Anton Günther von Münnich

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Anton Günther Mönnich , since 1688 von Münnich , (born June 9, 1650 on Gut Brokdeich, parish Holle, Vogtei "Wüstenland" of the county of Oldenburg ; today Hude (Oldenburg) , district of Oldenburg ; † February 14, 1721 in Neuenhuntorf , Wesermarsch ) was Head dichgrave of various coastal states on the North Sea .

Life

origin

Munnich was born into a peasant family of the Bailiwick "desert land" that there extensive in the 16th century land acquired and the Bailiwick Office had put into their hands. He was the son of Rudolf Moennich (also Rolf, Roloff Monnich) (1608–1666) and his wife Elsabe Eva von Nutzhorn (1611–1679). His father had the family property by purchasing the Barbican Neuenhuntorf increased again.

Ennoblement

Münnich was ennobled for his services in 1688 by King Christian V of Denmark . In the name of the Holy Roman Empire , this was confirmed by Emperor Leopold I on May 4, 1702, based on false statements made by Münnich, and Münnich was accepted into the imperial nobility . He was thus founder of the noble family of of Munnich , the later in the Barons - and count conditions was lifted, and particularly in Russia reached great prestige.

Career

Münnich grew up in Brokdeich and was tutored by private tutors. At the age of 15 he embarked on the career of an officer, entered the service of the Prince-Bishop of Münster in 1655 and, shortly afterwards, of the Swedish service. In 1669 he briefly changed to the French and finally in 1672 to the Dutch military service. In September 1672 he had to say goodbye due to a serious illness and returned to Neuenhuntorf, which he had meanwhile received as an inheritance. On February 4, 1675, Münnich was appointed Vogt in Eckwarden and shortly afterwards joined one of the newly established Danish regiments as Rittmeister . After the death of Anton Günther von Oldenburg in 1667, Oldenburg fell to Denmark and from 1675 several regiments were recruited for the Danish army in Oldenburg. Münnich himself enlisted a company and was promoted to major , but had to quit his job in December 1676 due to an injury.

As early as 1669, Münnich had begun to self-study and to acquire the knowledge necessary for an officer and landowner . In Neuenhuntorf, which he had expanded into a manor from 1678, he now dealt intensively with the theoretical and practical questions of dyke management and developed into a recognized dyke construction expert. After his final discharge from military service in 1680 with the rank of lieutenant colonel , he was appointed by the Danish government to the dichgrave general of the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst . In this role he also followed his father and grandfather, who had also been dikers there. Münnich tackled his new task with energy and zeal, reorganized the dyke system, which had fallen into disrepair since Count Anton Günther's death, and fought corruption, and in 1681 brought out a new dyke regulation that provided for a fair distribution of the dyke loads. Despite these successes, according to his biographer Hans Friedl, he made many enemies through his presumptuous and uncontrolled demeanor and his self-importance. Oldenburg estates, who had been disadvantaged up to now by the new dyke order, were temporarily removed from office in 1685, but Münnich was soon reinstated and headed the Oldenburg dyke system for almost 20 years. In 1692 he wrote the Oldenburgische Deichband , a detailed description of all the dikes in the country with many reform proposals, which was only published in 1767.

Angered by the rejection of his proposals for reclamation of small Weser he resigned his post in 1699 in Oldenburg and came after the failure to reach a position in the sustained-zerbstischen Jever , in June 1699 in East Frisian services. From 1699 to 1709 Münnich Drost was the Esen office . His fame rose due to his commitment as theoretician of dyke construction . In the interest of improving dyke maintenance, he had the dykes re-measured in 1700 and amended the dyke regulations. Here, too, he soon came into conflict with the East Frisian estates, who refused to redistribute the burdens for building the dykes to their disadvantage. In 1709, Münnich initially gave up and retired to Neuenhuntorf again.

Grave of the dichgrave of Münnich

When in 1717, on behalf of and on behalf of the rulers, he was supposed to advise the Upper and Lower Emsian dike on how to repair the damage caused by the Christmas flood of 1717 , he met with clear distrust because he acted on princely initiative. The dikes could still have been restored by 1718, so that Münnich could proudly point to the success of his protective measures after the October flood in 1718. He then planned to improve the entire Jever dyke system, but again got into a dispute with the senior officials there and was dismissed in February 1719.

He immediately found a new position as Drost and head of the dyke system in the Principality of East Friesland , which had also suffered badly from the Christmas flood. However, when the estates again showed no willingness to raise the funds required of them for the construction of the dyke, Münnich was apparently no longer able to cope with the strong resistance and in 1720 he said goodbye. A few months later he died and was buried in the grave cellar he had donated in the Neuenhuntorf cemetery.

The Neuenhuntorf estate built by Münnich is still largely preserved today. An elaborate piping system in the Gutsgarten is particularly noticeable. This connected ponds, ditches and water basins. The ebb and flow of tides ensured a permanent fresh water supply from the river Hunte through the pipes .

family

Anton Günther von Münnich was married to Sophia Katharina Oetken (1659–1710) for the first time. His wife was a daughter of the rent master Johann Oetken (1629–1679) and his wife Helene geb. Dagerath (1637-1696). Her brother was the Danish office director of the county of Oldenburg Johann Ludolph von Oetken (1653-1725). The couple had the following children:

∞ Anna Christina von Suhm (1685–1721)
∞ Johanna Christina von Münchhausen (1702–1737)
  • Helene Elisabeth von Münnich (1679–1733) ∞ Johann Rembrecht von Rettberg (1654–1734)
  • Charlotte Amaline von Münnich (1680–1727) ∞ Johann Karl von Roëll (1666–1723)
  • Dorothea von Münnich (1682–1739) ∞ Caspar von Wildemann (1663–1731)
  • Burchard Christoph von Münnich (1683–1767), Russian field marshal
∞ Christina Lucretia von Witzleben (1685–1727)
∞ Barbara Eleonara von Maltzahn , widowed Countess Saltykow (1691–1774)
  • Christian Wilhelm von Münnich (1686–1768), Chancellor in East Frisia, from 1710 his father's successor as Drost in Esens. Renovator of the dikes in Harlingerland after the devastating storm surge of 1717, Burchard Christoph followed to Russia in 1731 as an advisor at the Tsar's court
∞ Anna Elisabeth von Witzendorff (1697–1761)

After the death of his first wife, Anton Günther von Münnich entered into a second marriage with Dorothea von Walter († 1721). This connection remained childless.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical Handbook on the History of the State of Oldenburg, page 495
  2. ^ Hans Friedl: Münnich, Anton Günther von. 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 , p. 495 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Oetken (OETKEN, Öttken), Johann Ludolph. 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. 536-537 ( online ).
  4. ^ Christian Friedrich Jacobi, Gottlob Friedrich Krebel: European genealogical manual , p. 230f ( descendants )
  5. ↑ Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch : New Preussisches Adels-Lexicon , Volume 4, P. 336f ( digitized version )
personal data
SURNAME Münnich, Anton Günther von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mönnich, Anton Günther (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dikemaster
DATE OF BIRTH June 9, 1650
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuenhuntorf , Wesermarsch
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1721
Place of death Neuenhuntorf , Wesermarsch