Leben und Wirken des Oberstallmeisters Carl Heinrich August Graf von Lindenau (1755-1842) mit besonderer Betrachtung seiner Leistungen für die Entwicklung der preußischen Pferdezucht

Life and Work of the crown equerry earl Carl Heinrich August of Lindenau (1755 – 1842) with special consideration of his achievements for the development of the Prussian horse breeding The thesis describes the life and work of earl Carl Heinrich August of Lindenau as crown equerry of Prussia. The first part is focused on his life, written in a chronological order. Although the biography is concentrated on private aspects, the sources are extremly uncommon and so there is not much known about the private life of Carl Heinrich August of Lindenau. The second part is concentrated on his work as crown equerry of Prussia and the meaning of his work for the prussian horse breeding. Lindenau was born in 1755 in Machern, nearby Leipzig. His school education was very well compared to the time he lived. He studied in Switzerland and took part in the austrian army. Later he joined the prussian army, ordered by King Friedrich Wilhelm II., to become crown equerry. According to this moment, Lindenau reformed the prussian horse breeding profoundly. He inspected the royal prussian horses and selected all with hereditary defect. Under his command, the stud farm in Trakehnen was reorganized to become an important role for the horse breeding in Prussia. Even though he is the founder of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stud Farm nearby Berlin, which he chosen to breed main stallions. Lindenau wrote the Landgestütreglement in 1787, a regulation including strict rules for horse breeding. These rules were translated in three languages to become a wide meaning. Equally he decided each year the breeding planning for the main stallions on the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stud Farm personally. Lindenau inaugurated the veterinary academy in Berlin in 1790 and nominated the first teaching staff. Under his order, the teachers been sent to France, Switzerland and Saxony to learn more about veterinary medicine. The curriculum was improved constantly by him. In 1798, he resigned out of the active prussian army duty. Lindenau was forced to change the horse breeding in 1806, because Prussia lost the war against France under the command of Napoléon. At first, he had to close the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stud Farm. Secondly, in East Prussia he decimated the number of horses extremely. At least, the stud farm in West Prussia was shut down. All these orders were made by himself. Two years later he asked for his dismissal as prussian crown equerry. As Major he joined the liberation war against Napoléon in 1813. After he became a general lieutnant in 1817, Lindenau finally passed out of the army in 1820 and retired. Until his death in 1842 he lived in Brandenburg on his manor in Bahrensdorf, near Beeskow.