Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein (

Gehofen Gehofen is a municipality in the district Kyffhäuserkreis, in Thuringia, Germany. People from Gehofen * Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein (Gehofen, 6 June 1605 – Sangerhausen, 9 June 1676) was a German Army Co ...

, 6 June 1605 –

Sangerhausen Sangerhausen () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz. It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. east of Nordhausen, and west of Halle (Saale). About 26,000 people live in Sangerhausen (2 ...

, 9 June 1676) was a German Army Commander,

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

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 Knight in the Danish

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional ...

Career

Eberstein was the son of Wolf Dietrich von Eberstein (1575–1627) and Elisabeth von Lauterbach (1583–1664). Already at a young age, he joined the army of his uncle who fought for the Dutch Republic. He was also present at the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

in 1620. Between 1623 and 1648, he fought in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

for several employers. First in Tilly's army, then for Sweden, William V, Landgrave of Heße-Kaßel, again for Sweden and finally for George II, Landgrave of Heße-Darmstadt. In March 1648, he was promoted to

Lieutenant field marshal Lieutenant field marshal, also frequently historically field marshal lieutenant (german: Feldmarschall-Leutnant, formerly , historically also and, in official Imperial and Royal Austrian army documents from 1867 always , abbreviated ''FML''), was ...

. After the war, he retired on his estate in Gehofen, until 1657, when he travelled to Denmark, to support the country in the

Second Northern War The Second Northern War (1655–60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655–60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658), 1656–58), Brande ...

against Sweden. In November 1659, together with

Hans Schack Hans Schack (28 October 1608 – 27 February 1676) was a member of the north German noble family Schack, who after many years in French service, entered the Danish service, made major contributions during the war with Sweden, and loyally supported ...

, he won a very important victory over the Swedes at the

Battle of Nyborg The Battle of Nyborg was a battle fought between Sweden and the combined forces of Denmark, Dutch naval forces under Michiel de Ruyter, troops of Brandenburg-Prussia, and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under Stefan Czarniecki. The battl ...

. For this, he received the

. On 1 January 1666 he became Field Marshal of the Saxon troops, a post he held until his death in 1676. He married Ottilie Elisabeth von Ditfurth (1618-1675) and had 8 sons and 6 daughters.
He was also a member of the

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

References

Source

Deutsche Biographie : Eberstein, Ernst Albrecht von
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eberstein, Ernst Albrecht von 1605 births 1676 deaths Field marshals of Saxony German people of the Thirty Years' War 17th-century German military personnel Danish knights Danish generals