Marie Christiane Eleonore Prochaska (11 March 1785, in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

– 5 October 1813, in Dannenberg) was a German female soldier who fought in the Prussian army against Napoleon during the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, Russian Empire, Russia, History of Spain (1808– ...

Life

Prochaska's father was a noncommissioned officer in the Prussian guards, serving on a low income. She grew up poor and was sent by her father to the military orphanage in Potsdam when her mother died. There she later found work as a domestic servant, though she was also interested in the war against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

from an early age. During these wars Prochaska disguised herself as a man and registered for 1 Jägerbataillon of the Lützow Free Corps under the name August Renz in 1813, serving first as a drummer, then later in the infantry. She was severely wounded at the Battle of the Göhrde and field surgeons, rushing to treat her wounds, discovered she was a woman and took her to Dannenberg, where she succumbed to her wounds three weeks later.

Legacy

In retrospect, Prochaska was strongly idealized as a chaste heroine and honoured as "Potsdam's

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

" ("die Potsdamer Jeanne d'Arc"). Various plays and poems were written on her life (including those by

Friedrich Rückert Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translation, translator, and professor of Oriental languages. Biography Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert was born 16 May 1788 in Schweinfurt and was the e ...

and Emil Taubert), whilst

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

began a "Bühnenmusik" (WoO 96) on her, with a libretto written by Friedrich Duncker. In 1863, a commemorative marker was erected over Prochaska's grave at St.-Annen-Friedhof in Danneburg and in 1889 her home town of Potsdam created a monument to her memory ("Der Heldenjungfrau zum Gedächtnis", or "In memory of the maiden-heroine"), which still survives in the almost completely cleared Alten Friedhof (old cemetery).

In music and literature

Ludwig van Beethoven composed

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

for a play by about Prochaska, titled ''Leonore Prohaska''. Duncker was Cabinet Secretary for the King of Prussia whom he accompanied to the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

. Despite Duncker's hopes, ''Leonore Prohaska'' was not performed in Vienna, which may have been due to the fact that the material had already been treated in Piwald's ''Das Mädchen von Potsdam'' which did have a performance in 1814.

Context

Prochaska was one of many German women who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Friederike Krüger (1789–1848), thanks to the protection of her brigade commander, became a female corporal in the Prussian army. Finally she served in 2nd Garde-Regiment zu Fuß. Her request to retire was accepted in 1816 and she returned to civilian life. Johanna Stegen (1793–1842), from

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

, fought as a civilian for the rifle battalion of the 1st Pommerian Infantry Regiment in a battle at Lüneburg, where she provided troops with ammunition. Anna Lühring (1796–1866) joined the Lützower Jäger in 1814 under the name Eduard Kruse and survived the Napoleonic Wars, though her public fame faded quickly.

References

External links