Adam Erdmann Trčka from Lípa

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Adam Erdmann Graf Trčka von Lípa (also Adam Erdmann Trzka von Leipa ; Czech Adam Erdman Trčka z Lípy ; * around 1599; † February 25, 1634 in Eger ) was an imperial field marshal in the Thirty Years' War as well as brother-in-law and supporter of Wallenstein , with whom he Was murdered in Eger in 1634 .

Life

Adam Erdmann Trčka came from the Bohemian noble family of Trčka von Lípa . These recently belonged to the largest landowners in Bohemia. His parents were Jan Rudolf Trčka von Lípa and Maria Magdalena, daughter of Ladislav the Elder. Ä. von Lobkowitz . He and his father became Catholic, the mother remained Protestant. Although parts of the family emigrated themselves after the suppression of the Bohemian estates , the parents enriched themselves to a considerable extent with goods from exiles , which they acquired cheaply after their confiscation. These included Nachod , Neustadt , Adersbach and Schatzlar .

His siblings were:

  • Wilhelm / Vilém Trčka von Lípa († 1634), Protestant emigrant
  • NN, † before January 22, 1606; was engaged to Heinrich Matthias von Thurn , who later served in the Swedish service as the military leader of the Bohemian emigrants
  • Elisabeth / Alžběta / Eliška († 1638), married Wilhelm Kinsky , who lived as a Protestant emigrant in Dresden and was politically active there
  • Johanna († 1651), married Johann Wilhelm von Schwanberg in 1627

On August 30, 1627 Trčka married Maximiliane (1608–1662), daughter of the imperial councilor Karl von Harrach and Maria Elisabeth von Schrattenbach, in his father's castle Opočno . Through the marriage, Trčka became a brother-in-law of Wallenstein , who was married to Maximiliane's sister Isabella. The Prague Cardinal Archbishop Ernst Adalbert von Harrach was a brother of the bride. The Protestant Trčka converted to Catholicism only one day before the wedding, and so did his father the following year. At the instigation of Wallenstein and probably as a reward for the conversion, on February 28, 1628, the emperor awarded him and his father the title of count and the palatine , and a little later the dignity of chamberlain and imperial councilor.

The children came from the marriage with Maximiliane:

  • Albrecht Adam Trčka von Lípa (* 1631; † in childhood), whose first name was chosen after the godfather Albrecht von Wallenstein
  • Burian Maximilian Trčka von Lípa († in childhood), whose first name was chosen after his paternal grandfather
  • Maria Isabella Trčka von Lípa (1631–1702), married Siegmund Friedrich von Götzen (1622–1662), son of the imperial general Johann von Götzen .

Trčka chose a military career. The young officer had already joined Wallenstein's army as a volunteer in 1626, with whom he soon had familiar contacts and which increasingly involved him in important war negotiations. The historian Golo Mann comments: "Pampered, jovial and foolish, but good-looking and of good manners, Adam seems to have done Wallenstein's lonely soul good." On February 23, 1630 he promoted him to colonel in Jitschin . After Trčka recruited recruits on his estates without the knowledge of the royal governors , the emperor complained about it to Wallenstein. Presumably, the allegations have been refuted, as Trčka subsequently received several patents from the emperor, which entitle him to recruit further regiments .

As early as 1631, before Wallenstein's second generalate, he is said to have sought rapprochement with the Swedish war opponent Gustav Adolf and played a mediator role in subsequent negotiations, which ended in October 1631. It is believed that this was more of their own volition and because of the many relationships between the Trčka family and the Protestant emigrants, rather than at Wallenstein's request. Trčka's parents in particular colluded with the Bohemian emigrants, whose political leader Kinsky was their son-in-law and whose military leader Thurn once almost became one. Trčka's father dreamed of Wallenstein's election as King of Bohemia, the mother remained a Protestant for life; “The greedy and stubborn old woman”, who had acquired extensive possessions from emigrants with great business acumen, always carried a gold medallion with a portrait of Gustav Adolf in her pouch, sent by her daughter Elisabeth Kinsky.

After the Battle of Lützen , in which Gustav Adolf was killed in action against Wallenstein, Adam Erdmann Trčka was publicly praised and honored by him. In the subsequent secret negotiations with the Saxon field marshal Hans Georg von Arnim , Trčka is said to have acted as Wallenstein's negotiator and confidante. Presumably because of his efforts to achieve a truce, he was appointed field marshal by the emperor in the summer of 1633 . In this position he led the vanguard of Wallenstein's triumphal march through Silesia , the Mark Brandenburg and Upper Lusatia . Then he marched via Kittlitz , Schluckenau and Kreibitz against Leitmeritz , where his regiment joined the army of General Matthias Gallas .

Together with General Ilow , Trčka was instrumental in the “Pilsenerschluss” (also “Pilsener Revers”) of January 13, 1634, with which Wallenstein's officer corps made this an oath of allegiance. This was considered high treason by the emperor and led to Wallenstein's removal. The Wallenstein generals Aldringen , Gallas and Piccolomini were commissioned to deliver Wallenstein dead or alive. On February 25, 1634, Trčka, Kinsky and Ilow were murdered together with Wallenstein on the so-called murder night of Eger . Trčka's adjutant Rittmeister Neumann was also killed.

By a decree of Ferdinand II , Trčka was expressly exempted from the imperial pardon because he had participated in Wallenstein's defection from the emperor. Just four days later, his possessions were confiscated by the emperor and the will he made on May 23, 1633, was declared invalid. The emperor gave Trčka's East Bohemian lordships of Neustadt and Nachod to his loyal followers Leslie and Piccolomini, who were involved in the murder plot. Trčka had already acquired both estates from his mother in 1628. They had been recorded in his name on the Bohemian land table since 1629 . The many properties that Trčka received as the sole heir after his mother's death in 1633 were lost to his descendants after his death, as were the remaining properties after the death of his father, who only survived his son by half a year.

Literary fame

In Friedrich Schiller's trilogy of drama Wallenstein , Adam Erdmann Trčka's life is processed literarily in the second part, Die Piccolomini, and in the third part, Wallenstein's death as “Terzky”. Above all, his wife Maximiliane plays a leading role in the stage play as “Countess Terzky”, contrary to the historical events - modeled after the example of Lady Macbeth .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pedigree Trčka z Lípy
  2. ↑ Golo Mann : Wallenstein. His Life , Frankfurt am Main 2016 (first 1971), p. 733
  3. ↑ Golo Mann, Wallenstein , chapter threads in the dark , pp. 732–744.
  4. ↑ Golo Mann, Wallenstein , p. 735.
personal data
SURNAME Trčka by Lípa, Adam Erdmann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Trzka von Leipa, Adam Erdmann; Trtschka von Leipa, Adam Erdmann; Trčka z Lìpy, Adam Erdman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Imperial General in the Thirty Years' War and partisan of Wallenstein
DATE OF BIRTH around 1599
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1634
Place of death Cheb