Ballestrem (noble family)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of arms of the Counts of Ballestrem

Ballestrem is the German-based branch of the northern Italian family of the Count Ballestrero di Castellengo from Piedmont in northern Italy .

A family member who emigrated to Germany entered Prussian military service in 1742 as "Johann Baptist Graf von Ballestrem". Natural resources were found on the Majorat Plawniowitz in the Tost-Gleiwitz district, inherited in 1798 , which led to the establishment of one of the leading Upper Silesian mining companies from 1808. After the First World War he got into economic difficulties and was expropriated by Poland in 1945 without compensation.

Origins

The family, which, like many families of the Italian nobility, was active in trading, owned land in Monasterolo in the 14th century and in Savigliano since 1536 . At the end of the 17th century, Marco Francesco Ballestrero was enfeoffed with the county of Montalenghe . Through his wife, a Countess Frichignono, whose family was enfeoffed with the county of Castellengo (today in the municipality of Cossato ) from 1600 until it died out in 1883 , part of this county came into the possession of the family, making them Conte Ballestrero di Castellengo named.

Prussian-Silesian line

Bust of Giovanni Battista Angelo Ballestrero in Plawniowitzer Park

Giovanni Battista Angelo Ballestrero di Castellengo , son of Marco Francesco Conte Balestreri di Montalenghe , became an officer and entered Prussian military service in 1742 as " Johann Baptist Graf von Ballestrem ".

His eldest son Carl Franz von Ballestrem , royal Prussian major and heir to the Majorate Plawniowitz founded in 1751 in the district of Gleiwitz with Ruda and Biskupitz (today the district of Zabrze ) in the Upper Silesian district of Hindenburg OS , received OS on 6./8. November 1798 in Berlin the Silesian Incolate . This inheritance came to him because his father Johann Baptist had married into the family of the Barons von Stechow and Johann Baptist's father-in-law had died without male descendants.

Plawniowitz Castle , Upper Silesia

Carl Franz was inherited by his nephew Carl Wolfgang von Ballestrem (1801–1879), who, however, moved to Dresden due to the rampant typhus. The largely uninhabited Plawniowitz Castle threatened to become ruin after a devastating storm in 1869. Only his son Franz von Ballestrem (1834–1910) decided to return to Silesia. He had the dilapidated castle demolished and the current building rebuilt by the architect Konstantin Heidenreich from Koppitz using the high income that Ballestrem's mines had made in the meantime .

The Ballestrem Group, an Upper Silesian family company from 1798 to 1945

Beginnings

Already under the Baron von Stechow in 1751 hard coal mining had started near Ruda - initially close to the surface and without official approval. The presumption for pit Brandenburg took place only on 20 August 1780 at the urging of the Silesian mining authorities. A first award took place on November 1st of the same year. After the civil engineering work had been carried out under the direction of Baron von Stechow, the mine was further expanded and newly muted coal fields were added under Carl Franz von Ballestrem . Before the inheritance was taken over by the Ballestrem family, the industrial involvement was rather low and around 1800 only about 30 workers were employed in their own mines. This soon changed, however, because Carl Franz - inexperienced in economic matters - appointed Karl Godulla (1781–1848) as estate manager and managing director of the industrial company in 1808 . From 1822 Carl Franz's brother Carl Ludwig von Ballestrem took over the business. He had a second and a few years later a third zinc smelter built in Ruda Śląska and strengthened the coal mining industry.

Heyday

Even though Karl Godulla purposefully built up his own mining company and soon rose to become the leading Upper Silesian mining entrepreneur (he last owned 80 zinc mines, four zinc smelters and 48 coal mines, from which the Graeflich Schaffgotsch works were inherited in 1858 ), the Ballestrem's also came Mines and ore smelters flourished under his leadership and developed into one of the most important industrial groups in Silesia, at the same time as the businesses of Count Carl Lazarus Henckel von Donnersmarck and his son Guido . So between 1843 and 1845 eight coal fields were added in the south of Ruda and were developed through the Wolfganggrube , while other newly muted fields were leased to Carl Godulla and the open trading company A. Borsig (Berlin) . From 1855, further coal fields were muted in Rokittnitz / Rokitnica north of Zabrze and consolidated into the Castellegnogrube . Their stocks were fully developed from 1898, the mine was officially inaugurated in 1903. Due to its massive coal deposits, Castellengo became the most profitable mine of the Ballestrem group.

In parallel to the commitment to hard coal mining, the Carls-Zinkhütte was built in Ruda in 1812 with initially five double zinc furnaces and 10 years later expanded by 22 furnaces. A third mainstay was a chamotte factory and a brickworks in the south of Biskupitz (Carl Emanuel colony), since refractory clay had been found in this area.

Ballestrem's Palace in Wroclaw, ulica Włodkowica 4

The entry into iron smelting and the further processing of pig iron took place in 1871, when, among others, Carl Wolfgang von Ballestrem founded the company “Oberschlesische Eisenbahn -bedarfs-AG” (upper requirements; capital stock 7.5 million marks). This company consisted to a large extent of the Silesian metallurgical, forest and mining company "Minerva" (founded in 1855 by Andreas Maria von Renard ), which owned ironworks, forests and holdings in Beuthener hard coal mines. A large iron-producing company with the Friedenshütte (Huta Pokój), the hard coal mine Friedensgrube , the iron ore mine Tarnowitz 267, the Huldschinsky'schen works and the ironworks Zawadski soon became a major requirement.

After Carl Wolfgang's death in 1879, his eldest son, Count Franz von Ballestrem (1834–1910) took over the legacy, who was primarily active as a politician and had been a member of the German Reichstag as a member of the German Center Party since 1872 , and from 1890 chairman of the parliamentary group . In 1890 he was elected Vice President of the Reichstag (to 1893) and was from 1898 to 1906 president of the Reichstag . After his death in 1910, his son Count Valentin von Ballestrem (1860–1920) succeeded him as heir to the mining company, and this was followed by his eldest son Nikolaus Graf von Ballestrem (1900–1945).

The time after the First World War

The development of Ballestrem's companies was shaped by four decisive events in the first half of the 20th century: the division of Upper Silesia in 1921/22 into a Polish and a German part, the hyperinflation in the German Reich in 1923 , the global economic crisis from 1929 and the occupation of Poland by Germany from September 1, 1939 as the beginning of World War II.

Due to the division of Upper Silesia, all of the Ruda coal mines, i.e. H. the Brandenburg and Wolfgang mines in re-established Poland, while the Castellegno mine remained on German territory. In order to take this fact into account, the "Gräflich von Ballestremsche Güterdirektion" was founded in Gleiwitz / Gliwice in 1922, which administered the possessions that remained in Germany.

All Ballestrem coal holdings in Germany were also consolidated in 1927. The "Castellegno-Abwehr" union was founded, to which not only the Castellegnogrube belonged, but which also included the Abwehrgrube and Concordia mines , both owned by Donnersmarckschem.

In the area of ​​iron ore smelting and the processing of pig iron, there were numerous company mergers and restructuring of ownership. In 1922, Oberbedarf merged with the Linke-Hofmann-Lauchhammer group , which belonged to the industrial empire of Friedrich Flicks . This reduced Ballestrem's influence in this new company. However, since not only this, but also the "Upper Silesian Railway Industry" (Obereisen) was in great economic difficulties, both of them turned to the public authorities in August 1924 to demand aid. These were granted to them in the amount of RM 23 million each, but did not lead to any improvement in the economic situation. Since they were unable to repay their loans, a merger took place in 1926 under the name “Vereinigte Oberschlesische Hüttenwerke AG”, commonly known as “Oberhütten” for short. Ballestrem and Flick each held half of the shares in this group, based in Gliwice / Gliwice. The "Donnersmarckhütte - Oberschlesische Eisen- und Kohlenwerke Aktiengesellschaft" was deleted on June 1, 1927, after all of its assets had been transferred to Oberbedarf the year before. However, although a few years later Borsig AG also ceased its iron production in western Upper Silesia and thus "Oberhütten" was the only metallurgical company in this part of Germany, it remained dependent on debt relief and capital support from the German Reich, especially during the years of the Great Depression. As a result, the state's influence at "Oberhütten" rose sharply at first, "but from 1937 the company was again 97.5 percent owned by Ballestrem".

Coat of arms of Count Ballestrem on the palace in Wroclaw

The possession of the Ballestrem family on the Polish side of Upper Silesia consisted of the Brandenburg, Wolfgang-Walenty (now Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Walenty-Wawel ) mines and the parts of Oberbedarf in eastern Upper Silesia, namely the Peace Pit (now Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Pokój ), the Peace hut (now Huta Pokój) and several iron ore mines. In 1928 the Baildon steelworks and the Eminenz mine (now Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Gottwald ) were added. These new acquisitions as well as numerous investments lead to a complete over-indebtedness of this branch of the company. That is why Nikolaus von Ballestrem founded the Rudzkie Gwarectwo Węglowe (Rudaer Steinkohlengewerkschaft), in which the mines Wawel-Walenty (Brandenburg, Wolfgang-Walenty and Count Franz), Pokój and Gottwald (initially only leased) were combined. This union had a capital of 16 million Polish zlotys and was 35% owned by the Ballestrems and 15% by the Oberbedarf concern. In 1934 the Polish state had the Gospodarstwa Krajowego bank acquire 52% of the shares.

The time of the Second World War

During the occupation of Poland by Germany, some of the transactions previously carried out were reversed. Ballestrem got his share in Huta Pokój back and in 1941 there was a merger with "Oberhütten", the possessions in western Upper Silesia. Two years later, three more mines, Artur , Krystina and Zbyszek in the Siersza area were acquired for 6.4 million Reichsmarks and administered by the "Sierszanskie Gwarectwo Węglowe" (Siersza coal union) based in Gleiwitz / Gliwice.

Nikolaus Graf Ballestrem, a staunch central politician and opponent of Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, had to leave Plawniowitz in early 1945 to flee from the advancing Red Army . A month later he died during the air raid on Dresden .

Upper Silesia was placed entirely under Polish administration in 1945. Due to the Bierut decrees , all movable and immovable property was confiscated from persons of German nationality in favor of the Polish state.

people

Count Franz von Ballestrem (1834–1910), coal and steel industrialist and from 1898 to 1906 President of the Reichstag

coat of arms

Coat of arms of the Counts of Ballestrem

The family coat of arms shows a satyr with a slung quiver with arrows in a shield divided by gold and blue, holding an arrow in his right hand and a bow in his left. On the helmet with red and gold blankets, an arm clad in blue and red, holding an arrow in one hand. ( Balestriere means crossbowman in Italian .)

The increased coat of arms from 1798 is quartered and covered with a golden heart shield, in it a man dressed in black with a red quiver with arrows hanging around his neck, in his right hand an upturned red, silver feathered arrow with an iron tip, in his left a red bow. 1 and 4 in silver a gold crowned right-turned black eagle, 2 and 3 in red a silver three-towered fort . On the helmet with its red and gold covers, a black dove pierced by a silver feathered red arrow with a steel tip placed upwards on the left.

Motto : Nulla me terrent ( Nothing can scare me )

See also

literature

  • Yearbook for the Upper Mining District Wroclaw. Phönix-Verlag, Kattowitz / Breslau / Berlin 1913. (Digitized version at http://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication?id=3349&tab=3 last accessed on May 5, 2015)
  • Genealogical manual of the nobility , Adelslexikon. Volume I, Volume 53 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1972, p. 197. ISSN  0435-2408
  • Jerzy Jaros: Słownik historyczny kopalń węgla na ziemiach polskich. Śląski Instytut Naukowy, Katowice 1984.
  • Kim Christian Priemel: Flick - A corporate history from the German Empire to the Federal Republic. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8353-0219-8 .
  • Werner Röhr: On the role of heavy industry in annexed Polish Upper Silesia for the war economy in Germany from 1939 to 1949. In: Yearbook for economic history. Volume 4, University of Cologne 1991.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelslexikon. Volume I, Volume 53 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1972, ISSN  0435-2408
  2. ↑ see http://ballestrem.de/Brandenburg-Grube.html (accessed on January 14, 2016)
  3. ↑ see http://ballestrem.de/Allgemeines.html (accessed on January 14, 2016)
  4. ↑ see http://ballestrem.de/Carl-Godulla.html (accessed on January 14, 2016)
  5. ↑ The presentation of these beginnings is based on information from the yearbook of the Oberbergamtsbezirks 1913, p. 174 ff.
  6. ↑ Priemel. Flick , p. 150 f.
  7. ↑ Priemel. Flick , p. 152.
  8. ↑ see http://ballestrem.de/Vereinigte-Oberschlesische.html (accessed on January 17, 2016)
  9. ↑ see The history of the Donnersmarckhütte ( memento from January 29, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
  10. ↑ quoted from http://ballestrem.de/Vereinigte-Oberschlesische.html
  11. ^ Jaros: Słownik historyczny . Article “Ballestrem”, p. 147 f.
  12. ^ Jaros: Słownik historyczny. Article “Ballestrem”, p. 148.
  13. ^ Röhr: Heavy Industry , p. 25.
  14. ↑ On the death of Count Valentin von Ballestrem from Upper Silesia