Otto Friedrich Ferdinand von Görschen (12 April 1824 in Neuruppin – 8 June 1875 in Eberswalde) was a Royal

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n lieutenant colonel and highly decorated war hero of the 19th century.

Military career and merits

Much like his father lieutenant colonel August Friedrich von Görschen (1794−1866), Otto Friedrich Ferdinand von Görschen firstly took up a career as a commissioned officer in the 24th regiment in the German infantry from the 6th Division, and was promoted there in 1864 to the position of Captain and Chief of the 6th Company. On 16 January 1866 he was promoted to become a Major, and at the same time he was posted to the 8th Brandenburg infantry Regiment of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828-1885) from the same Division. Otto von Görschen was instrumental in the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

in 1864

Battle of Dybbøl The Battle of Dybbøl ( da, Slaget ved Dybbøl; german: Erstürmung der Düppeler Schanzen) was the key battle of the Second Schleswig War, fought between Denmark and Prussia. The battle was fought on the morning of 18 April 1864, following ...

during the transition to Alsen

Battle of Als The Battle of Als ( da, Slaget om Als; german: Übergang nach Alsen) was fought on 29 June 1864 during the Second Schleswig War between Denmark and Prussia. It was the last major engagement of the war, as the Prussians under General Herwarth ...

and the assault to the ''Düppeler Schanzen'' (rempal of Dybbøl). For his previous merits, inter alia, he was decorated as follows: * House Order of Hohenzollern with swords * Order of the Red Eagle with swords * Prussian Order of the Crown with swords *

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

of Austria According to rankings of 1868, Otto von Görschen and Alfred von Lewinski (1831-1906) were the only officers in the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

with the above three swords. As commander of the Second Battalion of the Brandenburg Infantry Regiment, he later was a recipient of the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

first class. After two injuries in 1864 and 1870, and incipient disease from 1872, he was exempted from military service. He was married to Emma Clara Helene Riedel (1845−1924), daughter of the archivist, historian and politician Adolph Friedrich Johann Riedel (1809-1872). From this marriage three children were born. After his early death, Emma Riedel von Görschen married again to Eduard Tempeltey (1832−1919).

References

* Otto von Görschen is the foremost figure in the painting "''transition to Alsen''" - Georg Bleibtreu (Berlin, N.-G.); Camphausen (

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Kunsthalle). * He is also portrayed in the painting "''Sturm auf die Düppeler Schanzen''" (assault to the rampel of Dybbol) by Fritz Schütz. His name and rank is engraved in the framework of the painting. * Otto von Görschen is mentioned in the “''Poems by Theodor Fontane''” and in the novel “''Quitt''” and also in the "''Arch of Pictures from my Life''" by Hugo Bartsch.

Sources

* Archive documents

Hans-Thorald Michaelis Hans-Thorald Michaelis (born 24 April 1925 in Hanover, died 18 December 2004 in Aachen) was a German historian, germanist and genealogist. Life and career After his studies in history, germanistics, philosophy and Protestant religion in Frank ...

* Records of the family

von Görschen The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...

by Horst Friedrich Ernst von Görschen, Cranz (now

Zelenogradsk Zelenogradsk (; german: Cranz; pl, Koronowo; Lithuanian and Old Prussian: ''Krantas'') is a town and the administrative center of Zelenogradsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located north of Kaliningrad, on the Sambian coastline near ...

) 1933 *

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

: ''poems by Theodor Fontane'', 21-23 editions, p. 277/278 * Theodor Fontane: ''Quitt'', 2 Auflage, S. 224 Editions, p. 224 * Hugo Bartsch: ''Images from Arch of Pictures from my Life'', Cotta’sche Buchhandlung (bookstore) second edition

External links

* http://www.textlog.de/40327.html http://www.textlog.de/40327.html * http://www.retrobibliothek.de/retrobib/seite.html?id=118837 * https://web.archive.org/web/20060113035345/http://www.jahrbuch-daun.de/VT/hjb1984/hjb1984.33.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorschen, Otto Friedrich Ferdinand Von 1824 births 1875 deaths People from Neuruppin Prussian Army personnel German untitled nobility