Eleonore Prochaska
Encyclopedia
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
.
Life
Eleonore's father was an officer in the Prussian guards, 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 from an early age.During these wars she disguised herself as a man and registered for 1 Jägerbataillon
Jäger (military)
Jäger is a term that was adopted in the Enlightenment era in German-speaking states and others influenced by German military practice to describe a kind of light infantry, and it has continued in that use since then....
of the Lützow Free Corps
Lützow Free Corps
Lützow Free Corps was a voluntary force of the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was named after its commander, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow. They were also widely known as "Lützower Jäger" or "Schwarze Jäger" .-Origins:...
under the name August Renz, serving first as a drummer, then later as an infantryman. She was severely wounded at the Battle of the Göhrde
Battle of the Göhrde
The battle of the Göhrde was a battle of the War of the Sixth Coalition on 18 September 1813 between Napoleonic and Coalition troops at Göhrde in Germany. The Napoleonic troops were defeated and withdrew to Hamburg.-Site:...
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.
Reception
In retrospect, she was strongly idealized as a chaste heroine and honoured as "Potsdam's Joan of ArcJoan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
" ("die Potsdamer Jeanne d'Arc"). Various plays and poems were written on her life (including one by Friedrich Rückert
Friedrich Rückert
Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.-Biography:Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816-1817, he worked on the editorial...
), whilst Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
began a "Bühnenmusik" (WoO 96) on her, with a libretto entitled "Eleonore Prochaska" written by the Prussian royal private-secretary Friedrich Duncker.
In 1863, a commemorative marker was erected over her 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 virgin-heroine"), which still survives in the almost completely cleared Alten Friedhof (old cemetery).
Context
Eleonore was one of many German women to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, though almost all of them were ejected from the army when it was found out that they were women.The only known exception was Friederike Krüger
Friederike Krüger
Friederike Krüger, alias August Lübeck or Auguste Krüger was a soldier in the Prussian army.-Life:...
(1789–1848), who (thanks to the protection of her brigade commander) became the only known 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
Johanna Stegen
Johanna Stegen, was a German heroine of the Napoleonic Wars.On 2 April 1813 German troops clashed with Napoleonic troops near Lüneburg...
(1793–1842), from Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, fought as a civilian for the Füsilierbataillon des 1. Pommerschen Infanterie-Regiments in a battle at the Lüneburg Munition.
Anna Lühring
Anna Lühring
Anna Lühring was a soldier in the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars.-Life:...
(1796–1866) in 1814 joined the Lützower Jägern
Jäger (military)
Jäger is a term that was adopted in the Enlightenment era in German-speaking states and others influenced by German military practice to describe a kind of light infantry, and it has continued in that use since then....
under the name Eduard Kruse and survived the Napoleonic Wars, though her public fame faded quickly.
In music and literature
Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
composed incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for a play by Johann Friedrich Duncker about the military heroine, entitled Leonore Proshaska. Duncker was Cabinet Secretary for the King of Prussia http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/306438.html, and the play has largely been forgotten.