Ernst Eugen, Baron von Hügel (26 March 1774 – 30 March 1849) was a Württemberg General during the
Napoleonic Wars and
Minister of War between 1829 and 1842.
Early life
Hügel was born on 26 March 1774 in
Ludwigsburg.[1] He was the son of Susanna Margaretha von Walter and Johann Andreas von
Hügel (1734–1807), who had been elevated to the rank of
Baron in 1801.[2] His father's surname was originally Lux, but he took von Hügel upon being adopted by Col. Johann Theobald von Hügel.[3] Due to the inheritance of a relative who had worked for the
Dutch East India Company, the Hügel family had a considerable fortune.[4][5]
In 1785, Hügel joined his father's regiment in the
Württemberg Army and took part in the campaigns from 1792 to 1800. In 1806 he was promoted to Major and in 1807 within six months he rose to Deputy Quartermaster General with the rank of Colonel. In 1809, he was involved in the
Battles of Abensberg,
Landeshut,
Eckmühl,
Aspern, and
Wagram. After these battles he was made a Major General.
In 1816, Hügel was appointed
Lieutenant general and, at the same time, made vice president of the War Department. In 1817, he became President of the War Council. Between 1829 and 1842, he headed the
Ministry of War of Württemberg. During this time he was also a member of the
Privy Council. From 1819 until his death he was a lifelong member of the Württembergian
Chamber of Lords (German: Württembergischen Kammer der Standesherren).[8]
Personal life
Lithograph of Baron Julius von Hügel, by
Josef Kriehuber, 1849
Hügel was married four times. His first marriage was to Caroline von Rosenberg, but they divorced in 1799 without issue. On 29 December 1802, he married Baroness Charlotte Wilhelmine Schott von Schottenstein. Before her death on 4 July 1805, they had two children:[1]
Baron
Albert von Hügel (1803–1865), German Army officer and chamberlain; he married Baroness Marie Luise Elisabeth von
Uexküll-Gyllenband (they divorced and she married Dr.
Theobald Kerner [
de]).[9]
His third marriage was to Luise Ernestine von Gemmingen-Guttenberg (1782–1834) on 8 April 1806. She was a daughter of Baron Ludwig Eberhard von Gemmingen-Guttenberg and Baroness Louise Auguste von Saint-André. Before her death on 28 February 1834, they were the parents of:[1]
Baroness Marie von Hügel (b. 1807), who married diplomat Franz von Linden, brother of Minister of State
Joseph von Linden, in 1832.[12]
Baron Ludwig von Hügel (1808–1896), Imperial and Royal Lieutenant.[13]
Baron Philipp von Hügel (1812–1887), an
Urach forester.[15]
Baroness Luise Ernestine von Hügel (1813–1875), who married Georg von Miltitz.[16]
Baron Ernst von Hügel (1815–1849)
He married for the fourth, and final, time on 28 April 1835 to Elisabeth Sophie (née von Gemmingen-Guttenberg) von Cotta (1789–1859), widow of publisher and industrial pioneer
Johann Friedrich Cotta, and sister of his third wife Luise.[1]
^Hergemöller, Bernd-Ulrich (1998). Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte von Freundesliebe und mannmännlicher Sexualität im deutschen Sprachraum (in German). Hamburg: MännerschwarmSkript Verlag. pp. 161–162.
ISBN3928983652.
^Kruse, Jens (2007). Reiseberichte aus den deutschen Kolonien: Das Bild vom "Eingeborenen" in Reiseberichten der deutschen Kolonialzeit 1884–1918 (in German). GRIN-Verlag.
ISBN978-3-638-70704-6.