Munnich B. K. (1683-1767), Engineer, Governor General 1728-34

Categories / Army. Navy/Personalia
Categories / City Administration/Personalia
MUNNICH Christofor Antonovich (Burchard Kristoff) (1683-1767, St. Petersburg), Count (1728), statesman and military figure, General Field Marshal (1732). He was German by birth, came to Russian service in 1721, in the rank of a Major General of Engineering. By order of the Emperor Peter the Great he headed the building of Ladozhsky Canal, a lock on the Tosna River and many other objects. From 1728, he was Governor General of St. Petersburg, Ingermanland, Karelia and Finland. In 1729-35, Munnich was General of Field Armory, and from 1732, he was at the same time a member of the Cabinet, General Policeman and President of the Military Collegium. In 1728, Munnich raised money in St. Petersburg and in German lands to build the Lutheran church of St. Peter. During the reign of the Empress Anna Ivanovna Munnich and E. I. Biron became friends. On his initiative heavy guards (cuirassiers), and engineers' units were established, and the Land Gentry Cadet Corps (1731; opened in 1732) was set up. The Corps was headed by Munnich in 1731-41. Being a Chief Director of Fortifications (from 1727), Munnich headed the building of stone Peter and Paul Fortress (supervising the construction of Ioannovsky and Alexeevsky Ravelins), and the building of the fortress of Kronstadt. Munnich also participated in designing fortifications in Vyborg and in the fortress of Schliesselburg. Heading the Commission for Construction of St. Petersburg, Munnich supervised replanning and draining of a number of districts of the city. In 1727, he designed a project for protection of St. Petersburg from foods, which was not implemented. In November 1740 following the order of Anna Leopoldovna he dethroned Biron, yet in November 1741 he was arrested by order of the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and in January 1742 sent to Pelym. He was returned only in 1762 by Emperor Peter II. Munnich opposed the coup-d’etat in the course of which Empress Catherine II ascended the throne, but soon he turned to her side and was appointed Commander-In-Chief of ports of Kronstadt, Revel and Rogervik and a Chief Director of Ladozhsky Canal. Munnich headed the construction of locks in Kronstadt, building of the second section of Ladozhsky Canal but had no political influence. In St. Petersburg he lived in the house of Kantemir (a section at 7 Millionnaya Street). Munnich owned Gostilitsy estate and houses in Kronstadt (today 3/1 Iyulskaya Street, architect I. F. Braunstein, 1721-24, rebuilt) and a palace in St. Petersburg (at the corner of the 12th Line of Vasilievsky Island and the Neva River Embankment; in 1752-71 and from the 1790s, the Naval Gentry Corps was stationed here; see Naval Cadets' Corps). Munnich is the author of Notes (St. Petersburg, 1874) and of a diary. He was buried in the Lutheran Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg, later his remains were reburied in the estate of Luniy near Derpt (today Tartu, Estonia).

Reference: Галем Г. А. Жизнь графа Миниха, императорского российского генерал-фельдмаршала: В 2 ч. М., 1806; Николаева С. В. Бурхарт Христофор Миних в 1727-1732 годах: Материалы к биографии // Петербургские чтения, 98-99. СПб., 1999. С. 109-113.

I. A. Bogdanov. Anna Ioannovna, Empress
Anna Leopoldovna, Regent
Biron Ernst Johann
Braunstein Johann Friedrich
Catherine II, Empress
Elizaveta Petrovna, Empress
Kantemir Antiokh Dmitrievich
Minich Christoph Antonovich (Burghard Christoph), Count
Peter I, Emperor
Peter III, Emperor
12th Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city
Leitenanta Schmidta Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Makarovskaya St./Kronshtadt, city, house 3/1
Millionnaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Николаева С. В. Бурхарт Христофор Миних в 1727-1732 годах: Материалы к биогр. // Петербургские чтения, 98-99. СПб., 1999
Галем Г. А. Жизнь графа Миниха, императорского российского генерал-фельдмаршала: В 2 ч. М., 1806 Military Collegium
St. Peter and Paul fortress
Kronstadt Fortress
Shlisselburg Fortress.
Commission for St. Petersburg Construction
Naval Cadet Corps
1729
1740
1742