Schack Carl, '' rigsgreve'' (von) Rantzau or Carl Schack Rantzau-Ascheberg (11 March 1717, Ascheberg estate,

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

– 21 January 1789, Menerbes, France) was a Holstein-born Danish-Norwegian officer and statesman. He was the commander-in-chief of the

Norwegian army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...

in 1766, but lost the position the next year. He is notable for his friendship with

Johann Friedrich Struensee Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. ...

and his role in the coup which led to Struensee's fall from power in 1772.

Commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army

In the 1760s he befriended Claude Louis de Saint-Germain, one of the most powerful men in Denmark-Norway at the time. In 1766 he was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

, and on the initiative of Saint-Germain he was sent as Commander-in-chief of the

, April 4 of the same year. Norway was not the right place for a man like Rantzau. He found it indescribably boring to live in the country, and in a letter he wrote; ''..this Land of the Devil, where there is not even a tree strong enough for a man to hang himself.'' He insulted the people of Norway, with his manner of behaviour. The stay in Norway was a short one. When Saint-Germain got deposed at the end of 1767. Rantzau was ordered to immediately resign, and go to

and stay there. When he left Christiania, stones were thrown at him by the city's inhabitants.

Under Struensees rule

In Holstein, Rantzau became friend with Johann Friedrich Struensee. When Stuensee became regent of Denmark and Norway, in December 1770, he gave Rantzau a sentral role in the new regime. But Struensee sidelined Rantzau and they became enemies, and 17 January 1772 he was involved in deposing and arresting Struensee.Dansk biografisk leksikon

References

18th-century Danish politicians 18th-century German politicians Norwegian military personnel German generals Danish generals 1717 births 1789 deaths Schack Carl {{Denmark-bio-stub