Gerstfeld, Edward Ivanovich

Edward Gerstfeld was born on December 7, 1798 in Livonia . His parents were tenants of state-owned estates Johann Benjamin Gerstfeld and Louise Christina, née Ernst. In addition to Edward, there were two more children in the family: Johann Philip (1792–1872) and Amalia Louise.

Starting service on January 31, 1814, 16 years old, conductor of the 2nd class in Pernovskaya engineering team, on September 22, 1817, he entered the Main Engineering School , where on December 24, 1818 he was promoted to warrant officer of the engineering corps.

December 7, 1819 Gerstfeld was promoted to lieutenant and a year later sent to the Revel engineering team; February 27, 1821 was promoted to lieutenant and sent to inspect the Prussian fortresses on the Rhine . Upon returning from there, he was sent to Zamoć , where he took part in the construction and erection of a fortress.

On May 2, 1825, Gerstfeld was assigned to the Revel engineering team. Made on March 24, 1827 to the captains and to the captains on December 6 of the same year, on April 7, 1832 he was transferred to the Warsaw engineering team and on October 15 of the same year he was appointed assistant commander of the Western Engineering District; March 12, 1833 promoted to lieutenant colonel and December 27, 1835 - colonel .

April 15, 1837 Gerstfeld was appointed to the head of engineers of the army for special assignments, July 17, 1838 he was awarded the Order of St.. Vladimir 3rd degree. In the spring of 1841, he was sent to Germany and Belgium to study the railways and on his return he took part in the construction of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway, being appointed May 17, 1842 as a member of the Committee for the construction of it, and on December 24, 1843 - its builder; August 7, 1845, at the opening of the movement on the Warsaw-Vienna Railway, was appointed its director. For works on the construction of the road on April 23, 1850 he was awarded the Order of St.. Stanislav 1st degree. August 13, 1846 promoted to major general .

In 1849, during the Hungarian campaign , Eduard Ivanovich Gerstfeld was first in charge of transporting troops on the Prussian and Austrian railways, and then the engineering part of the active army. On July 5, in a battle with the troops of A. Görgey under Weizen under enemy fire, he ordered the repair of the destroyed bridge over the ravine, on July 14, in the crossing of Prince Gorchakov ’s detachment through Tisa under enemy shots, for which on August 8 he was awarded a gold sword decorated with diamonds and with the inscription “For courage " , and July 21 - in the battle of Debrechyn . For participation in the Hungarian campaign, he was awarded the Austrian orders: the commander's cross of Leopold and the Iron Crown of the 1st degree.

At the end of the war, Gerstfeld on November 15, 1849, was appointed to consist of the chief of engineers of the active army, leaving the administrative position of the railroad, and on July 30, 1850, he was promoted to comrade to the chief superintendent of communication lines and public buildings.

February 15, 1851 Gerstfeld was entrusted with the management of work on the Petersburg-Warsaw railway ; January 21, 1854 appointed a member of the Committee to consider assumptions about the construction of railways. March 27, 1855, he was promoted to lieutenant general , with retention and appointment as senator. In the Senate, he was present in the general meeting of the 4th, 5th, and boundary departments, and since 1870 he has been a non-present senator.

In 1855, he was appointed chairperson in the auditorium of the General Directorate of Railways and the chairman of the Committee to draw up regulations on the construction of railways by private companies, and in 1858 - a member of the Committee of Railways.

From October 28, 1863, Gerstfeld was in Warsaw and chaired the Committee here, which considered various issues regarding the monitoring of the railways in the Kingdom of Poland .

On June 23, 1865, when the General Directorate of Railways was transformed into a Ministry, he was appointed Deputy Minister. On June 4, 1868, Gerstfeld was appointed a member of the Council of State , leaving the post of senator, and on June 13, a member of the Council of the Ministry of Communications in the summer of that year, from June 14 to September 22, he temporarily managed the Ministry of Railways. On March 21, 1868, the Minister of Communications P. P. Melnikov petitioned for Gerstfeld’s production to become full generals, and on December 24 of that same year, on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary service as an officer, he was promoted to engineer-general.

On November 11, 1869, Gerstfeld was elected to the honorary members of the Nikolaev Academy of Engineering . In 1869 and 1875, he sat in special commissions of the State Council, which considered the reports of the Minister of Railways for 1862–1869 and 1869–1872, and in 1872–1876 and 1878 he was present at the Department of State Economy during the vacant time.

Eduard Ivanovich Gerstfeld died on November 24, 1878 and was buried in St. Petersburg at the Smolensk Lutheran cemetery .

Gerstfeld was, in addition to the above, was awarded orders:

• St. Anna of the 3rd degree (February 2, 1823),
• St. Stanislav 2nd degree (December 6, 1833),
• St. Anna of the 2nd degree (December 30, 1834),
• St. St. George of the 4th degree for the irreproachable service of twenty-five years (November 26, 1850, No. 8348 according to the list of Grigorovich-Stepanov),
• St. Anna 1 st degree (April 19, 1853),
• St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree (August 26, 1856),
• White Eagle (April 12, 1859),
• St. Alexander Nevsky (April 4, 1865, diamond signs were granted to the Order on January 1, 1876).

Gerstfeld was married three times. 1st wife - Agnes Adelaide (1810–1841), daughter of Pernovsky burgomaster Heinrich Cornelius von Garder; 2nd wife - her sister Betty (1812-1843); The 3rd wife is Matilda Emilia (1822–1898), the daughter of Dr. Johann Jacob von Elish .

Children from 1st marriage:

• Heinrich Nikolaus (1829–1886),
• Philip Hans Reinhold (1831–1882, Major General, Commander of the Kexholm Life Guards Regiment ),
• Agnessa Maria Carolina (1835-1858),
• Alexander Ludwig (1836–1878),
• Louise Betty (1838–1870, married to Lieutenant General N. E. Schweder ),
• Alexandra Katharina (1840-1884, married to Lieutenant General R.A. Zeime ).

Daughter from the 2nd marriage - Betty Germina (1843-1858).

Children from 3rd marriage:

• Matilda Emilia (1853–1899),
• Emilia Katharina (1856-1898),
• Edward Benjamin (1860-1893),
• Agnes Louise Alexandrina (1865-1899).

• RGIA, f. 446, op. 26, d. 1. Report No. 12. January 31, 1857 “On the maintenance of the rank of Worker S.-Petersburg-Warsaw Railway, by Lieutenant-General Gerstfeld. Dor. "

• E. K. Alexandrovich. Gerstfeld, Edward I. // Russian biographical dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Obituary // Voice, 1878, No. 331
• Stepanov V.S., Grigorovich P.I. In commemoration of the centenary of the imperial Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious. (1769–1869). - SPb. 1869.
• Shilov D. N., Kuzmin Yu. A. Members of the State Council of the Russian Empire. 1801-1906: The Bibliographic Reference. - SPb. , 2007.