Otto Christoph von Sparr, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetOtto Christoph von Sparr
German general
Date of Birth: 13-Nov-1599
Place of Birth: Prenden, Brandenburg, Germany
Date of Death: 09-May-1668
Profession: military officer
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio 
About Otto Christoph von Sparr
- Otto Christoph Freiherr von Sparr (13 November 1599 or 1605 – 9 May 1668) was a Generalfeldmarschall of Brandenburg-Prussia. Sparr came from a noble family from the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
- He was born either in Lichterfelde near Eberswalde in 1599 or Prenden near Bernau in 1605. Sparr was an imperial officer during the Thirty Years' War.
- He campaignly mainly in northwestern Germany during the war, having a largely independent command in Westphalia.
- He besieged Essen in 1641 and fought near Stargard.
- Sparr was captured near Warendorf. After the war in 1649, Sparr led the Electorate of Cologne's campaign against Liège; in December of that year he entered the service of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. The troops from the various territories of Elector Frederick William had traditionally been in separate commands.
- In 1651, the elector granted Sparr command over all garrison troops outside of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia; command over all of Brandenburg-Prussia's troops followed in 1655.
- Sparr acted as Frederick William's Chief of Staff when the elector personally led troops, such as at the 1656 Battle of Warsaw.
- During the final day of the battle, Generalfeldzeugmeister (Master of Ordnance) von Sparr led Brandenburg's successful assault on the Polish forces.
- He was promoted to Field Marshal in 1657. Sparr fought against Sweden in 1658 and conquered the fortress of Demmin the following year.
- From 1663-64 he led Brandenburg's contingent in Hungary against the Ottoman Empire, for which he was named an imperial Generalfeldmarschall and Reichsgraf.
- His last command was the submission of Magdeburg in 1666. Sparr was a proponent of artillery and pioneers.
- He also began to develop a group of officers into what became the General Staff. Sparr died in Prenden in 1668.
- His tomb, designed by Artus Quellinus, is in Berlin's Marienkirche.
- In 1892, the Berlin suburb Wedding named the street Sprarrstraße (after 1897 Sparrplatz) after the field marshal.
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