Paul Würtz (also ''Paulus'', and ''Würz'' Wertz or ''Wirtz'') (30 October 1612 - 23 March 1676) was a German officer and diplomat, who at various times was in German, Swedish, Danish, and Dutch service.

Life

He was born in

Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; ; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the ...

. During his tenure as governor of Cracow, during Swedish-Transylvanian occupation of the city between 1655–1657, he is renowned for

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

and destruction of many priceless

works of art A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

, including a

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

of Saint Stanislaus dating to 1630 and a silver altar created in 1512, both from the

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...

. He was a

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

n general major and commander of the

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

fortress from 1657 to 1659. With his 2000 men garrison he successfully withstood a siege by Austro–Brandenburgian–Polish troops in 1659. During the siege in a nightly raid, he captured a column of wagons carrying munitions. He also led an offensive into Ducal Prussia in early 1659. During the siege of Stettin, he captured a column of wagons carrying munitions in a nightly raid. The Brandenburgians and Austrians lifted the siege and withdrew early November 1659. From 1661 to 1664, he was vice governor of Swedish Pomerania. On his death, at Hamburg, he supposedly left a large fortune and a will which was disputed. Legal claims on the estate continued into the 20th century.

Gallery

File:Arolsen Klebeband 02 349.jpg, Paul Würtz on horseback against panorama of

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

File:Cracow Legend of Saint Stanislaus 01.jpg, Wooden model of the silver altar of Saint Stanislaus, ca. 1512. The silver altar was destroyed in 1657. File:Schorer Reliquary of St. Stanislaus.jpg, Design for the silver sarcophagus of Saint Stanislaus, ca. 1630. The sarcophagus was destroyed in 1657.

References

Sources

* Werner Buchholz, ''Pommern'', Siedler, 1999, pp. 274,276, *

Life

Gallery

References

Sources

See also