250th birthday of Gebhard Leberecht Prince Blücher von Wahlstatt - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1992 - 100 Pfennig

As "Marshal Forward" to posterity in memory, the Prussian army commander Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, born in Rostock on December 16, 1742, distinguished himself by his constant urge for an offensive warfare. He had evidently realized that Napoleon only promised an energetic mode of fighting against a personality like his great military antagonist. So he entered as a lieutenant general and leader of the vanguard of the Prussian army in the defeat at Auerstedt 1806 in vain for a continuation of the struggle. At the beginning of 1814, after the Battle of Nations in Leipzig, he had just been appointed field marshal and wanted to march directly to Paris, which failed because of the reluctance of his allies. At the same time, Napoleon also became the cause of Blücher's political commitment: as governor of Münster in the years 1801 to 1805 he openly expressed his hatred of the Corsicans and warned against any alliance with him. Convinced of the inevitability of a dispute with France, Blücher sat down in 1805 in a memorandum "Thoughts on the formation of a national army" for general conscription in Prussia and advocated Prussian participation in the war against France. As the only high commander (despite the defeat of 1806/07) he had the honor to surrender Napoleon, who in 1807, after the Treaty of Tilsit, became the hope of all patriots , In his new position as Governor General for Pomerania, he supported the Prussian army reform and urged 1809 Friedrich Wilhelm III. in support of the Austrian war against France. On the Prussian passivity he reacted disappointed with a release request. The fact that he continued to make no secret of his Francophobia, despite the fact that he was promoted general of the cavalry, earned him not only an increased popularity in Germany, but also, on French pressure, the replacement of his command and finally the transfer from Berlin to the provinces. In the wars of liberation in 1813/14, Blücher led the Silesian army as aggressively as usual. After the first peace of Paris in June 1814, raised against his will as Elector of Wahlstatt, the ailing field-marshal with Napoleon's overthrow saw his task completed and asked for a farewell, which at the same time turned into a protest against what he considered to be too soft a treatment for France. Shortly afterwards Blücher accompanied Friedrich Wilhelm III. to London, which became a triumphal procession for him as well as his journey home to Berlin. When Napoleon returned from Elba in 1815, the highly decorated officer was immediately appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Prussian Field Army, to whom Neidhart von Gneisenau was the chief of staff and "head", as Blucher joked. The old field marshal immediately pressed for attack: expecting to be supported by the British under Wellington, he faced Napoleon on June 16, 1815 at Ligny to fight. Although English aid failed to materialize and the Prussians were severely beaten, Blücher did not withdraw his exhausted troops to their resting positions, but, out of a sense of loyalty to the Alliance, rushed with them to help Wellington. Their intervention ruled the Battle of Belle Alliance (Waterloo) on June 18, sealing Napoleon's fate. Blücher was more than just the daring warhorse to whom he later became famous: Although convinced to wage a "just war" with the national liberation struggle, in his own words in 1814-15 he had become "tired of murdering" and hoped for an eternal peace. To degrade him to the rank of general, who only defeated the battle, and to elevate his chief-of-staff to the one who directed the battle, would be unfair, for Blücher, too, had a share in the planning of military operations. Nevertheless, he lacked education and soldierly naivete (he is said to have proclaimed in London "my God, what a city to plunder") a role in politics, which he, like many military men, regarded with great suspicion. Despite his reputation as a daredevil Blücher could be sensitive: He, who put performance before nobility, took his leave in 1773, because he felt wrongly ignored in the promotion, and rejected in 1814 the heredity of his titles and dignities, because "one of my Sons of this award is worthy, has not yet been proven, "failures, but also the French occupation itself at times found him in serious illness and depression. Although he wrote lively diaries and testimonies, but above all as a speaker he was able to tie educated and inspired the simple soldiers. Even little religiously, Blücher had been a member of the Masonic Lodge since 1784, whose ethical-humanitarian goals he took quite seriously. He valued his private life, was married twice and had two sons and a daughter. On September 12, 1819 Blücher died on the endowed in 1814 by the king Good Krieblowitz in Silesia. (Text: Hans-Peter E. Hinrichsen, History Department of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)