Wilhelm von Radziwill

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Prince Wilhelm Radziwill

Friedrich Wilhelm Paul Nikolaus Prince of Radziwill (born March 19, 1797 in Berlin ; † August 5, 1870 there ) was a Prussian infantry general .

Life

origin

Prince Wilhelm von Radziwill was a descendant of the Radziwills , one of the oldest Lithuanian princely families and the most powerful noble family of the 1st Polish Republic. Emperor Maximilian I appointed Nikolaus Radziwill (~ 1450–1508), the Palatine of Vilna , Imperial Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Charles V transferred this dignity to his nephews and descendants in 1547, who were the progenitors of the flourishing line of the Radziwill family were.

Wilhelm was the son of Prince Anton Radziwiłł and his wife Princess Luise of Prussia , niece of Frederick the Great and sister of Prince Louis Ferdinand . One of Wilhelm's sisters was Princess Elisa Radziwill , the childhood sweetheart of the future German Emperor Wilhelm I. His brother was Prince Boguslaw von Radziwill .

Military career

William attended the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium and the Friedrichwerdersche school in Berlin and entered 1813 as second lieutenant in the III. Army corps under von Bülow . He took part in the battles near Leipzig and Laon , in the battles near Hertogenbusch , Deuren, Leonhout, in the siege of Soissons and in the assault on Arnhem . Awarded the Iron Cross II. Class and the Order of the Sword , he was promoted to captain in May 1815 and again assigned to the Bülow Corps.

With the rank of major , he entered the General War School for further training after the Second Peace of Paris and at the same time became a member of the Military Society in Berlin. In 1821 he was transferred as battalion commander to Posen , "where his house was a brilliant center of society."

In 1829 he toured Italy and visited Greece and Constantinople to get an idea of ​​the military and political situation in the troubled areas at the time. On his return he was given command of the 11th Infantry Regiment in Breslau and was promoted to colonel in 1832 .

The death of his father forced him to give up command and to devote himself to the administration of his property. In 1833 he was made a Knight of Honor of the Order of Malta . As the commander of the 6th Landwehr Brigade, he returned to his active employment in 1838. In 1839 he was promoted to major general and in 1846 to lieutenant general.

In the Schleswig-Holstein War (1848-1851) he took command of the Prussian troops under General Field Marshal von Wrangel against Denmark . For his prudent and brave behavior with Schleswig and Düppel , he received the order Pour le Mérite .

In May 1849 he was appointed commandant of Torgau and in 1852 commanding general of the IV Army Corps in Magdeburg . In 1853 he was appointed Chief of the 27th Infantry Regiment as an award for his achievements. With the rank of general of the infantry he commanded the III. Army Corps and held the post of military governor of the province of Brandenburg during the mobilization of 1859 .

With the formation of the army in 1860, he was chief of the engineer and pioneer corps and inspector general of the Prussian fortresses .

“He solved the tasks set for him here with great skill; the sharpness of his intellect and his military ability proved their worth in this area, which was completely new to him. He raised the technology of the pioneers, pushed through their organizational increase and directed his main attention to the military training of the troops. East Prussia rightly carried this. Pioneer Battalion No. 1 in recognition of the prince's services to the pioneer and engineer corps until its dissolution in 1918, the name 'Prince Radziwill'. "

After recovering from a stroke that occurred in 1864, he retired in 1866. The prince died in 1870 in his Berlin palace at Wilhelmstrasse 77 and was then buried in the family mausoleum of Antonin Castle. In 1875 the Palais Radziwill was sold to the German Empire for two million thalers . From then on it served as the official seat of the Reich Chancellor .

family

He had married on January 23, 1825 in Posen with Helene Princess Radziwill from the house of Klek (1805-1827). The couple had a daughter:

  • Ludwika Friederike Wilhelmine (April 4, 1826 - May 7, 1828)

After the death of his first wife Radziwill married on June 4, 1832 Mathilde Countess of Clary and Aldringen (1806-1896). The following children were born from this marriage:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Anton (1833–1904), Prussian general of the artillery and adjutant general of Kaiser Wilhelm I.
  • Friedericke Wilhelmine Luise Marianne Mathilde (born October 16, 1836 in Berlin; † January 5, 1918) ⚭ October 9, 1867 Prince Hugo Alfred Adolf Philipp von Windisch-Grätz (born May 26, 1823; † November 26, 1904), kk major general
  • Luise Marianne Auguste Elisabeth Leontine (born September 26, 1839 in Berlin)
  • Leonie Wanda August Elisa (born January 15, 1841 in Berlin)
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Janus (born February 24, 1843), Prussian Rittmeister
  • Adam Karl Wilhelm (born July 12, 1845 in Berlin; † August 22, 1911), retired Prussian major. D., Russian Chamberlain ⚭ 1873 Katarzyna Rzewuska (born March 30, 1858 - † May 12, 1941)

Honors

Radziwill had been an honorary citizen of Magdeburg since 1858 . After his death in 1889, the pioneer battalion No. 1 was given the nickname "Prince Radziwill". Radziwill also received the following medals and decorations :

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Priesdorff, p. 391.
  2. ↑ Priesdorff, p. 393
  3. ^ List of honorary citizens of Magdeburg
personal data
SURNAME Radziwill, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Radziwill, Wilhelm Prince of; Radziwill, Wilhelm Paul Prince of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1797
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1870
Place of death Berlin