Woldemar Friedrich von Schmettau

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Woldemar Friedrich Graf von Schmettau (born February 25, 1749 in Celle ; † July 7, 1794 in Plön ) was a German diplomat in the Danish service and a writer.

Live and act

Woldemar Friedrich von Schmettau was a son of the officer Woldemar von Schmettau and his wife Amalie, née de Croix de Frechapelle. His brother Carl (1744-1821) was a Danish-Norwegian general. During his childhood with the family in Schleswig , he received lessons from a private tutor. In 1764 he traveled to Norway with his father. He joined the Oldenburg cavalry regiment. Due to a duel, he had to leave it in 1766.

Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff accepted von Schmettau, who had not yet been consolidated, into the diplomatic service. From the end of 1766 he worked first in Dresden, 1768/69 as legation secretary in Madrid and from 1769 and 1771 in Warsaw . For one year he took on a diplomatic post in Madrid. In 1771 he moved to Dresden as chargé d' affaires , where he was appointed envoy on February 28, 1772. Due to his debts, he was recalled from there on February 12, 1773.

Karl Theodor of Palatinate and Bavaria , who was obliged by Schmettau, appointed him a secret council. Until the beginning of 1775 von Schmettau lived at the court of Mannheim, where he could not establish himself due to his debts. In 1777/78 he lived in Paris. In 1778 he published an introduction to German constitutional law. Although he came from the highest circles of society, due to his private problems he also had contact with the lower classes. During his travels he studied extensively the countries crossed, especially France.

In 1779 von Schmettau settled with his father in Plön, who stood up for him, so that in 1781 he got a pension from Denmark. In 1787/88 he temporarily lived in Speyer . In Plön he lived a sickly life, tried very hard to keep his personal circumstances in order, but had debts until the end of his life. In 1790 he got seats in the Plön district court and in the sub-consistory. He also prepared unpaid legal opinions on request.

Von Schmettau died unmarried.

Works

In 1784 von Schmettau wrote a contribution on the knowledge of the French state , which received little attention. On the other hand his articles for the correspondence of August Ludwig von Schlözer , from 1780 for the state advertisements and 1793 for the Schleswig journal . He addressed historical facts and current issues, discussions on public order and spoke out repeatedly against abuses. He moved away from the extreme positions of the French Revolution in 1790.

In 1792 von Schmettau published Patriotic Thoughts of a Dane ... which caused a sensation at home and abroad. In his military-political pamphlet, he called for a recruited, small and well-trained army. In particular, his description of the Danish situation aroused criticism from senior officers and provoked counter-responses. The controversy was considered the "Schmettow'sche Feud". In 1793 he exacerbated the conflict with an Explanatory Commentary ... , which led to accusations of abuse of freedom of the press. Until the end of his life, however, he did not deviate from his points of view, which were largely shared by the public.

With his writings, von Schmettau had no fundamental influence on the development of the armies in Denmark and other countries.

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Woldemar Friedrich von Schmettau  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Schmettau, Woldemar Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmettau, Woldemar Friedrich Graf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat and writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Celle
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1794
Place of death Plön