Hugo Graf zu Münster-Meinhövel

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Hugo Graf zu Münster-Meinhövel
Bildnis von Hugo Graf zu Münster-Meinhövel (1812-1880).jpg
Birth name Hugo Eberhard Leopold Unico Graf zu Münster-Meinhövel
Birth date 30 June 1812(1812-06-30)
Place of birth Berlin, occupied Brandeburg, Kingdom of Prussia
Death date 6 May 1880 (aged 67)
Place of death Hanover, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Allegiance Germany Prussian Eagle.jpg Kingdom of Prussia
Wappen des Deutschen Bundes.jpg German Confederation
Coat of arms of North German Confederation.png North German Confederation
 German Empire
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Years of service 1829–1867/80
Rank General of the Cavalry
Commands held 14. Division
19. Division
Battles/wars March Revolution in Berlin (1848)
First Schleswig War (1849)
German-Danish War (1864)
German War of Brothers (1866)
Awards Red Eagle Order
House Order of Hohenzollern
Pour le Mérite
Relations ∞ 1851 Bertha Eleonore Beatrix von der Marwitz

Hugo Eberhard Leopold Unico Reichsgraf[1] von Münster zu Meinhövel, Freiherr von Schade und Oer[2] (30 June 1812 – 6 May 1880), was a German officer of the Prussian Army, finally General of the Cavalry and commander of a division. He was Imperial and Royal Generaladjutant until 1880. Upon his death, because the marriage had been childless, House Meinhövel of the noble family of Münster ceased to exist.

Life

On 29 July 1829, Count von Münster-Meinhövel joined the 1st Uhlan Regiment of the Prussian Army as a second lieutenant coming from the Berlin Cadet Corps. From 1832 to 1834, he attended the General War School (Allgemeine Kriegsschule). He then joined the Guard Cuirassier Regiment. In 1839, he became adjutant of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, and in 1842, adjutant to the General Command of the Guard Cavalry. In 1845, he was appointed Rittmeister with the Garde du Corps. In March 1848, he participated in the street fighting in Berlin. That same year, he was made a Knight of the Balley Brandenburg of the Order of St. John. In April and May 1849, he participated in the campaign against Denmark as adjutant to the High Command of the German Confederate Troops.

On 11 June 1850, he was transferred to the Royal Adjutant's Office. On 18 July 1850, he was promoted to Major and became Flügeladjutant to King Frederick William IV. From August 1850, he was military plenipotentiary (Militärbevollmächtigter) in St. Petersburg for six years, succeeding Lieutenant General Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch, who had held this post for 17 years from 1833. On 18 June 1856, he became commander of the Garde du Corps Regiment. On 8 July 1858, he became commander of the 8th Cavalry Brigade. From April to June 1863, he was envoy extraordinary to the Electorate of Hesse. On 15 December 1863, he was delegated with the leadership of the combined mobile cavalry division in preparation for the second war against Denmark. On 25 June 1864 (still leader of the combined mobile cavalry division until 5 August 1864), he became Lieutenant General and commander of the 14th Division. On 5 August 1864, he was briefly (simultaneously) delegated with the deputy leadership of the VII Army Corps. He took part in the German War of Brothers of 1866 with his 14th Division.

After the war, he commanded the newly formed 19th Division from 30 October 1866 to 9 August 1867. His request for resignation due to health restrictions was granted with the statutory pension and he was placed at disposal (zur Disposition), but continued to serve as Adjutant General to the King of Prussia and later German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm I. In recognition of his many years of service, Count von Münster-Meinhövel received the Order of the Red Eagle, First Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on Ring on 22 March 1870 and the rank of Honorary General of the Cavalry on 26 July 1870.

Family

Hugo was the son of Prussian Major General Gustav Maximilian Ludwig Unico Graf zu Münster-Meinhövel, Freiherr von Schade (1782–1839) and his second wife Julie Henriette Caroline, née von der Marwitz (1789–1872), daughter of Court Marshal of Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II Behrendt Friedrich August von der Marwitz (1740–1793) and lady-in-waiting to Princess Marianne of Prussia (1785–1846).

Marriage

On 23 October 1851 in Berlin, Major Graf zu Münster-Meinhövel married his fiancée Bertha Eleonore Beatrix von der Marwitz (b. 30 July 1817 in Friedersdorf; d. 5 April 1879 in Hannover),[3] daughter of Friedrich August Ludwig von der Marwitz (1777–1837), Prussian Lieutenant General, member of the State Council and opponent of the Prussian reforms (author of the Lebus Memorandum of 1811), and his wife Elisabeth Charlotte Ernestine Emilie von Moltke (1780–1848), from 1798 to 1810 lady-in-waiting to Queen Luise (1776–1810). Bertha was a lady-in-waiting to Elisabeth Ludovika, Queen of Prussia (1801–1873) from October 1838 to 1851. During the German-Franco War, Bertha Gräfin zu Münster-Meinhövel volunteered as a nurse and was awarded the Cross of Merit for Women and Virgins on 18 June 1871.

Promotions

  • 29 July 1829 Seconde-Lieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 22 February 1841 Premier-Lieutenant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 22 March 1845 Rittmeister (Captain)
  • 18 July 1850 Major
  • 6 June 1853 Oberst-Lieutenant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 13 July 1855 Oberst (Colonel) without Patent
    • 15 October 1856 received Patent as Colonel
  • 31 May 1859 General-Major (Major General)
  • 25 June 1864 General-Lieutenant (Lieutenant General)
    • 10 August 1867 General-Lieutenant z. D. (Lieutenant General at disposal) and Generaladjutant
  • 26 July 1870 Charakter als General der Kavallerie (Honorary Lieutenant General of the Cavalry)

Awards and decorations

Coat of arms of the Counts of Münster-Meinhövel, Barons von Schade, Hereditary Marshals of the Princely Abbey of Herford
  • Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, 4th Class (HG4)[4]
  • Knight (Ritter; Rr) of the Johanniter-Orden (PStJO) on 18 January 1848[5]
    • renamed Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) after 1853
  • Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4)
  • Russian Order of Saint Anna (Sankt-Annen-Orden), 2nd Class (RA2)
  • Swords to his Red Eagle Order, 4th Class (PRAO4⚔/PrA4⚔) in 1849
  • Saxon Military Order of St. Henry, Knight's Cross (SH3) in 1849
  • Hesse House Order of the Golden Lion, Knight's Cross with Swords (CHL3mSchw) in 1849
    • 20 August 1851 renamed Hesse Wilhelm Order, Knight's Cross with Swords (CHW3mSchw)
  • Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow (mit der Schleife) and Swords on Ring on 3 June 1860
  • Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, Knight's Cross (3rd Class; HG3)
  • Diamonds (Brillanten) to his Russian Order of Saint Anna (Sankt-Annen-Orden) 2nd Class (RA2mBr)
  • Russian Order of Saint Vladimir, 3rd Class (RW3)
  • Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz; DA)
  • House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross (HOH3) in 1854
  • Russian Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd Class with Star (RSt2mSt)
  • Friedrichs-Orden, Commander's Cross (Kommenturkreuz) 2nd Class (WF2b)
  • Russian Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class (RSt1) on 25 July 1859
  • Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on Ring on 3 June 1860
  • Order of the White Falcon (Grand Duchy of Saxony), Commander's Cross 1st Class (GSF2a) on 20 September 1860 (permission to accept on 13 November 1860)
    • later classified as Commander's Cross without classes (GSF2)
  • Russian Order of Saint Anna (Sankt-Annen-Orden), 1st Class (RA1) on 27 November 1860
  • House Order of Hohenzollern, Commander' Cross (Kreuz der Komthure) on 18 October 1861
  • Order of the Oak Crown (Luxembourg), Grand Cross (LEK1) on 21 December 1861 (permission to accept on 11 March 1862)
  • Hesse Wilhelm Order, Grand Cross with Swords (CHW1mSchw) on 19 June 1863
  • Swords to his House Order of Hohenzollern Commander' Cross (Kreuz der Komthure) in 1864
  • Knight of the Austrian-Hungarian Order of the Iron Crown, 1st Class with War Decoration or Kriegsdekoration (ÖEK1.KD) on 21 August 1864
  • War Commemorative Medal of 1864 (Kriegs-Denkmünze für 1864; KD64)
  • Star to his Red Eagle Order 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on Ring 14 May 1865
  • Princely Schaumburg Lippe Military Merit Medal (SLVM/SLMV) on 10 July 1865
  • Pour le Mérite on 20 September 1866 as Lieutenant General and commander of the 14. Infanterie-Division[6]
  • Commemorative Cross for the Campaign of 1866 (Erinnerungs-Kreuz für den Feldzug von 1866)
  • Red Eagle Order, 1st Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on Ring on 22 March 1870
  • Red Eagle Order, Grand Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on Ring, presumably in Summer 1879 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of joining the Prussian Army[7]

References

  1. Johann Georg Heinrich Hassel: Genealogisch-historisch-statistischer Almanach, Volume 24, 1848, p. 542
  2. Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Gräflichen Häuser, 1868, p. 568
  3. Marwitz, BERTHA Eleonore Beatrix von der, verh. Gräfin zu Münster-Meinhövel (Archive)
  4. Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1848, p. 135
  5. Ritter der Balley Brandenburg des Johanniter-Ordens
  6. Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite, Zweiter Band 1812 bis 1913, Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1913, pp. 490 f.
  7. Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1880, p. 11