Better (noble family)

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Family coat of arms of the better of Thalfingen

Besserer , later Besserer von Thalfingen , is the name of an old Swabian noble family . The family, whose last branch in the male line became extinct at the beginning of the 21st century , was originally a city ​​noble family of the Free Imperial City of Ulm .

history

origin

According to a tradition of the family, who took over the Gothaische Genealogische Taschenbuch and Kneschke , the family was mentioned in a document as early as 1212 with Georg Besserer as lord of the Bußmannshausen castle . A goblet still appears in the local coat of arms of Bußmannshausen, which the better ones also had in their coat of arms. Accordingly, the better ones came to the Free Imperial City of Ulm with Georg's son Heinrich .

According to the Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility , the gender with Ulricus Bezzerarius was first mentioned in a document on July 21, 1264. Ulrich appears in the document as a witness to Bishop Hartmann von Dillingen from Augsburg . The uninterrupted line of the family begins with Hainricus dictus Besserer , who appears in a document from 1296 to 1309, also as Hainrich the Bezzerer . The mayor of Ulm Eitel Eberhard Besserer, who died in 1575, acquired Thalfingen near Ulm (today a district of Elchingen ) and called himself from the Besserer von Thalfingen.

Spread and lines

Walther and Werner Besserer appear in documents from the Salmannsweiler monastery in 1268 and 1293 . With Otto, the Besserer appointed the mayor of Ulm for the first time in 1358. He was followed by numerous other relatives in this office. So among others Heinrich Besserer 1361, who fell on April 5, 1372 as city ​​governor and Konrad Besserer in 1386, he fell in 1388 as city governor in the battle of Döffingen . Heinrich Besserer († around 1414) donated the Besserer Chapel in Ulm Minster . It was created by foreman Hans Kun until 1429. Wilhelm Besserer appears as Mayor of Ulm in 1476. Wilhelm († 1503) was captain of the Swabian Confederation from 1488 to 1500 .

Eitel Besserer zu Rohr (1450–1533), by Martin Schaffner , 1516
Vain Hans Besserer I. von Schnürpflingen around 1529, by Martin Schaffner, around 1530

During the 14th and 15th centuries, several lines to Ulm, Wattenweiler, Rohr, Memmingen , Ravensburg and Schnürpflingen were able to form, but they were extinguished again by the 17th century, except for the Ulm line. From 1529 to 1557 the family owned the iron works in the Brenz Valley . Because of the ownership or partial ownership of Schnaitheim , the Besserer belonged to the imperial knighthood in the knight canton Kocher of the Swabian knight circle in 1628/29 . In addition, members of the family were enrolled in the knight cantons of Danube and Hegau .

Bernhard Besserer von Rohr (1471–1542) was mayor when the Reformation was introduced in Ulm , which happened without unrest due to his deliberate policy. Bernhard was one of the signatories of the Speyer Protestation in 1529 and represented the city of Ulm at the Reichstag . He was called the oracle of the council by the reformer Johannes Oekolampad . His son Georg Besserer († 1582) signed the Augsburg Imperial and Religious Peace in 1555 as mayor of Ulm . Sebastian Besserer, a nephew of Bernhard, was probably one of the co-authors of a petition from 17 Ulm patrician families to Charles V. In it they asked the emperor to confirm their nobility. On October 29, 1552 in Diedenhofen , Emperor Karl V confirmed the knightly imperial nobility to the Ulm patrician family Besserer . As early as March 27, 1542 at Speyer , Georg Besserer received an improvement in the hereditary-Austrian coat of arms .

Eitel Eberhard Besserer († 1575) acquired Oberthalfingen (today part of Ulm ) with Gesundbrunnen, Burgstall , house, riding school and chapel in 1540 . His descendants called themselves Besserer von Thalfingen. The castle was rebuilt as early as 1540, the facilities of the bath were renewed and the spring was framed. His great-grandson Eitel Eberhard II. Besserer von Thalfingen († 1626) was the progenitor of the older and younger main line of the family. Eitel Eberhard married Katharina von Rehlingen and left two sons.

Older line

Marcus Philipp Besserer von Thalfingen (1594–1631), the older son of Eitel Eberhard and Katharina, was the founder of the older line. Numerous members of this line, who remained in Ulm, entered state services in royal Württemberg during the 19th century .

Marcus Philipp's grandson Christoph Heinrich and Ferdinand divided the older line into two branches, of which the first branch went out at the beginning of the 19th century. From the second branch came Philipp Jacob Besserer von Thalfingen, who died in 1802 as a retired governor of the city and rule of Geislingen . His son Benedict Besserer von Thalfingen (1779–1831) became a district forester in Söflingen . From two marriages he left behind 13 children, five sons and seven daughters.

In 1940, with the death of the royal Württemberg lieutenant colonel Konrad Besserer (* 1858), out of service, this branch and with it the older line in the male line also died out. The headquarters in Thalfingen remained in the family until the death of his unmarried daughter Martha (1891–1980).

Younger line

The younger line was donated by Marcus Conrad Besserer von Thalfingen (1598–1684), the younger brother of Marcus Philipp. From this line came the former mayor Marx Christoph Besserer von Thalfingen (* 1678), who died on February 11, 1738 after an assassination attempt by his colleague Albrecht Harsdörfer. After the end of the imperial city period, members of the younger line were mainly in royal Bavarian state and military services. The brothers Albrecht Philipp and Albrecht Conrad divided the younger line into an older and younger branch.

From the first branch of the younger line came Marcus Philipp Besserer von Thalfingen (* 1768), who died in 1807 as Oberamtmann zu Langenau and Vogt von Stubersheim . His marriage to Regina Veronica von Neubronn had three sons and a daughter. The eldest son Albrecht Besserer von Thalfingen (* 1786) became Royal Bavarian Major General and Adjutant General of King Ludwig I of Bavaria . From 1838 until his death in 1839 he was briefly Minister of War . In 1817 he and his descendants were raised to the status of Bavarian barons . In 1838 he and his brothers Marcus Christoph and Franz Daniel Besserer von Thalfingen received the Württemberg baron class.

The younger line died out in 2004 with the death of Albrecht Besserer von Thalfingen (* 1924). With him, the old Besserer family died out in the male line. Albrecht's daughter Amelie Besserer Freiin von Thalfingen (* 1959) married Heinrich IX in 1984 on Lake Chiemsee . Prince Reuss (* 1947), a son of Heinrich I Prince Reuss-Köstritz , with whom she had a daughter and a son.

Status surveys

Albrecht Besserer von Thalfingen (1787-1839), Royal Bavarian Major General and later Minister of War, was elevated to the status of Bavarian baron on May 5, 1817. His enrollment in the baron class of nobility in the Kingdom of Bavaria took place on June 24, 1817. He and his brothers Marcus Christoph, royal Württemberg chief forester , and Franz Daniel Besserer von Thalfingen, royal Württemberg major out of service , received the Württemberg baron on September 27, 1838 .

coat of arms

Epitaph with better coat of arms in the better chapel of the Ulm Minster
Death shield of Marx Philipp Besserer 1666

The family coat of arms shows a silver cup in black. On the helmet with black and silver helmet covers, two black-clad arms, with their hands holding the mug with three black ostrich feathers.

  • Tomb of the Besserer von Thalfingen family in the St. Lambertus Church in Bernstadt

  • Coats of arms variant in the coat of arms collection of Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt

  • Alliance coat of arms Besserer-Ehinger in the Bessererkapelle of the Ulm Minster

  • Coat of arms Marx Conrad Besserer 1645

Known family members

literature

Web links

Commons : Better  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c New General German Adels Lexicon Volume 1, pp. 383–385.
  2. ^ A b Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch Freiherrliche Häuser 1854, pp. 39–40.
  3. ↑ a b c d Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelslexikon Volume I, Volume 53 of the complete series, p. 367.
  4. ↑ a b c Besserer, Ulm patrician family. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. in New German Biography Volume 2, p. 183.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bsbndb.bsb.lrz-muenchen.de
  5. ↑ a b c d e family archive Besserer von Thalfingen files and official books ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2013 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. (PDF; 1.1 MB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.onlinekatalog-stadtarchiv.ulm.de
  6. ^ Gerhard Köbler : Historical Lexicon of the German Lands. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 7th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 , p. 65.
  7. ^ Reuss 6
  8. ^ The Peerage