300 years ago, John Churchill, victor of the Battle of Höchstädt, which laid the foundations of Europe, died. He achieved immortal fame – and fascinated an even more famous descendant.
300 years ago John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, died. He gained immortal fame as the victor of that terrible battle of arms that took place on August 13, 1704 on the outskirts of the Swabian village of Blindheim. The slaughter that went down in history as the Battle of Höchstädt lasted only a few hours, after which 25,000 dead and wounded lay in the fields. Today’s Europe is the result of this battle.
At that time, the Bavarian soldiers fought alongside the French, but they stood no chance against the coalition of English and Austrian troops. Already in Blindheim it became clear what can be observed in Ukraine today: the course of the world is controlled by the forces of madness. Unfortunately, the Bavarian Elector Max Emanuel was also a ruler who suffered from severe brain damage, and he was also plagued by megalomania. In the event of a victory, what was then Kurbayern, populated by sow keepers and cow maids, would probably have become a superpower. Instead, England’s rise began on the blood-soaked Danube plain.
A ten-year period of suffering began for the Bavarians, because the Austrian occupying forces harassed them to the death. The maltreated peasants who rehearsed the uprising in 1705/06 were massacred in the Sendling Christmas Eve. But the story does what it wants, it’s almost impossible to understand. When Max Emanuel, who had been exiled to Brussels, got his emaciated land back in 1714, architecture began to flourish. The most aggressive ruler that Bavaria has ever had also completed baroque palaces such as Schleissheim and Nymphenburg, which play in the top European league, with finesse.
Horror and aesthetics – Max Emanuel easily combined these opposing forces. A plaque next to the battlefield reads: “The Battle of Blindheim has shifted the political axis of the world – Winston Churchill.” Aha, another Churchill, but what a Churchill. The English statesman (1874-1965), one of the most important politicians of the 20th century, was born at Blenheim Palace. In the famous castle that his ancestor John Churchill once received as a reward for his victory. Battle of Blenheim, that’s the name of the Battle of Höchstädt in England, hence the name.
In 1953 Winston Churchill received the Nobel Prize in Literature, not least for his famous biography of his ancestor John Churchill, who in Blindheim made sure that Bavarians saw reason and from then on buried their dreams of becoming a world power.