Wilhelm of Ploennies
Ludwig Wilhelm von Ploennies (born September 7, 1828 in Darmstadt ; † August 21, 1871 there ) was a German military writer and translator.
Life
Wilhelm von Ploennies, a son of the doctor August von Ploennies and the poet Luise von Ploennies , began his military career at the age of sixteen in the infantry of the Grand Ducal Hesse. In May 1847 he became an officer . From 1848 to 1850 he was involved in battles in Baden and Holstein. In 1856 he was a member of the armory Directorate in Darmstadt. Before 1861 he resigned for health reasons; he suffered from gout and rheumatism as well as an eye disease . In the last phase of his life he was paralyzed and almost blind.
Ploennies wrote several weapon science books, such as the new studies on the rifled firearm of the infantry in two volumes (1861–1864), Das Zündnadelgewehr (1865), Neue Hinterladungsgewehre (1867) and, together with H. Weygandt, Die deutsche Gewehrfrage (1871). He also wrote numerous magazine articles on similar topics. His writings have appeared in the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, the Darmstädter Allgemeine Militärzeitung and the Cottaschen Vierteljahresschrift, among others. Contributions that were not signed by name were marked with three stars standing next to each other between two horizontal lines.
Ploennies developed a machine for making primers and other devices that were used in various armies. In 1857 he stayed in Russia and in 1866 in Switzerland; however, he also worked for other countries and industry.
He not only wrote non-fiction, but also translated the Kudrun into New High German (1853) and published the volumes of poetry Immortellen des Schlachtfeldes (1870) and Schwanenlieder (1871). Under the pseudonym Ludwig Siegrist, he also had the humorous novel Life, Work and End of General Leberecht vom Knopf (1869) appear. He supported his brother-in-law Johann Wilhelm Wolf , who had married his sister Marie, with his collection of fairy tales and legends.
He was married since 1859 to Marie Mathilde von Görts, (born September 8, 1834 in Schlitz (Vogelsbergkreis) ; † March 12, 1916 in Darmstadt), a daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Schlitz called von Görtz (1793-1839) his morganatic marriage with Elise Ritz from Bernshausen . The couple had two daughters and three sons, including Friedrich Wilhelm (1860-1906,) German Consul General in Brisbane , who founded the Australian line of the family in his marriage to Mary Macrossan.
Wilhelm von Ploennies was buried in the old cemetery in Darmstadt (grave site: ID 97/98).
Awards
-
Order of Philip the Magnanimous , Knight (June 9, 1850) -
Russian Order of Saint Anne , 3rd Class (1857) - Hessian field service mark
- Baden commemorative medal for the Baden campaign in 1849
literature
- Wilhelm von Ploennies: Right from the button. [With drawings by Fritz Kredel. Foreword by Hans Schiebelhuth.] Darmstädter Verlag, Darmstadt 1935.
- Bernhard von Poten : Ploennies, Wilhelm von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 26, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, p. 310 f.
- Michael Epkenhans , Gerhard P. Gross (ed.): The military and the departure into modernity 1860-1890. Armies, navies and the change in politics, society and economy in Europe, the USA and Japan (= contributions to military history 60). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-486-56760-8 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Wilhelm von Ploennies in the catalog of the German National Library
- Ploennies, Ludwig Wilhelm von. Hessian biography. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
- Meyers Konversationslexikon from 1888
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ploennies, Wilhelm von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German military writer and translator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 7, 1828 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Darmstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 21, 1871 |
| Place of death | Darmstadt |