Franz Xaver Joseph Ignaz Freiherr von Hertling (28 June 1780 – 13 September 1844) was a

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

and

War Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 12 December 1836 until 11 November 1838.

Biography

Hertling was born in

Ladenburg Ladenburg is a town in northwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies on the right bank of the river Neckar, northwest of Heidelberg and east of Mannheim. The town's history goes back to the Celtic and Roman Ages, when it was called Lop ...

, the son of Jakob Anton von Hertling and Maria Anna Antonia Juliana, née von Weiler. He joined the

Bavarian army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...

in the last decade of the 18th century. On 1 August 1816, when he was in the rank of an

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swe ...

, he married Maria Anna, née von Kalkhof. On 17 May 1817 his first child Caroline Friederike Wilhelmine Antonie was born, and on 1 September 1822 his first son Maximilian Joseph. In 1824 he became

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

, and one year later on 1 January his second son, Philipp Theodor Joseph, was born. In 1836 he was promoted to

and became commander of the

4th Royal Bavarian Division The 4th Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the Imperial German Army. The division was formed on November 27, 1815, as an Infantry Division of the Würzburg General Comm ...

and war minister of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. Hertling retired in 1838 and died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

.''Franz Xaver Joseph Ignaz von hertling''
RootsWeb.''Hertling, Franz Xaver Freiherr von''
House of the Bavarian history (HdBG). His brother Johann Friedrich Maximilian Joseph was Acting War Minister of Bavaria in 1839.

Awards

Knight's Cross Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield. Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...

of the

Military Order of Max Joseph The Military Order of Max Joseph (german: Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden) was the highest military order of the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded on 1 January 1806 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, the first king of Bavaria. The order came in th ...

, 1814

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertling, Franz Xaver Freiherr von 1780 births 1844 deaths People from Ladenburg Bavarian Ministers of War Bavarian generals Knights of the Military Order of Max Joseph People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars