Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz

Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz (* 1736 in Heinrichsdorf , Neustettin district , † February 6, 1795 in Basel ) was a Prussian officer and diplomat .

Life

Cornelia Jacobine von der Goltz, wife of Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz

Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz came from the Heinrichsdorf line of the von der Goltz family and was the son of Georg Konrad von der Goltz (1704–1747) and Charlotte Wilhelmine von Grävenitz (1720–1771). In 1768 he married Cornelia Jacobine von Steengracht (1752-1821).

Von der Goltz joined the Prussian army after attending school . In 1756 he became a major and wing adjutant of the infantry . Between 1756 and 1762 he took part in the Seven Years' War and became a colonel in 1762 .

In 1762 he was first the Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg and concluded the Peace of St. Petersburg on May 5, 1762 as an agent of King Friedrich II . In December of that year he returned to Prussia. As a benefice in 1763 he received the position of vice-nominee at the cathedral chapter of Magdeburg . In November 1768 he was appointed envoy and plenipotentiary minister to Paris and Versailles . He should after the accession to the throne of Louis XVI. ensure a weakening of the Austrian influence at the French court.

After Friedrich Wilhelm II ascended the throne in Prussia , he was raised to the rank of count in 1786 . In 1791 he was promoted to major general.

After diplomatic relations with France were broken off in the course of the French Revolution in 1792, von der Goltz returned to Prussia. In December 1794 he received an order in Basel to negotiate with France to end the war. Despite various difficulties, he managed to end the military actions of the French units against Prussian troops. The instruction from Berlin of January 28, 1795 to cede the left bank of the Rhine if necessary did not reach him. He died of a bilious fever during the negotiations. The peace of Basle then Karl August von Hardenberg completed.

literature

• Emanuel readers :  Goltz, Bernhard Graf von der . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 353.
• Dominique Bourel: Between defense and neutrality. Prussia and the French Revolution 1789 to 1795/1795 to 1803/06 In: Otto Büsch (Ed.): Prussia and the revolutionary challenge since 1789. Berlin, New York, 1991 ISBN 3-11-012684-2 p. 45 f.