Adam Levin from Witzleben

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the German officer of the same name, see Adam Levin von Witzleben the Younger (1721–1766).

Adam Levin von Witzleben (born June 6, 1688 in Delmenhorst ; † October 30, 1745 ibid) was a German court official who held various positions in the Danish service.

origin

Witzleben came from the Liebensteiner or Oldenburg line of the old Thuringian noble family von Witzleben and was the son of the Danish chief hunter and land drostes of the county of Delmenhorst Kurt Veit von Witzleben (1645–1719) to Hude and Elmeloh and Eleonora Maria nee. von Knuth (1658–1707) from Leisten. It was named after his uncle Adam Levin von Knuth .

Life

Witzleben was initially taught by private tutors and was later sent with his brothers to relatives in Gotha, where he attended grammar school from 1700. In 1704 he became a law student at the University of Jena . In 1707 he went back home and from 1708 resumed his studies at the University of Leiden . In 1710 he traveled to Copenhagen , where his mother's brother, Adam Levin von Knuth, had gained great influence and wealth as Lord Chamberlain and favorite of King Christian V. On April 30, 1710, through his uncle's mediation, Witzleben was appointed chamberlain to a royal prince.

On July 25, 1713, Witzleben was appointed hunter master of the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst as well as the archbishopric and duchy of Bremen . The territories were at that time under the rule of administration of the Kingdom of Denmark. In the same year he was also entrusted with the offices of district administrator and bailiff of the offices of Neuchâtel , Apen and Rastede as well as the Bailiwick of Jade .

In 1724 the Danish King Friedrich IV appointed him a member of the Oldenburg government. In 1729 he returned to Copenhagen after a period of fifteen years, where he was first court master of a princess and was awarded the Dannebrogden on October 11 of the same year . Shortly after taking office, Christian VI appointed him . to Oberhofmarschall and 1732 to the Privy Council . 1735 he asked for health reasons for his dismissal, but was on July 6, 1735 of the same year, first bailiff in Husum and Schabstedt and on 12 November 1735 finally Landdrost the county Delmenhorst.

In 1738 Witzleben was promoted to the Secret Conference Council. After Christian Friedrich von Haxthausen's death in 1741, Witzleben was finally appointed as his successor to Oberlanddrosten of the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst and to the head of the Blankenburg monastery .

family

On September 1, 1713, at Frederiksborg Palace , he married the court master Eleanora Maria von Lüttichau (born April 14, 1669 in Rostock, † January 13, 1746), daughter of the Mecklenburg-Güstrow court master Wulf Kasper von Lüttichau and Eva Maria nee. from Oertzen . The marriage was childless, so that this branch of those von Witzleben died out. His older brother was District Administrator Christoph Burckhard von Witzleben .

literature

• Louis Bobé : "Adam Levin von Witzleben", in: CF Bricka (ed.), Danish Biographisches Lexikon, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1887–1905.
• Inger Gorny: Witzleben, Adam Levin from. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 812-813 ( online ).
• GA and KHA v. Witzleben: History of the von Witzleben family, Berlin 1878, I, p. 323 digitized
• HL Miller: King Christian VI and Count Christian Ernst Stolberg, p. 54 ff.
• Genealogical-historical news of the most distinguished events that happened at the European courts , Volume 33, p. 849 digitized