Anton Otto von Closs

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Anton Otto von Closs

Anton Otto von Closs , often also Cloß (* around 1670 , on the Lower Rhine, probably in Roermond ; † October 26, 1737 in Ingelheim am Rhein ) was a general from the Electoral Palatinate and a great benefactor or patron in the charitable and religious field.

Live and act

Nothing is known about the early life of Anton Otto von Closs. He came to Ingelheim am Rhein as the commander of an electoral Palatinate cavalry group that was part of the Upper Rhine District Cavalry Regiment and settled there permanently. It is controversial when and why von Closs came to Ingelheim. In 1733 he was promoted to general sergeant , which corresponds to the current rank of major general .

General von Closs became important not because of his military deeds or professional successes, but because of his charity and his patronage in the religious and charitable field.

In Ingelheim he acquired an estate called “Zum Ochsen” (in the area of ​​today's Pestalozzi School) and rich property of over 100 acres. As a devout Catholic, he bequeathed this property to the Jesuit order in his will . Three fathers and a brother were to manage the estate as a mission station and the surpluses were to be used to support the poor and travelers. He endowed the construction of an associated chapel with the proceeds of his silver. According to the will of the general, the Jesuits ran a branch on the Ingelheimer Hofgut from 1737 until the abolition of the order in 1773 and were allowed to continue to work there as secular priests until 1782 and use the income from the estate for foundation tasks. Then the court came to the order of the Lazarists , who had succeeded the Jesuits in the Electoral Palatinate. The French declared the Hofgut or the convent to be a French national property in 1806, after which it came into private hands as an object of speculation and has now completely disappeared.

In addition, Anton Otto von Closs, in conjunction with the Ingelheim Jesuit branch, set up a foundation for the poor for the benefit of several surrounding villages and decreed exactly how the interest on the foundation capital was to be distributed. The beneficiary communities were Bubenheim (Rheinhessen) , Elsheim , Groß-Winternheim , Schwabenheim an der Selz , Appenheim , Ober-Hilbersheim , Gensingen , Undenheim , Nierstein and Oppenheim . Closs founded Catholic chaplains for several localities, he bequeathed his property in Roermond to the city administration, and a further considerable sum to the Jesuit order.

Coat of arms of the Electorate of Palatinate as a sign of the patronage requested by General Closs, above the south portal of the Ingelheim church

He gave his Ingelheim home "Zum Ochsen" to his cousin, military comrade and executor Gerhard von Schrieck († 1757)

In his will, General Closs had asked Elector Karl Philipp , whom he probably knew personally, for patronage over the parish Ingelheim, which he financed, its church and his private foundation, whereupon the Electoral Palatinate coat of arms above the south portal of the Catholic. Pointing out parish church St. Remigius (Ingelheim) .

In the northern Palatinate, near Haschbach , von Closs donated money for a Catholic pastoral care center in the ancient church on Remigiusberg . Together with the villages of Haschbach, Ruthweiler , Theisbergstegen and the Oberamt Lauterecken , it was part of the estate of the Protestant line Pfalz-Veldenz , which had expired in 1694 , and belonged to the Electoral Palatinate in 1724 and 1733, respectively. As a result of the previous state restrictions, there were only a few scattered Catholics there, whom General Closs took care of with his financial support. In 1744 the parish was finally rebuilt from this fund.

In 1737 the general also gave the Catholics a house "opposite the town hall" in the Palatinate region of Appenheim , in which they could celebrate their services as a provisional church.

As early as 1718, Anton Otto von Closs had built a house as a domicile on Engelberg in Großheubach, Lower Franconia , because he liked to visit the pilgrimage site. On his death, he bequeathed this handsome property to the local monastery and the Capuchin monks who lived here , who integrated it into the monastery area as a welcome addition.

After his death, Anton Otto von Closs was buried in the parish church of St. Remigius, Ingelheim, where his magnificent epitaph has been preserved on the northern inner wall. The touching grave inscription was then put on him:

“YOUR CHURCHAL PRINCIPAL LOOK AFTER AT PFALTZ GENERAL GUARD MASTER AND OBRISTER ON HORSEMAN REGIMENT, ANTON OTTO VON CLOSS. ALL HERE IN THIS DOM REST, THAT'S NEITHER HAVE NOR SOME GUTH, IN THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD, SUCH HAS MOSTLY MADE THE POOR, EVEN THAT A LOAF OF GUTT BROD, AND THREE THREE CREUTZERS IN AN EMERGENCY, ALL OF THEM MUST BE HOME WITHOUT REVIEW, ON THE THRONE FROM THE HIGH SKY, THU THE WAGE OF GOD WILL FOLLOW. OBIIT 26 OCTOBRIS 1737. REQUIESCAT IN PACE. "

- Funerary inscription, north wall of St. Remigius Church, Ingelheim

In the Catholic rectory in Ingelheim there is an oil portrait of General von Closs, with the inscription on the reverse:

"This picture was given to the rectory and should always remain in it as a grateful memory of Freiherr von Cloß, the generous benefactor of churches and especially the poor"

- Image inscription according to the Ingelheim Historical Association

Anton Otto von Closs was unmarried and had no descendants.

literature

  • Margarete Köhler: 2000 years of Ingelheim as reflected in art - from the Romans to the present . Ingelheim 2000

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the military use of General von Closs
  2. ↑ To the acquisition of the Ingelheimer Hofgut
  3. ↑ To Gerhard von Schrieck
  4. ↑ To the cath. Parish Ingelheim, as a foundation of General von Closs
  5. ^ To the foundation of the parish Remigiusberg near Haschbach. In: Franz Xaver Remling: Documented history of the former abbeys and monasteries in what is now Rhine Bavaria . Volume 1. 1836
  6. ^ To the foundation on Remigiusberg Haschbach. In: Treatises of the Historical Class of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences , Volume 8, 1860
  7. ↑ To the Appenheim donation
  8. ↑ Mention of the donation by General Closs. ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website of the municipality of Appenheim @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.appenheim.de
  9. ↑ Source to the house on the Engelberg. In: Philipp J. Madler: The monastery on Engelberg; historically, topographically described . Amorbach, 1843
personal data
SURNAME Closs, Anton Otto von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cloß, Anton Otto von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Electoral Palatinate general and ecclesiastical patron
DATE OF BIRTH around 1670
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Roermond, Holland
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1737
Place of death Ingelheim am Rhein