baron de Hattstatt Jean Jacques Joseph de Klinglin

Born in Strasbourg on June 4, 1733, Jean Jacques Joseph de Klinglin was the son of François-Joseph de Klinglin, royal magistrate and baron of Hattstatt. He studied law at the University of Strasbourg and defended a dissertation in 1751 before returning to military service. He later became a field officer, brigadier, maître de camp, and maréchal de camp, earning a reputation for energy, discipline, and leadership.

Klinglin was appointed lieutenant of the king in Strasbourg in 1785 and took part in the city’s political life during the early Revolution. He supported the organization of the royal family’s attempted escape in June 1791, then emigrated and joined the army of Condé. In 1795, he entered Austrian service as a general-major and fought in the Rhine campaigns. Papers seized from one of his wagons in 1797 helped expose General Pichegru’s treasonous correspondence. Klinglin retired in 1800 and died at Wiener-Neustadt in Lower Austria on January 11, 1818.