Bernhard Franz von Hess (22 May 1792 – 20 April 1869) was a

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

and

War Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

under

Maximilian II of Bavaria Maximilian II (28 November 1811 – 10 March 1864) reigned as King of Bavaria between 1848 and 1864. Unlike his father, King Ludwig I, "King Max" was very popular and took a greater interest in the business of Government than in personal ext ...

Biography

Von Hess was born in

Hammelburg Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Francon ...

as the youngest of three sons of the landholder and

Hofrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in Ge ...

Philipp von Hess and his wife Gertraud, née Wankel. He visited the Gymnasium in his hometown, and finished his studies of

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and sciences at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

,''The founder of the Carl von Hess`sche Sozialstiftung''
(German). before he joined the

Landwehr ''Landwehr'' (), or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national army, armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fo ...

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

in 1813, and took part in the campaigns under Prince Schwarzenberg in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. From 1833 to 1843 he served in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

under the governing prince regent

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, and joined the

Bavarian army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

. Von Hess was war minister from 20 January to 16 June 1862. He was acting for a second period from 10 October 1862 to 1 March 1863 and for a third time from 26 July to 15 August 1863. In 1867 he was retired, and died in

Kissingen Bad Kissingen () is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and County town, seat of the Bad Kissingen (district), district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale, Franconia ...

.''Heß, Bernhard von''
House of the Bavarian history (HdBG).

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Bernhard von Ministers of war of Bavaria Bavarian generals Military personnel from the Kingdom of Bavaria 1792 births 1869 deaths German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars