Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei pene - I whanau a Hake i te whenua o Flatow (i tenei wa tetahi waahanga o Kremmen) i te Margraviate o Brandenburg. I uru ia ki te ope taua o Prussia i te tau 1785. I te tau 1793, i a ia e mahi ana i raro i te whakahau a Charles William Ferdinand, Duke o Brunswick, i tino kitea ia i te Pakanga o Pirmasens
i te wā o ngā Pakanga o te Whanaungatanga o Wīwī ki Wīwī. Mo ana mahi ka whakawhiwhia ia i muri mai, i te Paenga-whawha 3, 1814, ki te mētara "Pour le Mérite" me nga rau oak.