Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
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Hans-Joachim von Zieten
On January 26 ,1786, one of the most famous military commanders of his time, the Prussian cavalry general Hans Joachim von Zieten, died at Berlin in his house at Kochstraße 61/62 (today Rudi-Dutschke-Straße), which he had bought in 1763 for 14,500 thalers. ..:
I deliberately write his name "Zieten" and not "Ziethen", as it should be, because he himself strictly rejected this - Frenchized - form of the name!
Zieten was born as the third of a total of seven children of the country nobleman Joachim Matthias von Zieten and his wife Ilsabe Catharina, née von Jürgas auf Gantzer/Herrschaft Ruppin. The family lived in modest circumstances, which is why Zieten later described the house where he was born as a "Kaluppe" (hut)...:
The boy had been interested in the military stationed in the neighboring town of Neuruppin since he was nine years old and joined the Ruppin regiment of yellow cuirassiers (Rgt. No. 7) as a free corporal as soon as possible.
When he became an ensign, his commander at the time, who later became Field Marshal Curt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, wrote an assessment that said: "... is very small and has a weak voice for commanding."
That was enough!
From then on, Zieten was ignored for every promotion.
On July 28, 1724, Zieten secretly deserted from Crossen/Neumorle, where his regiment was garrisoned, with a request for promotion to the king to Berlin. However, this did not promote him as hoped, but fired him!
The king (Friedrich Wilhelmn I.) noted in the margins of the request: "... should have his assignment".
End of career as a Prussian officer.
But it turned out differently:
In 1730 the Prussian king founded an honorary escort with light cavalry; Zieten immediately tried to re-enter the royal military and was eventually proposed for General von Buddenbrock's recommendation because of his courage and his unconditional loyalty to the king.
Zieten was considered a gifted horseman and absolutely suitable for the new free company.
He entered the free company of the hussars in Potsdam with the same rank as before his resignation. On March 1st of the following year, a second company of hussars was formed and Zieten was immediately promoted to her boss and captain with a monthly salary of 50 thalers.
In 1735 the king appointed Zieten to be the head of a hussar company consisting of Berlin and Lithuanian hussars.
Under the ridicule he often had to endure because of his small stature and the many health problems such as long-lasting headaches and gout, the young hussar officer developed a strong self-confidence that did not desert him even in later controversies with the monarch.
In addition, there was an unusual kindness towards the transgressions of the common man, which was unusual in historical comparison - especially in Prussia: Zieten categorically rejected the customary corporal punishment!
In 1741 the First Silesian War broke out, in which Zieten moved as a major and squadron commander. On May 10, 1741, he distinguished himself in a skirmish with the Austrians between Strehlen and Nimptsch. For this he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Leibhusarenregiment (later H 2). On July 22 of this year he became a colonel and was given his own hussar regiment.
On October 9, near Moldauthein, Zieten, who had the Major General's license of February 1, 1744, and his red-uniformed Hussar Regiment No. 2, known well into the 20th century, was able to defeat a larger enemy force on his own initiative for the first time....
At Hohenfriedberg the Zieten Hussars were able to prove themselves for the first time in a major battle on June 4th!
When on November 28, 1745 the Prussian army got into a threatening situation against the Austrians at Katholisch-Hennersdorf/Saxony, Zieten managed to turn the battle around with a spirited surprise attack from the thickets of the forest, and Prussia won.
Since then, his contemporaries respectfully called him the "Zieten aus dem Busch" (= Zieten out of the bush) ...:
After the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Zieten was promoted to lieutenant general and took part in the Battle of Reichenberg and the Battle of Prague in 1757.
On May 5, 1757 he was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle...:
At the Battle of Kolín he commanded the left wing and was then assigned to Duke August Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, who was given command in Silesia.
After his capture on November 24, 1757, Zieten led the rest of the army via Glogau to Liegnitz to meet King Frederick II and fought with his hussars in the Battle of Leuthen on December 5.
During the Battle of Liegnitz on August 15, 1760, he managed to keep the main Austrian army in check so that it could not take part in the battle.
For this he was promoted to General der Kavallerie...:
In the Battle of Torgau on November 3, 1760, Prussian troops under his command stormed the Süptitz Heights and Prussia achieved victory as a result...:
After all, it was Zieten who pulled the king out of a deep mental crisis in the entrenched camp at Bunzelwitz in 1761 and encouraged him to take new initiatives...:
Until the end of the war he was repeatedly entrusted with the supreme command of the Prussian army in the absence of the king. At the end of the war, Zieten belonged to the elite of the kingdom and to the sworn circle of friends of the aging monarch...:
The years of peace that followed saw the old army commander as a cavalry inspector and tireless trainer of his meanwhile legendary hussar regiment.
Zieten spent the last years of his life alternately in Berlin and at his Gut Wustrau, where he devoted himself primarily to charity.
He was probably the only general of the era to enjoy the special trust of King Frederick II, who often visited "his old father Zieten" and respected his deep religiosity.
This is how the legendary scene happened in Sanssouci Palace, which probably most impressively reflects the appreciation that King Friedrich had for his comrade-in-arms, who was 13 years his senior:
After a lengthy conversation, the king had a chair brought, on which he asked the 85-year-old man to sit.
Since the latter seriously refused to sit down in the presence of the monarch, despite the pain caused him by standing so long, the king says with a kindly face: "Sit down, Zieten, or I'll go away, because I want him very much don't be a burden!"
Only then did Zieten do what his royal friend wished, who here granted symbolic priority to the man who had fought and won at his side for years...:
On January 26 ,1786, one of the most famous military commanders of his time, the Prussian cavalry general Hans Joachim von Zieten, died at Berlin in his house at Kochstraße 61/62 (today Rudi-Dutschke-Straße), which he had bought in 1763 for 14,500 thalers. ..:
I deliberately write his name "Zieten" and not "Ziethen", as it should be, because he himself strictly rejected this - Frenchized - form of the name!
Zieten was born as the third of a total of seven children of the country nobleman Joachim Matthias von Zieten and his wife Ilsabe Catharina, née von Jürgas auf Gantzer/Herrschaft Ruppin. The family lived in modest circumstances, which is why Zieten later described the house where he was born as a "Kaluppe" (hut)...:
The boy had been interested in the military stationed in the neighboring town of Neuruppin since he was nine years old and joined the Ruppin regiment of yellow cuirassiers (Rgt. No. 7) as a free corporal as soon as possible.
When he became an ensign, his commander at the time, who later became Field Marshal Curt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, wrote an assessment that said: "... is very small and has a weak voice for commanding."
That was enough!
From then on, Zieten was ignored for every promotion.
On July 28, 1724, Zieten secretly deserted from Crossen/Neumorle, where his regiment was garrisoned, with a request for promotion to the king to Berlin. However, this did not promote him as hoped, but fired him!
The king (Friedrich Wilhelmn I.) noted in the margins of the request: "... should have his assignment".
End of career as a Prussian officer.
But it turned out differently:
In 1730 the Prussian king founded an honorary escort with light cavalry; Zieten immediately tried to re-enter the royal military and was eventually proposed for General von Buddenbrock's recommendation because of his courage and his unconditional loyalty to the king.
Zieten was considered a gifted horseman and absolutely suitable for the new free company.
He entered the free company of the hussars in Potsdam with the same rank as before his resignation. On March 1st of the following year, a second company of hussars was formed and Zieten was immediately promoted to her boss and captain with a monthly salary of 50 thalers.
In 1735 the king appointed Zieten to be the head of a hussar company consisting of Berlin and Lithuanian hussars.
Under the ridicule he often had to endure because of his small stature and the many health problems such as long-lasting headaches and gout, the young hussar officer developed a strong self-confidence that did not desert him even in later controversies with the monarch.
In addition, there was an unusual kindness towards the transgressions of the common man, which was unusual in historical comparison - especially in Prussia: Zieten categorically rejected the customary corporal punishment!
In 1741 the First Silesian War broke out, in which Zieten moved as a major and squadron commander. On May 10, 1741, he distinguished himself in a skirmish with the Austrians between Strehlen and Nimptsch. For this he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Leibhusarenregiment (later H 2). On July 22 of this year he became a colonel and was given his own hussar regiment.
On October 9, near Moldauthein, Zieten, who had the Major General's license of February 1, 1744, and his red-uniformed Hussar Regiment No. 2, known well into the 20th century, was able to defeat a larger enemy force on his own initiative for the first time....
At Hohenfriedberg the Zieten Hussars were able to prove themselves for the first time in a major battle on June 4th!
When on November 28, 1745 the Prussian army got into a threatening situation against the Austrians at Katholisch-Hennersdorf/Saxony, Zieten managed to turn the battle around with a spirited surprise attack from the thickets of the forest, and Prussia won.
Since then, his contemporaries respectfully called him the "Zieten aus dem Busch" (= Zieten out of the bush) ...:
After the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Zieten was promoted to lieutenant general and took part in the Battle of Reichenberg and the Battle of Prague in 1757.
On May 5, 1757 he was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle...:
At the Battle of Kolín he commanded the left wing and was then assigned to Duke August Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, who was given command in Silesia.
After his capture on November 24, 1757, Zieten led the rest of the army via Glogau to Liegnitz to meet King Frederick II and fought with his hussars in the Battle of Leuthen on December 5.
During the Battle of Liegnitz on August 15, 1760, he managed to keep the main Austrian army in check so that it could not take part in the battle.
For this he was promoted to General der Kavallerie...:
In the Battle of Torgau on November 3, 1760, Prussian troops under his command stormed the Süptitz Heights and Prussia achieved victory as a result...:
After all, it was Zieten who pulled the king out of a deep mental crisis in the entrenched camp at Bunzelwitz in 1761 and encouraged him to take new initiatives...:
Until the end of the war he was repeatedly entrusted with the supreme command of the Prussian army in the absence of the king. At the end of the war, Zieten belonged to the elite of the kingdom and to the sworn circle of friends of the aging monarch...:
The years of peace that followed saw the old army commander as a cavalry inspector and tireless trainer of his meanwhile legendary hussar regiment.
Zieten spent the last years of his life alternately in Berlin and at his Gut Wustrau, where he devoted himself primarily to charity.
He was probably the only general of the era to enjoy the special trust of King Frederick II, who often visited "his old father Zieten" and respected his deep religiosity.
This is how the legendary scene happened in Sanssouci Palace, which probably most impressively reflects the appreciation that King Friedrich had for his comrade-in-arms, who was 13 years his senior:
After a lengthy conversation, the king had a chair brought, on which he asked the 85-year-old man to sit.
Since the latter seriously refused to sit down in the presence of the monarch, despite the pain caused him by standing so long, the king says with a kindly face: "Sit down, Zieten, or I'll go away, because I want him very much don't be a burden!"
Only then did Zieten do what his royal friend wished, who here granted symbolic priority to the man who had fought and won at his side for years...:
