The Burial of the Maiden Heroin - Potsdam, Germany
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
N 52° 23.213 E 013° 04.446
33U E 368934 N 5805814
An 1813 article reporting the burial of a war heroin
Waymark Code: WM10460
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 02/22/2019
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Alfouine
Views: 1
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In 1813, during the Napoleonic Wars, thousands of wounded Prussian soldiers were taken care of in Potsdam's hospitals. 2,000 of them did not survive and were buried in the town's Old Cemetery.

While most of them were put to rest in mass graves, one woman, known as the Maiden Heroin received a very special burial.

Eleonore Prochaska, a young woman born in Potsdam in 1875 joined the Lützow Free Corps in June 1813, disguised as a man.

She was fatally wounded during the Battle of the Göhrde while trying to save a wounded comrade. She succumbed to her wounds on October 5, 1813.

Maiden Heroin Monument in Potsdam

On October 21, 1813, the Berlinische Nachrichten von Staats- und gelehrten Sachen (Berlin's News of Politics and Education) reported:

This morning at 9 am, Eleonore Prochaska, who was wounded in the Battle of the Göhrde, was buried with military honors. Driven by patriotism, disguised and undiscovered, she fought with Lützow's Free Corps for the holy homeland. Like once Joan of Arc, she bravely joined the battle for king and fatherland.

In mourning, the rangers of the Hannover Corps and of the Russian-German Corps followed her coffin. They were joined by his excellency, royal emissary Duke of Grothe, and by her commander, Colonel Duke of Kielmannsegg. Together with all officers of the Free Corps, they paid their last respects to a woman who had displayed exceptional courage and heroism.

Eleonore Prochaska is buried in Dannenberg, where the Battle of the Göhrde took place. Her hometown Potsdam honored her memory with a monument called Maiden Heroin at the burial site of the 1813 veterans.

Type of publication: Newspaper

When was the article reported?: 10/21/1813

Publication: Berlinische Nachrichten von Staats- und gelehrten Sachen, No. 126, October 21, 1813.

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: regional

News Category: Society/People
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