Count Baltzar Bogislaus

von Platen The House of Platen is a feudal noble family originally from Pomerania. The branch of Platen-Hallermund was a mediatized one and as such was part of the small circle of families that belonged to the High nobility in Germany. History The family's e ...

(29 May 1766 – 6 December 1829) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

naval officer and statesman. He was born on the island of

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

(now in Germany) to Philip Julius Bernhard von Platen,

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

and the Swedish

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, and Regina Juliana von Usedom.

Swedish Navy

At age 13 Baltzar entered the

Royal Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

where he served with distinction until resigning in 1800, having attained the rank of captain.

Göta Canal

Following the revolution in 1809 he became a member

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and, in the following year, received a promotion to rear admiral. He was also made chairman of the

Göta Canal The Göta Canal ( sv, Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is long, of which were dug or blasted, with a width varying between and a maximum depth of about .Uno Svedin, Britt Hägerhäll Anianss ...

directorate charged with constructing a canal across Sweden. The canal, following a design by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

, would only be completed in 1832, after von Platen's death, but during its construction, he did discover two skilled mechanical engineering brothers

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which co ...

and

Nils Ericson Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player * Nils Björk (1898–1989) ...

Honors

He was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

in 1815. He was appointed Governor of Norway on 26 November 1827, a position which he held until his death in Christiania (modern name Oslo), the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

capital, on 6 December 1829.

Burial site

He was married to Hedvig Elisabeth Ekman. Baltzar von Platen's grave is at the side of the Göta Canal in

Motala Motala () is a locality and the seat of Motala Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 29,823 inhabitants (41,956 in the entire municipality) in 2010. It is the third largest city of Östergötland, following Linköping and Norrköping. M ...

, where it is something of a tourist attraction, especially for canal visitors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platen, Baltzar 1766 births 1829 deaths People from Swedish Pomerania Baltzar Swedish nobility Swedish people of German descent Members of the Privy Council of Sweden Governors-general of Norway Swedish Navy vice admirals Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 19th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish military personnel 19th-century Swedish politicians