Amalia Regina from Zinzendorf

Portrait of Countess Amalia Regina von Zinzendorf and at Castell Castle.

Amalia Regina's death shield in the Protestant market church of Ortenburg . It is located on the ceiling in the nave above the entrance to the count's crypt.

Amalia Regina (also Amalie Regina ) von Zinzendorf and Pottendorf , married Countess von Ortenburg (born November 2, 1663 in Regensburg , † April 15, 1709 in Ortenburg ) was the second daughter of Maximilian Erasmus Graf and Lord of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf and Anna Amalia from Dietrichstein .

After her marriage to the Count's House of Ortenburg , she initially stayed in the background. However, when her husband was terminally ill or when she ruled as a guardian for her son, she was a benefactress for the small imperial county who is still remembered today. So she reconciled with the citizens of Ortenburg and secured the future of the children of the market through the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1703.

Live and act

Not very much is known about her childhood. She was born in the Protestant imperial city of Regensburg . It can be assumed that she spent a large part of her youth in the Protestant imperial cities of Nuremberg and Regensburg.

In the former city, the marriage contract between Amalia Regina and the Ortenburg count Georg Philipp was signed on June 1, 1685 . The wedding took place on the same day. During the reign of her husband, she always stayed in the background. On the other hand, she was distinguished by her special piety, and she never missed a prayer hour in church.

Her husband finally died on May 5, 1702. With the consent of Emperor Leopold I , Amalia Regina took over the guardianship of her son. At the same time, she temporarily took over the reign of the imperial county, which she would hold until 1706. The countess took over the small county in the midst of the turmoil of the Spanish War of Succession (1701–1714). Nevertheless, she was able to ensure that Ortenburg was largely spared, while cities and towns burned all over Bavaria and Austria. In order to save her son from military service for Emperor Leopold, however, she sent Johann Georg to the United Kingdom for educational purposes .

On April 2, 1703, the theater of war also briefly reached Ortenburg. Imperial and Saxon troop units under the leadership of General Graf Schlick marched into the county. The 40 electoral Bavarian soldiers on the market square surrendered due to the number of opponents without much resistance and were taken prisoner. Shortly afterwards, the troops moved to Alt-Ortenburg Castle and had it opened. Just a day later, the imperial troops moved on. From then on, Ortenburg lived in peace again.

County's benefactress

Reconciliation with the people

After the death of her husband, the countess began to reconcile with the citizens of Ortenburg. Since 1698 a dispute about taxes smoldered between the counts and the market residents . This was resolved with a settlement in 1700, but Georg Philipp refused to sign a written contract with his subjects. This continued to lead to discontent and protests from the citizens of Ortenburg. By virtue of her powers of attorney as the guardian of her son Johann Georg, she accepted the settlement in writing and thus ended the conflict.

Introduction of compulsory schooling

In 1703 the imperial county could already look back on exactly 140 years of school tradition. In 1563 Count Joachim laid the foundation for the Ortenburg school. With the introduction of the Reformation, it was decided at the same time to consolidate and further spread the newly introduced evangelical faith in Ortenburg with school lessons. Attending school was not compulsory, it was only recommended. In the course of time, the schoolmasters developed into defenders of the Protestant faith. During the time of the Catholic rulers, the schoolmasters vehemently promoted the knowledge of Protestant teaching.

At the end of the 17th century, however, the school situation in the town had deteriorated significantly. On the one hand, there was less and less interest within the population, on the other hand, the parents could no longer afford the costs due to the steadily increasing financial burden. This grievance was further promoted by the tax conflict between the years 1698 and 1702 with the counts.

Many parents failed to see the importance of reading, arithmetic, writing, and teaching Latin. On the contrary, many took their children out of class and took them to the pastor. The latter should teach the children the essentials of knowledge. This could not be due to the Protestant teachers, as the count family always ensured that there were highly qualified teachers at the school.

Countess Amalia Regina supported the school while her husband Georg Philipp was still alive. While her husband was already terminally ill, she sent letters of petition to Protestant rulers. In the letters, the countess asked for help and donations for the renovation of the now badly weathered and dilapidated school building. Amalia Regina was very successful, the princes donated a total of 1874 guilders and 13 cruisers.

Since she had a special heart for children and, above all, wanted to give the offspring in the county a good upbringing and education, she introduced compulsory schooling in Ortenburg shortly after taking office on January 27, 1703 with the so-called school regulations. The countess thus followed most of the Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire . The conservative, Catholic princes also refused to introduce compulsory schooling, and so it happened that in Ortenburg this happened 99 years before the Bavarian region. Amalia Regina finally incorporated the school regulations into the new church regulations in 1706.

Amalia Regina's school regulations were based on the so-called Gotha school method in the third version from 1672 by Duke Ernst I. At that time, this work was considered a masterpiece for a school system and formed the basis for many regulations of this kind. The Ortenburger matched the school method together with Georg Serpilius and Johann Konrad Feuerlein on the circumstances in the imperial county. According to research by Wilfried Hartleb, a connection to August Hermann Francke can also be indirectly recognized in the Ortenburg school regulations .

The Count's ordinance stipulated that all children were required to attend school from the age of five. Lessons should include reading, writing, and educating to be a good Christian. Classes should take place every weekday from 7am to 10am and 12pm to 3pm. It was also determined that the children should be taught in both summer and winter. In order to enable poor children to attend school, they were exempted from the costs of tuition and school materials. Instead, these were financed through donations.

Since the countess was aware that many Ortenburgers did not think much of an education, she introduced regulations that forced her to take her children to school. For example, parents had to pay a fine for every day the child did not attend class, which doubled per day.

Benefits for the Protestant church community

Countess Amalia Regina's deep piety was also expressed during her reign. From 1703, she had the interior of the Marktkirche redesigned and built in its current form. The reason was that the church was previously only intended as a chapel and the interior was often not able to cope with the influx of believers. Amalia Regina had the gallery expanded and topped up again. The nave was lengthened to include the new galleries. The chancel was also redesigned so that the new altar was erected in front of Count Joachim's Tumba . The renovation was finally completed in 1706. In the same year the countess introduced a new church order, in which the school regulations were also integrated, but also the confirmation was finally laid down, which she had already introduced in 1703 with compulsory schooling in Ortenburg. Amalia Regina also founded a parish library.

progeny

The following children came from the marriage with Georg Philipp:

• Johann Georg (born November 14, 1686 in Ortenburg; † November 4, 1725 ibid), Count von Ortenburg ∞ (I) Susanne Louise (born October 3, 1692 in Nuremberg; † March 3, 1709 in Ortenburg), Countess von Zinzendorf and Pottendorf ; ∞ (II) Maria Albertina (* May 20, 1686 in Usingen ; † January 14, 1786 in Ortenburg), Princess of Nassau-Saarbrücken in Usingen
• Albrecht Friedrich (born November 16, 1687 in Ortenburg; † March 18, 1688 ibid)

literature

• Wilfried Hartleb: The school reform of Countess Amalia Regina In: Ortenburg - Reichsgrafschaft and 450 years of Reformation (1563-2013) , Ortenburg 2013 (p. 228–245).
• Wilfried Hartleb: The introduction of the confirmation in Ortenburg in 1703 In: Ortenburg - Reichsgrafschaft and 450 years Reformation (1563-2013) , Ortenburg 2013 (pp. 224-227).
• Stefan Wild: The most important events after Count Joachim's death up to the year 1787. In: Ortenburg - Reichsgrafschaft and 450 years Reformation (1563–2013) , Ortenburg 2013 (pp. 202–207).
• Wilfried Hartleb: The school reform of Countess Amalia Regina and the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1703 in the imperial county of Ortenburg. In: 300 years of compulsory schooling in Ortenburg - school reform of Countess Amalia Regina in the imperial county of Ortenburg in 1703 , Ortenburg 2003 (pp. 5–46).
• Friedrich Hausmann : The Counts of Ortenburg and their male ancestors, the Spanheimers in Carinthia, Saxony and Bavaria, as well as their subsidiary lines , published in: Ostbairische Grenzmarken - Passauer Jahrbuch für Geschichte, Kunst und Volkskunde, No. 36, Passau 1994 (p. 9 -62).
• Wilfried Hartleb: The Protestant Lutheran school system in the imperial county of Ortenburg from the introduction of the Reformation in 1563 to the takeover of the county by Bavaria in 1805 (= writings of the University of Passau , series Geisteswissenschaften, Volume 9), Passau 1987.
• Wilfried Hartleb: School reform and introduction of compulsory schooling in Ortenburg in 1703. In: Ostbairische Grenzmarken - Passauer Jahrbuch für Geschichte, Kunst und Volkskunde, No. 26, Passau 1984 (pp. 139–144).
• Heinz Hans Konrad Schuster: Ortenburg after the death of Count Joachim. In: Hans Schellnhuber (Hrsg.): 400 years Evang.-Luth. Kirchengemeinde Ortenburg 1563–1963 , Ortenburg 1963 (pp. 43–48).
• Carl Mehrmann: History of the Evangelical Lutheran community of Ortenburg in Lower Bavaria - memorandum for the anniversary celebration of the 300th anniversary of the introduction of the Reformation there on October 17 and 18, 1863 , Landshut 1863 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Amalia Regina von Zinzendorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Family tree of the entire Ortenburg house

Remarks

1. ↑ Carl Mehrmann: History of the Evangelical Lutheran Community of Ortenburg in Lower Bavaria - memorandum for the anniversary celebration of the 300th anniversary of the introduction of the Reformation there on October 17 and 18, 1863 , p. 85.
2. ^ Wilfried Hartleb: School reform and introduction of compulsory schooling in Ortenburg in 1703 .