Karl Christian is the fifth generation in the succession of our German von Pressentin ancestors.
Karl's birthplace: He was born on February 16, 1782 at Tangrim, near Rostock, where his father lived as a tenant. Karl was the third son. A year later his mother died in childbirth, and that baby, Maria Christine Henriette, died a year later.
Book II of the family history says that Karl and his older brother Bernhard went to live with their grandfather, Gustav Friedrich, at the "Rittersitz" in Sternberg. Their aunt, Helene, cared for them there since their father, Karl Bernhard, was away much of the time with his troops, in Holland.
His education: not given.
His occupation: Like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Karl followed a military career--until his marriage in 1812.
Karl Christian was discharged on February 27, 1812 and took a position with the the Customs Office in Dömitz, on the Elbe River.
Karl Christian's Military Service
In 1797, at the age of 15, he joined the Royal Prussian Grenadier Guard battalion at Potsdam as a Junker. He became a sergeant in 1798 and was promoted to lieutenant after 1799. [Junkers were the landed aristocracy of Prussia and Eastern Germany.]
He took part in the 1806 campaign against Napoleon. On October 14, 1806 he fought in the battle at Jena-Auerstädt, where he led the 2nd platoon of the Grenadier Guard. After the disastrous battle he returned to Ballenstädt with a few stragglers, survived repeated skirmishes on October 16 with the pursuing French, and marched night and day to Nordhausen, with brief rests, and suffering from want of the most meager provisions.
But scarcely after arriving and being billeted, those assembled there started out again, because the enemy was approaching. They marched on roadless paths to Magdeburg and then to Prenzlau, where the entire corps was taken prisoner. Karl now went to Schwerin, as his residence designated by the capitulation, and soon requested his discharge, because his economic circumstances did not permit him to live without a salary any longer.He took his discharge on June 27, 1808 and accepted employment immediately with the Infantry of the Grand Duchy Mecklenburg-Schwerin, as a first lieutenant. In 1809 he also took part in skirmishes against the Schill corps, northeast of Rostock at Damgarten.
[Neither Karen nor I have been able to figure out the role of Prussian Major Schill during the Napoleonic wars.] An Internet source says: "Schill had volunteered for the fight (against France); he belongs to a generation of German patriots who regarded the fight against Napoleon as their personal affair." Prussia was under the control of France at this time and the family history mentions other von Pressentin men in military service who also engaged in battles with Schill.
WHAT WAS GOING ON DURING KARL CHRISTIAN'S MILITARY CAREER ?1795-1805 Rise of Napoleon
1806 - Napoleon united most of the small German states into the "Confederation of the Rhine" under his control.
At Prenzlau, the German Prince Hohenlohe, with his corps of 12,000 men, surrendered to Murat on the retreat after the battle of Jena in October 1806.
1810 - Napoleon was at the height of his powers. His main enemy, Britain, was almost isolated: France had made peace with Britain's main former coalition allies: Russia, Austria and Prussia, having weakened them in decisive land battles.
1812 - Napoleon decided to invade Russia. This resulted in a catastrophe for the French forces in Russia and led to the abdication of Napoleon in 1814.
Sites
of Karl Christian's Military Career
- Potsdam
- Jena
- Nordhausen
- Prenzlau
- Schwerin
In April 1822 Karl was transferred to Boizenburg in his capacity as a customs officer.
Marriage: On April 12, 1812 Karl was married at Niederhof, near Stralsund, to Charlotte Wilhelmine Juliane von Stjerneroos, who was born at Stralsund on July 12, 1774, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel and Knight of the Order of the Royal Swedish Sword Karl Friedrich von Stjerneroos.
He died on May 14, 1843 before his wife, who followed him into eternity on October 5, 1851. The couple sleep the last rest in the cemetery at Boizenburg.Children of Karl Christian and Charlotte von Stjerneroos:
Karl Dietrich, born at Dömitz August 17, 1813. Karl became a magistrate, and helped write legislation for local care of the poor, enacted as: Community-Poor-and School-Ordinance of June 29, 1869. Book I of the von Pressentin Family History is based on Karl Dietrich's extensive collection of family history records.
Bernhard Friedrich, born at Dömitz July 2, 1814.
- Susanne Henriette Charlotte, born at Dömitz on August 21, 1815, was enrolled in Dobbertin Cloister as no. 918. She died at Dömitz on October 27, 1817.
Dömitz
Dömitz is located on the Elbe River at the southernmost place in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The history of the town of Dömitz can be traced back to the early Middle Ages. In the course of the colonisation of the east by the Germans in the 12th century, the region was captured by the Earl of Dannenberg. Dömitz was granted town status in 1259 and was ceded to Mecklenburg in 1423. It is at a strategic point along the Elbe River and its location on the southern border of Mecklenburg was also important.
Due to increasing inland navigation on the Elbe River and water transportation on the Elde Canal, the town of Dömitz gained in importance in modern times owing to its harbour and customs facilities. Between 1871 and 1873 a railway bridge was constructed over the Elbe River. With a length of 1,000 metres it was the longest railway bridge in Germany at that time. Shortly before the end of World War II the bridge was destroyed by American fighter bombers. Impressive remnants of the old railway bridge are still visible today.
After the division of Germany at the end of WW II, the Elbe River formed the boundary between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Only after the fall of the Wall at the beginning of the nineties was a new road bridge built over the Elbe River.
Elbe River at Dömitz
Photo © Christian Fischer
Dömitz
Photo ©José Rössner
New Bridge over Elbe River
at Dömitz
Where Karl Christian
and
His Family Lived
1) Dömitz (red star)2) Boizenberg
