Jean Rapp

Jean Rapp ( * April 27, 1771 in Colmar, † November 8, 1821 in Rheinweiler ) was a French lieutenant - général and Graf.

Life and work

He was born the son of the caretaker of Colmar town hall and entered 1788 in the French army. Rapp stood out during the revolutionary wars in Egypt and Germany and made due to his bravery and straightforwardness a brilliant career. Initially, a simple soldier, he was after his outstanding performance at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 to the rank of Général de division and went aide of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1809 he was raised as " Jean Comte de Rapp " in the title of count.

As governor of Danzig, he defended the city is still almost a year after the retreat of Napoleon's troops from Russia. After the end of November 1813 revealed he was brought as a prisoner to Russia and returned only in July 1814 returned to Paris.

After Napoleon's return from exile on Elba, he supported the emperor in the hundreds of days. In the restoration, however Rapp offered the French royal house of his services and was treasurer of King Louis XVIII.

He died on 8 November 1821 in Rheinweiler (now the municipality of Bad Bellingen belonging ) in Baden from stomach cancer. His hometown Colmar left him in 1856 to erect a monument on the Champ de Mars. The inscription reads "Ma parole est sacrée " (my word of honor is sacred ).

Rapp's heart is kept in a shrine in the church of Saint- Matthieu.

Honors

His name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in the 14th column.

Fort Rapp is called in the original which was built in 1874-1877 and later colloquially known as Fort des Hautes Perches in Belfort.

According to Rapp, the former Fort Moltke was named in Reichstett also after 1918, one of the main strongholds of the Prussian fortress belt around Strasbourg.

Writings

• The Memoirs of General Rapp aide of Napoleon I. Written by himself transferring Oskar Marshal of Bieberstein. Publisher Schmidt and Günther, Leipzig 1902 English version in the internet archive