{"id":13925,"date":"2020-09-03T18:30:10","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T15:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eefshp.org\/?p=13925"},"modified":"2020-11-30T19:48:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T17:48:02","slug":"antoine-schilcher-a-german-ardent-philhellene-fought-and-died-in-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eefshp.org\/en\/antoine-schilcher-a-german-ardent-philhellene-fought-and-died-in-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"Antoine Schilcher, a German ardent Philhellene, fought and died in Greece"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Antoine Schilcher, Bavarian Lieutenant (EEF Collection)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

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Antoine Schilcher (1795 – 1828), was a German officer and a Philhellene from Bavaria. He received military training in Munich and served as a lieutenant in the artillery of the Bavarian army. From 1813 to 1815 he fought against the French.<\/p>\n

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Officer and soldiers of the Bavarian artillery; beginning of the 19nth century.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Antoine Schilcher was an ardent Philhellene. So in August 1826, without receiving the necessary permission from his military unit, he left Munich and travelled to Greece, via Italy (Ancona), Durres, Corfu and Zakynthos. He finally arrived in Nafplio, without passing through the intermediate stations of Poros, Aegina and Salamis, through which Krazeisen had passed[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From Nafplio, he went to Athens and joined the Bavarian Volunteer Corps led by Karl Wilhelm von Heideck. This body was created at the instigation of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, father of the later king of Greece Othon[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the bibliography (e.g. the one of Whitcombe[3]<\/a>), there are references to a Bavarian officer named Schneider. Finally, these references concern Antoine Schilcher. This brave Bavarian officer took an active part in the military operations in Athens with von Heideck’s Corps.<\/p>\n

He was later appointed captain of a gunboat and participated in naval military operations with Hastings and Thomas Gordon in Western Greece. He then took part in the campaign of Chios and fought under the command of general Fabvier, before returning to Poros.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, towards the end of 1827 he was seriously injured in a hunting accident[4]<\/a>. He remained injured and ill for many months, and finally died on May 4, 1828. This sad development makes him one of the most tragic figures of a Philhellene, who came to fight for the Greek Independence. In fact, the fatal wound was caused by one of his friends, who lost his mind because of the death of his friend[5]<\/a> .<\/p>\n

The figure of Antoine Schilcher is known thanks to a lithograph by Karl Krazeisen, from Karl Krazeisen’s book “Bildnisse ausgezeichneter Griechen und Philhellenen, nebst einigen Ansichten und Trachten. Nach der Nature gezeichnet und herausegegeben von Karl Krazeisen”, Munich, 1831.<\/p>\n

SHP honours the Holy Memory of Antoine Schilcher, a pure and brave Philhellene, with noble feelings, who fought, like many other Philhellenes, for the Independence of Greece, and in the end he sacrificed for this cause his own life.<\/p>\n

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References<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> St Clair, William, \u2018\u2019That Greece Might Still Be Free. The Philhellenes in the War of Independence\u2019\u2019, \u03b5\u03ba\u03b4. Open Book Publishers, \u039b\u03bf\u03bd\u03b4\u03af\u03bd\u03bf, 2008, \u03c3\u03b5\u03bb.335.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u03a0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc \u2018\u2019\u0395\u03b2\u03b4\u03bf\u03bc\u03ac\u03c2\u2019\u2019, \u0391\u03b8\u03ae\u03bd\u03b1, \u0388\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u0391\u2019(1884), \u03c4\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 \u0391\u2019 \u03b1\u03c1. 1. (\u03c7\u03c9\u03c1\u03af\u03c2 \u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1.) \u03c9\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u03c1. 27, 2 \u03a3\u03b5\u03c0\u03c4\u03b5\u03bc\u03b2\u03c1\u03af\u03bf\u03c5 1884, \u03b5\u03ba\u03b4. \u039a\u03bf\u03c1\u03af\u03bd\u03bd\u03b7, \u0391\u03b8\u03ae\u03bd\u03b1, 1884, \u03c3\u03b5\u03bb. 111.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Whitcombe, Thomas, \u2018\u2019Campaign of the Falieri and Piraeus in the year 1827\u2019\u2019, \u03b5\u03ba\u03b4. American School of The Classical Studies, Princeton, 1992, \u03c3\u03b5\u03bb. 184-185.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> \u0392\u03bb. \u03c5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 2.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u0392\u03bb. \u03c5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 2..<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Krazeisen, Karl,”Bildnisse ausgezeichneter Griechen und Philhellenen, nebst einigen Ansichten und Trachten.Nach der Nature gezeichnet und herausegegeben von Karl Krazeisen”, 7 \u03c4\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03b9, \u039c\u03cc\u03bd\u03b1\u03c7\u03bf, 1827-1831.<\/p>\n

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Bibliography – Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n