Wilhelm Rahmsdorf (soldier)

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Death ride of the Bredow Brigade - contemporary illustration

Wilhelm Rahmsdorf (born August 26, 1843 in Klein Schwechten ; † May 21, 1917 ibid) was a German soldier and war hero who was honored by Kaiser Wilhelm I with the honorary title of standard bearer of Mars-la-Tour . He earned his fame in the battle of Mars-la-Tour .

Rahmsdorf as a soldier

Quedlinburg Victory Monument on a picture postcard (ca.1900)

Wilhelm Rahmsdorf served in the Cuirassier Regiment “von Seydlitz” (Magdeburgisches) No. 7 and ended his military career with the rank of sergeant .

He earned his honorary title through personal bravery in the Franco-German War of 1870/71 . At the Battle of Mars-la-Tour he was involved as a standard bearer in a leading position in a cavalry attack on a French artillery position, which subsequently turned out to be a decisive battle and which went down in military history as the " death ride of the Bredow Brigade " . In this attack, around half of the cavalrymen (800 horsemen) attacking in the assault fell , including a great number of high nobility (including a Prince von Reuss ). Numerous other people involved in this attack were wounded, including Prince Herbert von Bismarck , the son of the then Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck .

As a standard bearer who fulfilled Kürassier in battle tangle a tactically very important function, because after the first volleys of ground-veiled gunsmoke infantrymen, but also horsemen vision. The flag protruded above the powder smoke and served the troops as a guide when moving - but also as a target marker for the opposing artillery .

Model for a victory memorial

The equestrian monument in Quedlinburg with the depiction of a simple soldier was erected by the citizens of the city, deliberately as a juxtaposition and as a warning to the imperial monuments customary elsewhere. ( Karlsruhe built at the same time in 1897)

In Quedlinburg , the Quedlinburg Victory Monument was erected in 1895 , a bronze monument created by the sculptor Richard Anders , a total of 8 meters high, depicting a mounted standard bearer riding over destroyed cannons. The rider has lost his headgear and the standard is torn from bullets. The standard is carried in the left hand, in the right the rider holds a pallasch . With a height of 3.60 meters (without flag) the rider was depicted roughly life-size.

Because of his personal merits in the Franco-Prussian War, Rahmsdorf was given the honor of sitting as a model for this memorial . Rahmsdorf was also an invited guest at the inauguration of the monument on October 27, 1895.

The citizens of Quedlinburg, who donated this memorial in 1890, wanted a simple soldier to be depicted because of the high number of casualties at the Battle of Mars-la-Tours. Many of the victims were located in Quedlinburg - the size of the monument was therefore consciously based on the contemporary Kaiser Wilhelm I monuments . The memorial was erected on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz in Quedlinburg (today Friedrich-Ebert-Platz).

The poet Julius Wolff , who comes from Quedlinburg, described his equestrian statue with the words: “ There is the equestrian image, cast in ore. A brave young Seydlitz cuirassier, sword in fist, tightly closed in the saddle, he blows up there with his animal ”.

The cuirassier regiment No. 7 remained closely connected to its hero of Mars-la-Tours and honored him in 1906 on the occasion of a maneuver that was held near his home town of Klein Schwechten by a delegation who gave him the regimental standard for the duration of the maneuver handed over for safekeeping.

Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck congratulated him handwritten on the silver wedding - Kaiser Wilhelm II invited him to a private audience .

During the Second World War, parts of the memorial were melted down due to a lack of raw materials, the remaining memorial was demolished in 1946. Only the standard has survived. A citizens' movement has formed in Quedlinburg that wants the monument to be reconstructed and is currently collecting donations. The flag is currently being restored and will have a place of honor at the "Alte Schützengesellschaft 1553 zu Quedlinburg" until the monument is rebuilt.

Private and other activities

Tomb of Wilhelm Rahmsdorf in Klein Schwechten

On a memorial stone in Klein Schwechten, which commemorates the fallen of the Franco-German War of 1870–1871, a Friedrich Rahmsdorf is noted - this soldier was probably a brother of Wilhelm Rahmsdorf, who himself was named the village mayor of Klein Schwechten in a book around 1900 has been recorded.

He was married to Elisabeth Rahmsdorf geb. Göthe (* 1835; † 1919). The couple had several children. One of his sons, or rather his father, named Johannes, was also a cavalryman in a hussar regiment . In 1915 an Ewald Rahmsdorf fell from Klein Schwechten, whether this is another son or a grandson of the standard bearer of Mars-la-Tour has not yet been clarified. Wilhelm Rahmsdorf died in Klein Schwechten in 1917, he rests in a grave of honor together with his wife in the local cemetery. The elaborate and extraordinary tombstone still exists and has recently been restored. A cast-iron Prussian eagle used to crown it, but it was stolen.

literature

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Rahmsdorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d blog on the website of the Hotel Domschatz
  2. ↑ Biographical information on the website of the 4 Eichen riding stables
  3. ↑ a b Website of the garrison association
  4. ↑ http://daten2.verwaltungsportal.de/daten/seitengenerator/hn_201403.pdf
  5. ↑ Uniform illustration approx. 1840 on the website Reiterhof 4Eichen
personal data
SURNAME Rahmsdorf, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Standard bearer from Mars-la-Tour
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German soldier, standard bearer from Mars-la-Tour
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Little weak ones
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1917
Place of death Little weak ones