The House of Kleist is the name of an old and distinguished

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 ...

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 noble family, whose members obtained many important military positions within the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

and later in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

Notable members

Henning Alexander von Kleist Henning Alexander von Kleist (1676/77–1749) was an 18th-century Prussian field marshal. He fought in the War of Spanish Succession, the Great Northern War, and in the Wars of Austrian Succession. In particular, his actions at the Battle of M ...

(1677–1749). Prussian field marshal. * Ewald Jürgen Georg von Kleist (c. 1700–1748); co-inventor of the

Leyden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typi ...

Ewald Christian von Kleist Ewald Christian von Kleist (7 March 171524 August 1759) was a German poet and cavalry officer. His vast family was well-established in Farther Pomerania; 58 male members of his family fought in Frederick the Great's army of the Seven Years' War. ...

(1715–1759); German poet and soldier * Barbara Sophia von Kleist, mother of Adam Stanisław Grabowski (1741–1766) Prince-Bishop of Ermland/

Bishopric of Warmia The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia ( pl, Biskupie Księstwo Warmińskie; german: Fürstbistum Ermland) was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan ar ...

* Friedrich Emil Ferdinand Heinrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf (April 9, 1762 – February 17, 1823), born and died in Berlin, was a Prussian field marshal *

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...

(October 18, 1777 – November 21, 1811), German poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him *

Karl Wilhelm Heinrich von Kleist Karl Wilhelm Heinrich von Kleist (1 November 1836, Brandenburg - 2 January 1917, Berlin) was a Prussian officer of the Imperial German Army, most recently General of the Cavalry (Germany). On the occasion of his 50th anniversary of service in 1906, ...

(1836–1917),

General of the Cavalry (Germany) General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General of the branch OF8-rank in the Imperial Army, the interwar Reichswehr, and the Wehrmacht. It was the second-highest General officer rank below Generaloberst. Artillery officer ...

Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (8 August 1881 – 13 November 1954) was a German field marshal during World War II. Kleist was the commander of Panzer Group Kleist (later 1st Panzer Army), the first operational formation of several Panzer corps in t ...

(1881–1954); German field marshal *

Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin Ewald Albert Friedrich Karl Lepold Arnold von Kleist-Schmenzin (22 March 1890 – 9 April 1945) was a German lawyer, a conservative politician, opponent of Nazism, and a member of the 20 July Plot to assassinate Hitler, for which he was execu ...

(1890–1945); conspirator in the

20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...

to assassinate Adolf Hitler * Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (1922–2013); son of Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin; another conspirator in the 20 July bomb plot and founder of the

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchner ...

Erica von Kleist Erica von Kleist is a jazz flautist, saxophonist, and composer. She is a descendant of the Pomeranian Prussian noble family von Kleist. As an educator, She has taught privately for over 15 years. She has released three albums as a bandleader – ...

(1982–); Jazz musician

External links

Homepage of the family von Kleist
German noble families Prussian nobility {{Germany-noble-stub