Wilhelm zu Stolberg-Wernigerode

This article deals with the Prussian general. For the German diplomat of the same name, see Wilhelm zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (Diplomat) .

General Wilhelm Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode

Wilhelm Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (born May 13, 1807 in Wernigerode ; † March 6, 1898 in Jannowitz ) was a Prussian general of the cavalry , majorate of Jannowitz in Silesia and a member of the Prussian manor house .

Life

origin

Wilhelm was the eldest son of Count Constantin zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (1779-1817) and came from the Count's House of Stolberg-Wernigerode . His godparents were u. a. the writer and librarian Lorenz Benzler (1747–1817) and the court preacher and superintendent Johann Friedrich Schmid (1729–1811). After his father died during a spa stay in Karlsbad in Bohemia , Wilhelm took over his father's possessions in Silesia under guardianship at the age of ten.

Military career

Stolberg joined the Guard Dragoon Regiment of the Prussian Army on August 3, 1825 , became second lieutenant on April 17, 1827 and adjutant to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia on July 4, 1835 . On December 24, 1837, he took his leave as prime lieutenant in order to devote himself to the management of his holdings in Jannowitz and Kupferberg in the Hirschberg district.

On July 7, 1849, he rejoined the Prussian Army as Rittmeister with the Gardes du Corps . On June 22, 1852 he became major and served as adjutant of the Guards Cavalry Division , on October 15, 1856 he rose as a staff officer of the Guards Cuirassier Regiment to lieutenant colonel . From 1856 to 1859 he was in command of the Silesian Hussar Regiment No. 4 in Oels . After he was promoted to colonel on May 31, 1859 , he took over the leadership of the 12th Cavalry Brigade in Neisse . On 23 July 1861 he was with the character as a major general at his own request to the disposition provided for in turn spend on goods.

Report to General of the Cavalry Wilhelm Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode as outgoing commanding general (on the gray) by Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch; Oil painting by Emil Hünten , 1882

After the outbreak of war against Austria he rejoined the army in May 1866 as commander of the 6th Landwehr Cavalry Brigade and covered the border against Galicia , but his cavalry was forced to retreat due to enemy resistance near Oswiecim . After the peace, Stolberg was promoted to lieutenant general and on May 18, 1867 at the same time appointed commander of the 12th division in Neisse. When the war against France broke out in July 1870, he became the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division, usually named after his name . His division was assigned to the 3rd Army under Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and was not fully assembled until August 7 at Mainz. It covered the left flank of the 3rd Army at Sedan and on the advance on Paris . After the battle of Coulmiers , the division joined the newly formed army department of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and fought in the Orléans area in November. Thereafter, the Stolberg Division came under the command of the 2nd Army of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia . At the beginning of 1871 it covered the pursuit of the enemy westwards towards Le Mans .

After the war, on September 5, 1871, Stolberg was appointed commanding general of the VII Army Corps in Münster. In this position, Stolberg was promoted to General of the Cavalry on March 22, 1873 and appointed Chief of the 1st Silesian Dragoon Regiment No. 4 on September 2, receiving the Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle with Oak Leaves and Swords . In recognition of his many years of service, King Wilhelm I made him Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle on March 22, 1880 . Leaving his position as head of the dragoon regiment, Stolberg was put on the table on April 15, 1882 with a pension and awarded the Grand Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern .

After his departure, he retired to his estates in Jannowitz.

family

On November 11, 1835 he married in Roßla Countess Elisabeth of Stolberg-Rossla (1817-1896), daughter of Count August zu Stolberg-Rossla and Countess Caroline of Erbach-Schönberg. His wife died two years before him in Dresden . Their long marriage of 61 years had 14 children:

• Marianne (1836–1910) ⚭ Friedrich Graf zu Solms-Laubach (1833–1900)
• Luitgarde (1838–1917) ⚭ 1859 Heinrich XV. Prince Reuss († 1869)
• Marie (1840-1919)
• Agnes (1842–1904) ⚭ Prince Hermann zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (1838–1899)
• Constantin (1843–1905), Upper President of the Prussian Province of Hanover ⚭ Antonie Countess zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (1850–1878)
• Carl (1845–1874)
• August (1847–1885)
• Ernst (1849–1907)
• Adolf (* / † 1850)
• Gertrud (1851-1852)
• Magdalena (1853–1863)
• Margarethe (1855-1928)
• Hermann (1856–1923)
• Anton (1859-1922)

literature

• Gustav von Glasenapp : Military Biographies of the Officer Corps of the Prussian Army. Berlin 1868, p. 127.
• Bernhard von Poten :  Stolberg-Wernigerode, Wilhelm Graf zu . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 54, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, pp. 564-566.
• Christian Friedrich Kesslin: Messages from writers and artists in the county of Wernigerode from 1074 to 1855. Magdeburg 1856, p. 92.
• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch and diplomatic-statistical yearbook. Gotha 1872, p. 269 f.
• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 7, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1939], DNB 367632829 , pp. 135-137, no. 2202.