Wilhelm von Knobelsdorff (General, 1752)

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Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Freiherr von Knobelsdorff (* 28. January 1752 in Berlin , † 19th April 1820 ibid ) was a Prussian lieutenant general and diplomat .

Life

origin

Wilhelm was a son of the Prussian lieutenant colonel Karl Gottlob von Knobelsdorff (1705–1757) and his wife Philippine Sophie, née Krug von Nidda († 1766).

Military career

Knobelsdorff visited the cadet house and the Ecole militaire in Berlin. On March 12, 1771, he joined the regiment of the Guard of the Prussian Army as a private corporal and was promoted to secondary lieutenant until the beginning of April 1776 . In 1778/79 he took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession . King Friedrich II had already noticed him beforehand . In 1781 Knobelsdorff sent a plan for the improved training of the infantry to the king, who thanked him on August 14, 1781. In the following years he also sent various reports to the king.

On April 3, 1783 Knobelsdorff rose to prime lieutenant and on November 21, 1788 was staff captain . King Friedrich Wilhelm II recognized his diplomatic skills and on January 9, 1790, he was sent as Prussian envoy to the High Porte in Constantinople ; his credentials dated January 20, 1790. On January 25, 1790 he was able to conclude an alliance treaty between Prussia and the Sublime Porte. On February 28, 1790 he was promoted to major . On April 10, 1798 he received permission to wear the guard uniform. On July 2, 1798, he became a lieutenant colonel and on June 28, 1799, a colonel .

On October 20, 1804 Knobelsdorff was promoted to major general and sent to the French Emperor Napoleon and Marshal Bernadotte , who was commanding the French army in Hanover at the time . On January 11, 1805, he came to The Hague as an envoy with a special assignment , but remained envoy in Constantinople. On January 24, 1805 he received his patent as a major general . From November 11th to December 25th, 1805 he was envoy extraordinary to Paris. After his return he was sent to Paris again on August 21, 1806, because the relationship between France and Prussia was very tense. The previous ambassador Girolamo Lucchesini was recalled and Knobelsdorff brought a personal letter from King Friedrich Wilhelm III. to Napoleon.

After the Prussian defeat in the Fourth Coalition War , he followed the king to Königsberg . On December 7, 1806 he was commissioned to stay with the king. In March 1809 he was sent to Amsterdam as envoy . But when the Kingdom of Holland was incorporated into the French Empire on July 1, 1810 , the Prussian embassy was dissolved and Knobelsdorff returned to Berlin. On January 20, 1813, he received his farewell and a 1,200 thalers pension. He was then added as a partner to the captured King of Saxony Friedrich August . For this, his pension was increased to 2,000 thalers on April 12, 1813. After the war he was made lieutenant general on April 1, 1818. He died on April 19, 1820 in Berlin.

family

He married on January 31, 1791 in Pera near Constantinople Philippine Freiin van Dedern to de Geldern (1772-1860), daughter of the Dutch ambassador at the Sublime Porte. The couple had several children:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Konstantin (1792–1832), Knight of the Order of St. John, Prussian envoy, Minister-Resident in Cracow ⚭ Henriette Wilhelmine Goßler († 1851)
  • Johanna (1796–1852) ⚭ Count Gerhard van Schimmelpenninck (1794–1863), Dutch envoy
  • Anton Friedrich Gisbert Konstantin (1797-1853), Dutch Chamberlain, Retired Prussian Rittmeister. D. ⚭ 1829 Luise von Schuilenburg
  • Wilhelm (1802–1880), Prussian major general, adjutant to Prince Friedrich of Prussia
  • Friedrich (Fritz) Wilhelm Adrian Karl (1810–1855), Dutch Chamberlain ⚭ Konradine Wilhelmine Vos van Steenwyk van Essen (* 1814)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ His grave is in the Schöneiche village cemetery near Berlin , image.
personal data
SURNAME Knobelsdorff, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knobelsdorff, Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1752
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1820
Place of death Berlin