Wolf Friedrich von Retzow
Wolf Friedrich von Retzow (born January 24, 1700 at Gut Moethlow near Nauen , † November 5, 1758 in Schweidnitz ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .
Life
The son of a noble family was educated at the Knight Academy in Brandenburg Cathedral and joined the “von Schlabrendorff” regiment at the age of 17 as an ensign . In 1745 he became a colonel in command of the Grenadier Guard battalion , which was stationed in Potsdam. Two years later he became the head of the supreme catering authority of the army and of some important state-owned companies, such as the Great Military Orphanage and the gold and silver factory in Berlin. When Frederick II called for the construction of a Bohemian weavers' colony near Potsdam in the spring of 1751, he commissioned Retzow to build it.
The new colony was built in the immediate vicinity of the Neuendorf farming settlement. Retzow remained closely associated with his colony Nowawes until his death . He was not only their first in command, but also the first publisher of the textile goods produced. When other publishers took over the work from 1756 onwards, Colonel Retzow was the most important judicial authority and mediator between the weavers and the new publishers.
Because of special merits in the Battle of Leuthen during the Seven Years' War , Retzow was appointed lieutenant general by Frederick the Great on the battlefield. In the battle of Hochkirch on October 13, 1758, he refused the order to storm the Stromberg twice because he believed the project to be impossible. Retzow fell out of favor and had to give up his sword. He was already ill with dysentery and was transferred with some troops to Schweidnitz, where he died. Prince Heinrich of Prussia dedicated a plaque on his Rheinsberg obelisk to him .
family
Retzow was married to Charlotte Louise von Röseler (* 1706; † May 7, 1779), daughter of General Friedrich August von Röseler . The couple had several children:
- Friedrich August (* July 13, 1729 † October 18, 1812)
- Wilhelm Leopold (* July 13, 1729; † May 14, 1803) ∞ Henriette von Thiele - parents of Charlotte (1767–1833) wife of Field Marshal Friedrich von Kleist
- Marie Charlotte († September 25, 1781) ∞ Peter Christian von Kleist (* November 9, 1727; † November 21, 1777), parents of Hans Jürgen von Kleist-Retzow
- Friederike Albertine ∞ Adam August von Möllendorf .
literature
- Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 1, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632764 , pp. 400-401, no. 415.
- Neuendorf-Nowawes-Babelsberg; Stations of a district; Collective of authors; Publisher: Förderkreis Böhmisches Dorf Nowawes and Neuendorf e. V .; Geiger-Verlag, Horb am Neckar; 2000
- Bernhard von Poten : Retzow, Wolf Friedrich von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 277 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ At Poten / ADB (Lit.) he was born in 1699.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Retzow, Wolf Friedrich von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prussian lieutenant general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1699 or January 24, 1700 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gut Maethlow near Nauen |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 5, 1758 |
| Place of death | Schweidnitz |