Ernst Freiherr von Blomberg

Freiherr von Blomberg refers to a German family.

Freiherr is a German title of nobility. Situated between a Ritter (Chevalier) and a Graf (Comte), its modern equivalent is Baron. Blomberg is a German city in the middle of Nordrhein-Westfalen, with Detmold as its capital, founded between 1231 and 1255.

The Freiherr von Blomberg family was typically based around North-Rhine-Westfalia and Lower Saxony, though Bavarian extensions are frequent. During the centuries the Family line spread throughout Eastern Europe from the Baltic sea through to Romania. The first von Blomberg of prominence was Heinrich Ulrich Freiherr von Blomberg (1745-1813). Of the Bavarian branch, one member of the family (diametrically opposed to Heinrich Ulrich) was a devout Protestant, Friedrich Freiherr von Blomberg. His lineage can be traced to Strengberg, a town in Amstetten in Lower Austria. Little more than the following details of him are known: quoted from contemporary archival sources “in a church, in the chapel under the north façade, we can find an altar-painting of the Holy Nicolaus, patron-saint of the boatsmen. Originally, it hung in the chapel of the Schloss Achleiten. This chapel was entirely demolished in 1836, when the Schloss became the property of the protestant Friedrich Freiherr von Blomberg”.

The Lippische Landesbibliothek Detmold holds all Prussian scientific and military archives of the time. We can consult the writings of the Offizier and Schriftsteller (Chroniqer) Wilhelm Freiherr von Blomberg. He went to the military academy and became a Major in the army; his main task, however, was that of chronicler. In those military times, his job was to write about all things regarding military life: how much was paid, what manoeuvres had what result, who was disciplined, as well as writing uplifting poems.

In 1811, he was summoned to move from his casern situated in Lemgo to Bremen where Napoleon had just started what turned out to be his last campaign. (note: it may be of interest that the town of Lemgo witnessed a great amount of witch trials between 1667 and 1683). This was followed by another move in 1814 to do the same in Hamburg, for the same reason – both cities shortly were part of the French Empire until the Battle of Waterloo turned them German again. He stayed in Hamburg until 1842. In 1842, about a quarter of the inner city was destroyed in the "Great Fire". This fire started on the night of the 4 May 1842 and was extinguished on 8 May. It destroyed three churches, the town hall, and countless other buildings. It killed 51 people, and left an estimated 20,000 homeless. Reconstruction took more than 40 years.

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