Office Lechenich

Archbishop Philipp von Heinsberg's tomb in Cologne Cathedral

The Amt Lechenich was an administrative unit of the Electorate of Cologne , which existed from the 13th to the end of the 18th century and was one of the oldest offices in the Electorate of Cologne .

It emerged from an archbishop's court (1185 curtis) in Lechenich and archbishop's possessions in other places that were under a bailiff . After the abolition of the Vogtei in 1185 by Archbishop Philipp von Heinsberg , a mayor took over the administration and jurisdiction (mayor Hermann 1203).

Expansion of the Lechenich office

The Lechenich office was first mentioned in a document in 1274. Philipp von Heinsberg and his successors had strongly fortified the castle complex in Lechenich (1239 castrum) and expanded it into the headquarters of the district. It was the seat of the archbishop's administration and the court with lower and high court (1285 lay judge's certificate issued in castro Lechnich).

The development of the office was largely shaped by the progress made in the acquisition of property and rights by the archbishop. Philipp von Heinsberg had acquired two noble estates in Lechenich, Wichterich came in 1254 as a Prümer fiefdom of the County of Hochstaden as Hochstadensches heir to the office of Lechenich, Berrenrath in 1322 after the acquisition of the County of Hülchrath. This process was completed in 1402 when Konrad von Schleiden Archbishop Friedrich III. von Saar became his manorial rights in Erp to fief .

Securing the sovereign power in the Lechenich office

To consolidate the archbishop's sovereignty in the official territory, the archbishops acquired the open house rights to the allodial fortified castles Konradsheim , Buschfeld , Gymnich , Haus Busch in Niederelvenich and Haus Boulich in Wichterich, which the owner received back as a fief. The feudal bond was strengthened by the additional award of a Lechenich castle lair. The remaining castles, whose owners had given up their allodial property, were included in the archbishopric sovereignty as Lehnsburgen and Burglehn of Lechenich like the castle in Ahrem, the castle in Blessem , the castle in Meller and the castles in Dirmerzheim.

Organization of the office

Official territory

Four judicial districts belonged to the office:

1. The court of Lechenich with the town of Lechenich and its Burgbanndörfern Ahrem , Blessem , Herrig , Konradsheim and Meller as well as the honors Liblar with Spurk and Köttingen (until 1630), Brüggen - Kierdorf - Roggendorf, Dirmerzheim and the upper village Gymnich , furthermore half the village Pingsheim as well the places Alstädten-Burbach and Berrenrath , in which the archbishop held the highest jurisdiction. The landlord was the Burbach monastery .
2. The Blatzheim court with Bergerhausen, Dorsfeld, Geilrath and Niederbolheim .
3. The court Wichterich ( Dingstuhl ) with Wichterich, Mülheim with the castle and Niederelvenich with Haus Busch .
4. The parish Borr with Borr and Scheuren, (branched off from the Wichterich court).

Within the Office more spiritual were lower reigns as the village Bliesheim that since 1328 a sub-rule of the pin St. Marie degrees in Cologne was. Similarly, Friesheim was a cathedral-capitular subordinate, which had all rights in Friesheim since 1363 after the re-acquisition of the bailiff's rights from the heirs of the bailiff, who died in 1358, and had the glory of Hermülheim of the Teutonic Order .

In the course of time, some aristocratic sublords had emerged, such as the village of Erp , which had been subordinate to the Counts of Manderscheid-Blankenheim since 1592 and the parish of Liblar (with Köttingen), the Elector Ferdinand to Baron Johann Adolf Wolff Metternich zur Gracht in 1630 as subordinate rule had transferred. De facto, this series also includes the Niederdorf of the village of Gymnich, which de jure was not subordinate, but in which the Lords of Gymnich had built up a comparative position and had had high jurisdiction since 1628. The sub-rule of Müddersheim is hardly mentioned in the Lechenich office, except in the case of enfeoffments.

Official seat

Former waiter building

The center of the office was Lechenich, to whom Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg had granted city privileges on September 15, 1279 . After the destruction of the old castle in 1301, the newly built Landesburg in the northeast corner of the city, fortified with walls and moats, was the administrative and judicial center. In Kellnereigebäude the outer ward is home and headquarters were the bailiff, the apartment of the waiter and facilities for court sessions.

Duties of the bailiff

The Electoral Cologne Office of Lechenich was presided over by a bailiff who received this office from the Archbishop. His task was mainly to protect the residents of the district and to ensure law and order as well as to uphold the various electoral rights in the places of the office.

His main areas of responsibility were:

1. Herrengeding and jurisprudence
   He had to consider the Herrengedinge , the Brugger Courts , in which minor offenses were punished, and the interrogations for civil disputes. The presidency of the bailiff (officialis) at court sessions, documented in 1274, ceased to exist in the course of time. Since the end of the 14th century, the bailiff had been assisted by a mayor who exercised jurisdiction with the lay judges . Since 1325 they had a jury seal. Clerks and bailiffs completed the court. The bailiff was rarely present.
2. 
   Collection of state taxes Simplen lists were created in which the individual locations were assessed. Simplenkollectors collected the taxes and handed them over to the bailiff, since the 17th century the administrator. In the honors the Honnen collected the Simplen and handed them over to the administrator.
3. Securing and maintaining the state roads in his official area.
   The bailiff and his servants took over the supervision of the country roads until the 15th century and exercised the right of escort when important personalities traveled through his official territory. Official shooters have fulfilled these tasks since the 16th century.
   To maintain the streets, the residents of the Honschaften were called in, who could be used for manual and tension services .

Hussar quarters Lechenich

1. Ensuring military and civil order in the official area.
   The bailiff was responsible for the mustering of the riflemen, who were subordinate to the bailiff, since the 17th century a rifle leader. Their duties included national defense, but above all they concerned civil order. Its tasks were largely taken over by the mounted rural gendarmerie known as the hussar company , created by Elector Clemens August in 1751 and deployed throughout the archbishopric . After the Hersel and Hülchrath sites were closed , she had been stationed in Lechenich since 1754 , and moved into the hussar quarters in 1765 . The police officers remained on patrol on the country roads and guarding the prisoners in the state castle.
2. Supervision of the city of Lechenich.
   The mayor delivered the accountability report on income and expenses (mayor's bills) required by the bailiff. The mayor and council had to obey the bailiff's instructions.

Pledges

Armed conflicts and territorial acquisitions brought the archbishops into financial difficulties in the 14th and especially in the 15th century. Income from customs duties or offices were often pledged to their donors . The Lechenich office was pledged only a few times in the 14th century, but several times over decades since the Soest feud in the 15th century , with the pledges usually replacing each other every few years. The office was the longest pledge of Johann von Gymnich, the court master of Archbishop Hermann von Hessen , who pledged it to him in 1489 because of an outstanding debt claim of 11,000 guilders. After Johann's death, it came into the possession of his nephews and heirs Adolf von Gymnich and Gauwin von Gymnich. Under Archbishop Philipp von Daun-Oberstein , the pledge was redeemed in 1514 against the transfer of the Nürburg office .

Waiter's duties

There was a division of tasks in the Lechenich office. A waiter appointed by the archbishop (1334 celerarius) supervised the archbishop's property in the office. He collected the archbishop's income in money and in kind such as treasure money, bede and leasehold, he leased the archbishop's property, paid the servants and took care of the maintenance of the buildings. Every year he had to submit an invoice for income and expenditure to the archbishop's court chamber.

Officials Wolff Metternich zu Gracht

House built around 1630, former seat of the administrator in Liblar

Since the end of the 16th century, Messrs. Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht were entrusted with the dignity of bailiffs. They remained in this function until 1794, when the Electoral Cologne office was abolished after the French revolutionary troops marched in and a civil administration for the occupied territories was set up by the French authorities .

The barons, counts since 1731, did not live at their official residence, but at Haus Gracht in Liblar or in their house in Cologne. In the service of the elector they lived in the Metternich court in Bonn . The official business was largely taken over by an administrator, who was at the same time Vogt of Messrs Wolff Metternich zur Gracht in Liblar. The chief supervision of the city remained with the bailiff.

List of officials

1274: Dietrich Voß (Theodericus called Vulpes)
1291: Werner von Bergerhausen
1311: Konrad von Tomburg
1320: Arnold Unbescheiden
1329: Arnold Gryn
1344: Arnold von Buschfeld
1345: Dietrich Pytane
1358–1359: Tilmann Kuyl
1364: Werner von Bachem
1364: Johann von Rheindorf
1365: Wilhelm von Schleiden, Dompropst
1375: Johann Wolff von Rheindorf
1388–1393: Godart Wolff von Rheindorf
1395: Heinrich von Bell
1397–1402: Johann von Nievenheim
1404: Wilhelm Beissel von Gymnich
1406–1414: Heinrich von Bell
1421: Friedrich Scheiffart von Merode
1425: Gerhard von Rheydt
1428: Statz von dem Bongart
1446: Emond Beißel von Gymnich
1447: Count Heinrich von Nassau
1433–1464: Dietrich von Bourscheid
1477: Stefan von Siegenhoven
1480: Johann von Gymnich
1489–1499: Johann von Gymnich
1510: Adolf von Gymnich
1530–1558: Daem Spieß von Büllesheim zu Frechen
1561–1563: Heinrich Schall von Bell zu Schwadorf
1572: Wilhelm von der Horst zu Heimerzheim
1587–1603: Herrmann Wolff Metternich zur Gracht
1604–1605: Hans Philipp von Hoheneck
1612–1638: Otto von dem Bongart zu Bergerhausen
1638–1658: Johann Adolf Wolff Metternich zur Gracht
1658–1668: Degenhard Adolf Wolff Metternich zur Gracht
1668–1681: Hieronymus Wolff Metternich zur Gracht,
Knight of Malta 1681–1722: Johann Adolf II. Wolff Metternich zur Gracht
1723–1741: Franz Josef Wolff Metternich zur Gracht
1741–1753: Clemens August Wolff Metternich zur Gracht (under guardianship)
1754–1790: Johann Ignaz Wolff Metternich zur Gracht
1791–1794: Max Werner Wolff Metternich zur Gracht

literature

• Fabricius, Wilhelm : Explanations for the historical atlas of the Rhine province. Second volume. Map from 1789. Division and development of the territories from 1600 to 1794. Bonn 1898.
• Flink, Klaus (arrangement): Lechenich. Rhenish City Atlas, Delivery I, No. 1 (1972).
• Stommel, Karl : The Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its origin and its organization. Euskirchen 1961.
• Stommel, Karl and Hanna (arr.): Sources on the history of the city of Erftstadt. Volume IV, Erftstadt 1990–1998.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its creation and its organization, Euskirchen 1961, pp. 12–22
2. ^ Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its emergence and organization, pp. 22–40
3. ↑ Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne City Lechenich, Euskirchen 1960, pp. 43–44
4. ^ Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its emergence and organization, pp. 45–66
5. ↑ Stommel Karl and Hanna (arr.), Sources for the history of the city of Erftstadt, Erftstadt 1990, Vol. I No. 720 pp. 219–220
6. ^ Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its emergence and its organization, Euskirchen 1961, pp. 71–74
7. ↑ Stommel Karl and Hanna (arrangement), Sources on the history of the city of Erftstadt, Vol. IV No. 2464 p. 281 and Vol. V No. 2818, pp. 157–159
8. ↑ Karl and Hanna Stommel, Sources on the history of the city of Erftstadt, Vol. II, Erftstadt 1991 No. 1339.
9. ↑ Karl and Hanna Stommel, Sources on the history of the city of Erftstadt, Vol. III, Erftstadt 1993, No. 1528.
10. ^ Karl Stommel, History of the Electoral Cologne Office Lechenich, its emergence and organization, pp. 77-82