Office Blankenberg

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Map section of Müffling 1815 Prussia
The offices of the duchy

The Blankenberg Office was an administrative unit of the Duchy of Berg . The land of Blankenberg , which Count Gottfried II von Heinsberg had pledged to Count Wilhelm II von Berg in 1363 and not redeemed, came into the possession of Count von Berg, who was ducal in 1380. The Blankenberg office remained with the Duchy of Berg until it was dissolved in 1806.

District

Before the introduction of the Jülichberg judicial system, an inquiry commission of ducal commissioners recorded the following courts on May 15, 1555:

City and regional courts

Geistingen , Neunkirchen , Eitorf , Uckerath , Winterscheid , Birk or Lohmar , Honrath

  • Dondorf called the own with special rights.

Each of the 7 regional courts had 12 lay judges, a Dinger (judge) and a court clerk called Landschreiber. Each district court formed an administrative district consisting of honors .

After the investigation, a new Jülich-Bergisch court order was introduced on June 12, 1555. At the head of the courts was the state court court, which was responsible for all appeals. The competences of the city and regional courts were determined. They were responsible for civil and criminal affairs and exercised the blood judiciary .

In the office of Blankenberg, the courts in the Blankenberg City Court and 3 regional courts were combined.

  • City court Blankenberg with the Burgbanndörfern, the court Dondorf (2 honors) and the court Uckerath (5 honors)
  • District Court Neunkirchen (8 honors), Lohmar (4 honors). Honrath- Wahlscheid (6 honors), Winterscheid (3 honors)
  • District court Eitorf (11 honors), Herchen (3 honors) and Ruppichteroth (5 honors)

The main places were parishes, of which Geistingen was a parish with two chapels in Hennef and Süchterscheid. Neunkirchen was a parish with the chapel Seelscheid, the parish Lohmar had a chapel in Birk.

  • The dinghies of the Vogtei Siegburg (Troisdorf and Wolsdorf), which consisted of two honors, were merged.

The affiliation of the Vogtei Siegburg to the Amte Blankenberg was for a long time disputed between the Duke of Jülich-Berg and the Abbey of Siegburg . The Vogtei belonged to the domain of the abbot of Siegburg, but Vogt was the Duke of Berg, represented by a sub-bailiff, who was called Vogt and represented the interests of the duke. It was not until 1601 that the duke, in a comparison with the abbot, succeeded in drawing blood jurisdiction to himself and thereby removing the bailiwick from the abbot's domain. Since then, the bailiwick has belonged to the Blankenberg office.

  • The Happerschoß free court was occupied by mayor and eight lay judges. It ruled on goods within the judicial district. Criminal cases went to the high court in Geistingen, appeals to the court of the sovereign.

Court courts

During the inquiries in 1555, the court courts were also recorded. In the office of Blankenberg there were 12 spiritual courts and 20 aristocratic courts, four of which were bailiffs of the sovereign, and there were two sovereign courts in Eitorf and Attenbach. The Fronhöfe of St. Cassius in Lohmar and the Mönchhof of the Meer monastery in Wahlscheid were official yards of the sovereign. The abbot of Siegburg , who owned 3 courtyards with court courts, had the greatest spiritual possessions . The provost of Oberpleis also had a large court court in Oberpleis. Among the aristocrats, Bertram von Nesselrode zu Stein, who owned three farms with court courts, was one of the largest landowners.

Official seat

City of Blankenberg, aerial view from the southeast

After the transfer to the Counts of Berg in 1363, the city of Blankenberg became the headquarters of the Blankenberg office. The castle complex (referred to as castrum in 1181 ) , built in the 12th century by the Counts of Sayn high above the Siegtal, with a settlement belonging to the castle, divided into old town and new town , became the official residence ; Count Heinrich von Sayn and Countess Mechthild von Sayn received urban privileges in 1245 had awarded. In buildings on the castle grounds of the lived bailiff , the country things and the waiter ( treasurer ).

Administration of the office

Duties of the bailiff

At the head of the office (officium) stood the bailiff (officiatus) as the representative of the sovereign, who was appointed by him and sworn in on him.

His main task was to

  • To respect and protect the rights and habits of the residents of his district,
  • to uphold the sovereign rights and not to tolerate any rule that diminishes the rights of the sovereign,
  • to ensure external security,
  • to ensure law and order in court
  • to administer the sovereign goods and income.

Waiter's duties

At the end of the 14th century, some of the official duties of the bailiff ceased to exist. A waiter (celerarius) or rent master appointed by the sovereign administered the sovereign property. He was responsible for the income due to the sovereign in kind deliveries and for the collection of taxes and other money. He also had to entertain the castle occupants, the crew and servants.

jurisdiction

As supreme court lord, the bailiff was in charge of the courts, but he had not chaired court sessions since the end of the 14th century. In the regional courts, a judge ( mayor ), who presided over the court hearings, took on this task and exercised jurisdiction with the lay judges . Court clerks , also known as land clerks, and land messengers (court messengers) completed the court.

Until 1555, the Blankenberg lay judges also sealed all documents of the regional courts, which only received their own seals after 1555.

Landdinger's duties

All courts of the office were under the supervision of a judge, the Landdinger, who was thus the highest court official in the office of Blankenberg.

As a representative of the bailiff, he also took on his duties. In the 18th century in particular, the Landdinger von Proff zu Irnich and Menden held a position in office that was more important than that of the bailiff who was in the service of the sovereign at his seat of government in Düsseldorf or who stayed at his castle and was not present in office was.

Pledges

In 1372 the office was pledged to Count Adolf von Kleve until it was redeemed in 1377.

In 1401 it was pledged to Johann von Loon, Herr zu Heinsberg and Löwenburg. The following partial pledges were made because of the property claims of other gentlemen until Duke Adolf VII von Berg passed his share on to Archbishop Dietrich von Moers in 1424 . In 1450, Duke Gerhard II von Berg sold the town and office of Blankenberg to Archbishop Dietrich von Moers. Until it was bought back in 1469, the Blankenberg office was under Electoral Cologne rule. Thereafter the office remained undivided with the Duchy of Berg.

Monasteries

Within the Blankenberg Office there were several monasteries that existed until secularization in 1803.

Kloster Seligenthal , Monastery Bödingen , Monastery Zissendorf ,

Merten Monastery , which had also taken over Herchen Monastery in 1582 .

Mansions

Within the Office Blankenberg passed except the Castle Blankenberg the stately homes Burg Welterode , Castle Merten , House Attenbach , Castle Allner , Burg Herrnstein , castle Honrath , Burg Lohmar , Schloss Auel , House Sülz , castle Seelscheid.

Confessional changes in the Blankenberg office

After the Reformation , efforts were made in many places of the office to introduce the new teachings of Martin Luther or John Calvin . They were introduced to the parishes by preachers who preached these doctrines in worship. The changing confessional affiliation of the Jülich-Bergische sovereign and his attitude to the reformatory efforts played an important role in the implementation. After a benevolent attitude towards the Reformation up to the middle of the 16th century, which favored the emergence of new communities in some places such as Honrath in 1552 and Wahlscheid in 1558, the meanwhile established conditions in the parish of Honrath-Wahlscheid could not be changed in the following period . duke

Wolfgang Wilhelm von Jülich-Berg, who had converted to Catholicism, took part in the successful recatholicization carried out under Elector and Archbishop Ferdinand , in which preachers from the monasteries Bödingen and Seligenthal were very actively involved in the Blankenberg office. By the middle of the 17th century, it achieved the consolidation of Catholic teaching in most of the parishes of the office. Exceptions were Honrath, where Luther's teaching was permanently introduced in 1614, Wahlscheid, which followed in 1643 and in 1646 the neighboring Seelscheid. In these places the Lutherans formed the majority. There was also a strong Lutheran congregation in Ruppichteroth, which built a church for the congregation in 1683. The church in Seelscheid became independent from Neunkirchen and was used as a Simultaneum from 1672 on the instructions of the sovereign .

There were reformatory efforts in Blankenberg and Uckerath as well. Most of the Calvinist preachers were active there. Since 1577 there was a Calvinist congregation in the city of Blankenberg as a “secret congregation under the cross” and a Calvinist preacher. After the re-Catholicization, the Calvinist communities in Blankenberg and Uckerath dissolved. Blankenberg was Catholic again by 1665 at the latest.

Relocation of the official and court seat

The decline of Blankenberg began after the second half of the 16th century. As early as 1440 there was a non-knightly castle garrison, which was further reduced and was insufficient for a defense. In 1440 there were 16 castle occupants, there were only 9 in 1510 and three in the middle of the 16th century (burgrave, guard and porter). During the wars of the 17th century, the castle was occupied several times by mercenary troops. Many buildings were ruined or no longer existed in the mid-17th century.

Allner Castle

Blankenberg lost its importance as an official residence after the officials no longer lived there. The new official residence was until the death of the bailiff Johann Walraf Scheiffart von Merode in 1694. Allner Castle, where the hereditary homage of the subjects ordered by Duke Philipp Wilhelm also took place in 1666 . His successor, bailiff Johann Friedrich von Schaesberg, who, like many bailiffs, lived in the service of the sovereign at the Düsseldorf court, appointed an official administrator as a representative who had his official seat in Warth . He also represented the country thing in small court cases. In 1744 the city court of Blankenberg and the regional courts of Eitorf, Geistingen and Neunkirchen were merged into one court chaired by the Landdinger. The seat of the court was Warth, and Hennef a few years later .

List of officials

The following officials are documented:

  • 1362–1365: Adolf Kratz, druytzess zo Blanckenberg
  • 1377–1384: Dietrich von Markelsbach, drossesse zu Blanckenberg
  • 1421: Arnold von Markelsbach called Allner
  • 1523–1543: Bertram von Lützenrode
  • before 1546: Engelbert von Scheidt called Weschpfennig (died in 1546)
  • 1546: Johann Keygell
  • 1568–1576: Heinrich von Binsfeld from Euskirchen (... the bailiff dies married to Elisabeth von der Horst)
  • Around 1581: Wilhelm von Nesselrode
  • 1628–1638: Gimbrecht von Gevertshagen
  • 1637–1670: Bertram Scheiffart von Merode zu Allner (1637–1645: administrator Dietrich von der Horst)

List of country things

  • 1433 to 1434 Johann von Zweiffel
  • 1443 to 1445 Heinrich Hergeselle
  • From 1446 to 1464 the Landdinger were Johann von Eitorf, Klaes von Freusberg and Dietrich von Schall
  • In 1582 the Landdinger Volmar von Scheidt, known as Weschpfennig, died
  • 1581–1590 Johannen Katterbach
  • Johann Gottfried von Neuhoff called Ley. In 1660 Johann Gottfried von Proff married Anna Katharina Gertrud von Ley, daughter of the late Landdinger Johann Gottfried von Neuhoff called Ley. The Landdinger of the office were then from 1660 to 1799 members of the family von Proff zu Irnich .

Knight slip

According to the knight slips of the Bergisch knighthood, the following knights were in office under Duke Gerhard (1440 to 1475): Rembolt vom Plettenberg , Johann von Spich, Dietrich Stael von Honestein, Johann von Schelte, Alff von Wolkenburg , Franke von Menden, Arndt von Allner , Wilhelm his son, Rodiger von Kaldenbach, Friedrich von Markelsbach , Philipp Röss, Wilhelm Wynter, Johann von Vunffgelden, Engelbert Weschpfennick, Heinrich von Nederwich, Rotger von Nederwich, Gebrüder Goddart von Plettenberg, Johann von Oyssendorp, Johann Reyffgen Schwager, Philipp von Markelsbach, Reinhart Hoen, Daniel Hoen and Eckart von Durrenbach.

1612 the knights are bailiff Georg von Heiden, Gerhardt von Metternich zu Oberpleis , Caspar von Selbach called Lohe zu Menden, Walraff Scheiffart von Merode von Allner, Hans Scheiffart von Merode zu Berlinghoven, Hein von Hillesheim zu Dhal, Franz von Hatzfeldt zu Merten , Wilhelm von Scheid called Weschpfennig im Bruel , N. zu Haus Saurenbach, Gottfried von Scheid called Weschpfennig zu Elssfeld, Wilhelm von Nesselrode zu Stein , Wilhelm von Zweivell zu Wissen, Hans Heinrich Meuchen zu Rauenstein, Heinrich von der Havelich zu Lohmar , N. Reven zu Lohmar, Gumbrecht zu Gevertshagen zu Attenbach , Johann Frentz von Lutzenrad zu Auel, Heinrich Luininck zu Honrath , Johann Luininck zu Niederpleis, N. Belbach zu Bülgenauel Erben, N. Gulich Erben zu Dorp, N. zu Haus Welteradt and Dietrich von Mosbach called Breidenbach named to Seelscheid .

seal

The aldermen's seal of the office corresponded to that of the city of Blankenberg: The castle with two edge towers and three raised towers in the middle, in the lower part a bust on a background decorated with four-pointed stars. After 1555 it only applied to the Blankenberg City Court. The three regional courts of the Blankenberg office carried their own seals after 1556 with a picture of the Bergisch lion and a symbol that should characterize the district of the regional court. For Eitorf it was acorns because of the forests, for Geistingen a grape because of the viticulture and for Neunkirchen fish because of the abundance of fish.

See also

literature

  • Karl Schröder : Between the French Revolution and Prussia's Gloria . Heimatverein Eitorf, 1989.
  • Gabriel Busch: Merten (victory) . Reckinger & Co, Siegburg 1978.
  • Albrecht Brendler: On the way to the territory. Administrative structure and office holder of the County of Berg 1225–1380 . Inaugural dissertation, Bonn 2015, pp. 191–204.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ W. Harleß: Inquiry into the court constitution in the Duchy of Berg from 1555. In: Journal of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein 20. 1884, pp. 129-137
  2. ^ Norbert Andermahr: Development of the county mountain. In: Land at the Center of Powers. Exhibition catalog: The Duchies of Jülich Kleve Berg. 2nd edition Kleve 1984. p. 70
  3. ↑ Dieter Kastner (edit.): The Troisdorf Schöffenbuch. Inventories of Non-State Archives 39. Cologne 1997. Introduction pp. 24–28
  4. ↑ W. Harleß: Inquiry into the court constitution in the Duchy of Berg from 1555. In: Journal of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein 20. 1884, pp. 129-137
  5. ↑ W. Harleß: The inquiry about the court constitution in the Duchy of Berg from the year 1555. In: Journal of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein 20. 1884, pp. 187-189
  6. ↑ Helmut Fischer (arrangement): Rheinischer Städteatlas, Blankenberg. Cologne 1979. In: III. Rulership and church
  7. ^ Norbert Andermahr: Development of the county mountain. In: Land at the Center of Powers. Exhibition catalog: The Duchies of Jülich Kleve Berg. 2nd edition Kleve 1984. p. 72
  8. ↑ Helmut Fischer (arrangement): Rheinischer Städteatlas, Blankenberg. Cologne 1979. In: III. Rulership and church
  9. ^ Norbert Andermahr: Development of the county mountain. In: Land at the Center of Powers. Exhibition catalog: The Duchies of Jülich Kleve Berg. 2nd edition Kleve 1984. p. 72
  10. ↑ Helmut Fischer (arrangement): Rheinischer Städteatlas, Blankenberg. Cologne 1979. In: III. Rulership and church
  11. ↑ Hartmut Benz: The Simultaneum in Seelscheid. Sources on the history of the Rhein-Sieg district, 16. Siegburg 1999, pp. 26–29
  12. ^ Helmut Fischer: Rheinischer Städteatlas Blankenberg. In IV church, school, culture
  13. ↑ Helmut Fischer (arrangement): Rheinischer Städteatlas, Blankenberg. Cologne 1979. In: II Topography
  14. ↑ Hartmut Benz: The Simultaneum in Seelscheid. Sources on the history of the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, 16.Siegburg 1999, No. 3 p. 53, No. 12 p. 62, p. 59, note 36, No. 14 p. 60, No. 17 p. 62 and No. 84 p. 107
  15. ↑ Helmut Fischer (arrangement): Rheinischer Städteatlas, Blankenberg. Cologne 1979. In: II Topography and III. Rulership and church
  16. ↑ Brendler (2015), p. 204.
  17. ^ Renate Leffers: The neutrality policy of Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm as Duke of Jülich-Berg in the period from 1636–1643 , Bergische Forschungen, Volume VIII, Neustadt an der Aisch 1971, p. 9.4
  18. ↑ Schöffenprotokoll Siegburg, A II / 13, p. 136c
  19. ↑ Delvos: History of the parishes of the deanery Siegburg, p 293
  20. ↑ Delvos: History of the priest of the deanery estates Siegburg, p 290
  21. ↑ Ernst Weyden: The Siegthal - from the mouth of the river to the source, Adolf Lesimple's Verlag, Leipzig 1865
  22. ↑ Ernst Weyden: The Siegthal - from the mouth of the river to the source, Adolf Lesimple's Verlag, Leipzig 1865