 in Sibiu ; † August 17, 1869 in Vienna ) was an Imperial and Royal Chamberlain , Privy Councilor ,Lieutenant Field Marshal and owner of the Line Infantry Regiment No. 16 and Lieutenant of the Royal Hungarian Life Guard.

Origin and family

Stefan's father Paul Freiherr von Wernhardt 1840

Stefan came from a family that, in the person of Stefan Wernhardt , received a coat of arms from the Count Florian Drosdowsky von Drostowitz on February 15, 1621 as thanks for his brave work in the Turkish Wars. His sons were raised to knightly nobility on September 25, 1646.

The officer was the son of Paul Freiherr von Wernhardt (1776-1846), Magnate of Hungary, Privy Council, General of the Cavalry and Theresa Knights and Maria Anna (born June 27, 1784), daughter of Lieutenant Field Marshal Baron Joseph Cerrini de Monte Varchi and sister of Major General Karl Cerrini de Monte Varchi . Paul von Wernhardt was awarded the Austrian and Hungarian barons in 1818.

Stefan von Wernhardt married Charlotte Freiin von Kémeny de Gyerö Monostor on November 20, 1847 (* March 17, 1829 - † March 8, 1859). The couple had five daughters and two sons. The eldest son, Paul Vincenz (* December 5, 1851, † August 19, 1923), also entered the officer's career and on May 2, 1910 also advanced to field marshal lieutenant.

The sex is extinct in the male line.

biography

Timisoara 1849
Verona, Porta Nuova 1859

Stefan joined the ranks of the imperial army like his father, was captain in infantry regiment No. 33, in 1841 major in infantry regiment No. 48 and in 1843 advanced to lieutenant colonel in infantry regiment Archduke D'Este No. 32.

He was transferred to Infantry Regiment No. 41 on May 30, 1845 from Infantry Regiment No. 32 with simultaneous appointment as Colonel and Regimental Commander. When the troops were concentrated in Sibiu in September of that year , he had the opportunity for the first time to demonstrate his regiment (1st and 2nd Feldjäger Battalion and 1st Landwehr Battalion) to his father Paul, the general of the cavalry and commanding general of Transylvania .

The officer became major general on April 9, 1849 and proved himself brilliantly during the siege of Timişoara . He then held the post of military district commander there. In this capacity he arranged for the so-called Kossuth banknotes to be handed in by the population in October of that year. In his capacity as major general he was appointed brigadier in Maria-Theresiopel , later as such in Pest in the X Army Corps, then in Vienna in 1851 in the I Army Corps.

It was mainly thanks to the gun connoisseur and excellent marksman that the Lorenz rifle was introduced for the army in 1851, despite notable opposition, namely from experts, a weapon which at that time enjoyed European fame as a muzzle loader.

Wernhardt was promoted to field marshal lieutenant and troop division on October 26, 1852. After the Peace of Zurich he became the fortress commander of Verona , who had the difficult task of arming and equipping the fortress and forts in the shortest possible time. He did the job with great ambition, and yet it was only one oversight that caused him to be removed from the post. The army commander in Italy at the time had the report on the equipment of the forts presented to him one day. After the reports from the subdivisions, Wernhardt reported that everything was in the fullest state of defense. An inspection by the army commander found an outbuilding unarmed and the field marshal lieutenant was relieved of his post at the mercy. Emperor Franz Joseph I , however, had not forgotten his excellent service and appointed him commander of the X Army Corps on April 28, 1859, and then, when the Hungarian bodyguard was established, on April 21, 1867, he was first lieutenant in the same. The owner of the Line Infantry Regiment No. 16 since 1855, retired on June 3, 1862.

Wernhardt was already retired when he was called in to the commissions in 1866 that had to deal with the introduction of breech loaders. His knowledge in this direction proved itself again and he spoke out in favor of the two systems of Karl Wänzel and Josef Werndl .

The magnate of the Kingdom of Hungary was made an honorary citizen of the free royal city of Timisoara .

Awards

The officer was decorated many times, including:

coat of arms

Coat of arms of the Barons von Wernhardt 1818

1818: Squared with a central shield showing a crowned golden lion in black on a three-hill, wielding a sword in his right paw and a tartsche in his left. In the first, red field a shining sun; in the second and third silver fields a burning bomb: in the fourth, red field a crescent moon. The baron's crown rests on the shield.

Autograph by Stefan Freiherr von Wernhardt

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Otto Titan Hefner: "Stammbuch des blooming and dead nobility in Germany", Volume 4, published by Georg Joseph Manz, Regensburg 1866, p. 183
  2. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of baronial houses for the year 1865, Volume 15, Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha 1865, p. 1000
  3. ^ A b c Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial Generals (1618-1815), Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano 2007, p. 201
  4. ^ Genealogical pocket book of the German count's houses , Volume 13, p. 132
  5. ↑ Prof. Dr. Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: "German count houses of the present: in heraldic, historical and genealogical relation", 3rd volume, A – Z, Verlag TO Weigel, Leipzig 1854, p. 61
  6. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses on the year, Volume 21, Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha 1871, p. 780
  7. ^ A b Constantin von Wurzbach: "Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich", 25th part, KK Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1887, p. 105
  8. ↑ Jaromir Formanek, Karl Dvořák: “History of the k. K. Infantry Regiment No. 41 ”, printing and publishing by H. Czopp'schen Buchdruckerei, Czernowitz 1887, 278 f.
  9. ↑ Collection of the Most High Manifestations and Proclamations issued for Hungary, Volume 1, Universitätsdruckerei, Ofen 1849, p. 163
  10. ↑ a b c Die Presse No. 229, from Thursday, August 19, 1869, p. 19
  11. ^ Ordinance sheet for the Austro-Hungarian Army - Personnel Affairs No. 19, from April 25, 1867, p. 115
  12. ↑ K. k. Army Ordinance Gazette, No. 22 of April 28, 1859, KK Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1859, p. 87
  13. ↑ a b The Debate No. 228, from Wednesday, August 18, 1869, p. 11
  14. ↑ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtums Hessen, Verlag der Invalidenanstalt, Darmstadt 1870, p. 89
  15. ↑ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtums Hessen, Verlag der Invalidenanstalt, Darmstadt 1870, p. 89
  16. ^ Society for the History of Protestantism in Austria: "Yearbook of the Society for the History of Protestantism in Austria", Volumes 3–4, Vienna 1882, p. 41
personal data
SURNAME Wernhardt, Stefan von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wernhardt, Stefan Wilhelm Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Sibiu
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 1869
Place of death Vienna