Alexander II of Velen
Alexander II of Velen (* 1599 , † October 10, 1675 ), Baron of Raesfeld and Bretzenheim , was Imperial Field Marshal of the Catholic League in the Thirty Years' War . After his successful military career, he had Raesfeld Castle expanded into a residential palace. In 1641 he was granted the hereditary imperial count . Later he was also referred to as the "Westphalian Wallenstein ".
Life
youth
Alexander II of Velen was born in 1599 as the eldest son of Alexander I of Velen (1556–1630) and his first wife Agnes von Leerod. He grew up in his father's Raesfeld Castle . With the receipt of the tonsure on December 20, 1614, he was prepared for a spiritual life. After the death of Heinrich von Brabeck he came into the possession of a cathedral priest , which he renounced on April 14, 1621 . At least between 1615 and 1616 he studied with his brother Ernst at the University of Leuven . He probably received his first military training from his father, a colonel .
First military successes
When the Thirty Years' War broke out, Velen entered the army. In 1623 he was already a captain in the regiment of Count Johann Jakob von Bronckhorst zu Anholt and fought successfully against the troops of Christian von Braunschweig in 1623 in the Battle of Stadtlohn . As an award he received from General Wilhelm von Weimar a splendid saddle and bridle from the booty, which Velen always used from then on.
Since the warfare shifted from west to north Germany for the next two years, the regiment of Count von Anholt was only used as a protective force for Westphalia. Velen spent the period up to 1626 mainly at Raesfeld Castle. Because his father was often absent to exercise his offices as Drost zu Sassenberg and Wolbeck and the secret council of the bishop, Alexander II von Velen took over the management of the castle. In 1624 he married Countess Alexandrine Amstenraet zu Huyn und Gelen (1594–1654), with whom he had six children:
- Anna Margarethe, died six months after giving birth
- Ferdinand Gottfried (* 1626; † July 7, 1685) ⚭ July 25, 1656 Sophia Elisabeth von Limburg-Styrum (around 1630; † October 26, 1685).
- Paul Ernst
- Alexandrine Marie († July 10, 1656)
- ⚭ 1642 Emich von Daun (1614–1642) son of Johann Adolf von Daun-Falkenstein
- ⚭ November 27, 1644 Johann II. Von Waldeck-Landau Count von Waldeck-Pyrmont (* November 7, 1623: † October 10, 1668)
- Isabella
- Alexandra Elisabeth.
Military career
The Anholtische Regiment was united with that of the Count of Tilly . With Verden's dismissal in 1627, Velen prepared the conquest of the archbishopric of Bremen . After he freed the west bank of the Ems from the enemy in November 1628 , he was appointed Colonel Sergeant under Matthias Gallas in 1629 . In 1631 Velen, as colonel, was directly subordinate to General von Tilly, but soon resigned from his service because the estates of the Münster monastery demanded him.
From 1632 Velen led a regiment of 3,000 men on behalf of the Elector and Bishop Ferdinand against the Hessian occupiers of Westphalia. After Dorsten and Lippstadt had taken Lüdinghausen , Rheine and Ahaus , Velen was at least able to hold Warendorf and Münster . From there some towns could be recaptured in 1634 under his command. For this achievement Velen was promoted to general sergeant of the Catholic League in November 1634 and was able to lead the command of the armed forces of the prince-bishopric independently.
His new office also included providing financial support for the army, so that from November 1634 to January 1635 Velen undertook an embassy trip for the Elector to the Cardinal Infante in Brussels, who, after tough negotiations, granted him 20,000 thalers in support. The capture of Coesfeld in 1635 did not succeed Velen due to lack of reinforcement. Although the Hessians continued to threaten Westphalia, Velen moved to Altenkirchen in the Westerwald in 1636 to help Field Marshal Johann von Götzen with the siege of Hanau fortress . When Count Götzen recognized the superiority of the Hessians in Hanau and learned that the Swedes and Hessians were invading Westphalia from the Weser, he changed his plans and sent Velen back, who was still able to fend off the attack.
Velen defended the county of Bentheim against the French in July 1637 and conquered the Swedish-occupied city of Meppen in spring 1638 . For this he was promoted to Feldzeugmeister. In September 1641, Velen and Count von Hatzfeld succeeded in emerging victoriously from the siege of Dorsten , which was occupied by Hessian troops , after months of duration .
With the reconquered cities, the defense of Westphalia against the Hessians in the east succeeded better. Since Velen had "felt a noticeable loss of physical strength for several years, especially on the face and hearing", he resigned from the army in February 1646 at his own request. From Emperor Ferdinand III. he was appointed field marshal and councilor in 1653 because of the “very useful and fruitful military service that was performed long ago” .
Age as baron, imperial count and diplomat
After the death of his father Alexander I in 1630, Alexander II von Velen took over Raesfeld Castle, which he had managed independently for a long time. In 1636 Velen was assured of special neutrality by Count Götzen for Raesfeld Castle. On October 11, 1641, Alexander II of Velen was the hereditary imperial count of Emperor Ferdinand III. awarded. In 1642 he acquired the Bretzenheim Palace with his imperial rule for 27,000 Reichstaler , which earned him a seat and vote in the Reichstag . However, he was usually represented there by agents and was not himself politically active. In 1644 he received his own jurisdiction for his imperial county with the "privilegium exemptionis fori" .
Fairy tales were told in the country about the wealth accumulated during military service. In addition to the castles Raesfeld and Bretzenheim, Velens owned the houses Krudenburg and Hagenbeck an der Lippe, Horst an der Ruhr , Megen in the Duchy of Brabant and Engelrading Castle near Marbeck . He had also acquired lands and knight seats in the vicinity of the palaces and castles. Prince-Bishop Ferdinand said: “The graeffe von Vele had a good war in Westphalia. He probably enjoyed a few millions. "
From this he had the damaged Raesfeld Castle expanded from 1646 to 1658 into a representative residential palace as the focal point for his aspired imperial principality. During the construction period, the family and their staff lived mainly at Haus Hagenbeck an der Lippe . The extensions included three additional wings on the main house with a tower, an outer bailey, a chapel as well as lush parks and a zoo.
He kept domestic game such as wild boar , roe deer and red deer inside the zoo . He was also interested in exotic animals: The oldest evidence of the previously unknown fallow deer in North Rhine-Westphalia comes from Raesfeld from 1664 . Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen gave Velen, "so that your zoo may be adorned and increased", in 1670 an "American pregnant buffalo cow, since Ew. Lovers a special lover of strange animals and being the best ”. He used the so-called Sterndeuterturm in the outer bailey for astrological investigations. The library with scientific works and above all French-language literature also testifies to his education.
After retiring from military service, Velen continued to cultivate his relations with the imperial court. He represented the emperor and prince at festivities and undertook legation trips on their behalf. At that time, many high-ranking personalities stayed at Raesfeld Castle. B. the Strasbourg Bishop and Friedrich Wilhelm , Elector of Brandenburg , or the Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen .
When his first wife Alexandrine died in 1654, Velen married Anna Magdalena von Bentheim in 1655.
Alexander Johannes Franziskus Ignatius Waldbott von Bassenheim (1667–1715), cathedral capitular and cathedral scholaster in the prince bishops of Speyer , Worms and Münster , is his grandson from a daughter from his second marriage . Its qualitative baroque epitaph is in the Speyer Cathedral .
literature
- Heinz Knust: Alexander von Velen (1599–1675). A contribution to Westphalian history. Diss. Phil. Muenster; Bochum 1938.
- B. Siepe: Alexander II of Velen zu Raesfeld. The Westphalian Wallenstein? District of Borken and City of Bocholt, Stalling-Wirtschaftsverlag, Oldenburg 1965.
- Ingrid Sönnert: The 30 Years War. Alexander II of Velen and Raesfeld Castle. Heimatverein, Raesfeld 1998.
- Adalbert Friedrich: Raesfeld Castle. From a knight's castle to a craftsman's castle. Tourist office, Raesfeld 1990.
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Kohl, NF 17.2: The Diocese of Münster 4.2. The Cathedral of St. Paul in Münster, 1982, publisher: Max Planck Institute for History, p. 664
- ^ Genealogical page on Alexander von Velen and his family
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Albert Franz von Croÿ |
Count of Megen 1666–1675 |
Ferdinand Gottfried von Velen |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Velen, Alexander II of |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Freiherr zu Raesfeld and Bretzenheim |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Field Marshal of the Catholic League in the Thirty Years War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1599 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 10, 1675 |