Wilhelm Gottfried Christian von Kaphengst

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Wilhelm Gottfried Christian von Kaphengst (born September 28, 1751 ; † July 15, 1818 ) was a Prussian officer and knight of the order Pour le Mérite .

Life and family environment

Wilhelm Gottfried Christian von Kaphengst came from the old Brandenburg-Prussian junker family von Kaphengst , who were wealthy in Westprignitz . He was born on September 28, 1751 on his father's estate in Bresch as the seventh child and third son of the Prussian captain Albrecht Christian von Kaphengst (1704–1775), landlord of Bresch , Gülitz, Reetz and Möllnitz, and Henriette Dorothea von Rochow (1718–1775). 1793) born. He died on July 15, 1818 in Rathenow . He was married since March 23, 1783 to Charlotte Wilhelmine Bars (1759-1826). From this marriage, only five daughters survived the parents.

His brother was Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst (1740–1800), the favorite of Prince Heinrich of Prussia .

Military career

As the younger son of his father, he chose the soldier profession, as was customary in noble families at the time. He entered the Prussian army as an officer candidate and at the beginning of the first coalition war against revolutionary France had achieved the rank of Rittmeister in the body carabinier regiment. He took part in the campaign against the troops of the French Revolutionary Army and distinguished himself in the Battle of Kaiserslautern, which was victorious for Prussia from November 28th to 30th, 1793, that the Prussian commander-in-chief, the Duke of Braunschweig , King Friedrich Wilhelm II. proposed with a report of December 5, 1793 for the award of the order Pour le Mérite. The king then granted Kaphengst this award. In the relevant cabinet order to the Duke of Braunschweig it says, among other things: "... have ED and L. (= Your Highness and Loving ones) a pleasant letter of 5 d. M. received… I show the same… My sincere thanks for the excellent disposition and their splendid execution, which so completely thwarted the enemy's intentions…. So I can express my complete satisfaction ... This then determines me, ... to approve testimonies of grace proposed by ED and L. without exceptions ... ".

Wilhelm Gottfried Christian von Kaphengst continued his military career in the Prussian army and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel .

After the death of his father and his older brother, he inherited the Bresch, Gülitz and Reetz estates.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility , Volume A XVIII, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg, 1985, p. 150.
  2. ↑ File on the opening of his will (BLHA Potsdam, 4A Testamente 9293) digitized
  3. ^ Genealogical handbook of the nobility. Volume A XVIII, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg 1985, p. 152.
  4. ^ Gustav Lehmann: The knights of the order pour le merite. Volume 1, awards under King Friedrich Wilhelm II., Mittler, Berlin 1913, p. 300, no. 591.
personal data
SURNAME Kaphengst, Wilhelm Gottfried Christian von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian officer and knight of the order Pour le Mérite
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Good Bresch
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1818