Casimir (Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg)

Casimir von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born January 31, 1687 in Berleburg ; † June 5, 1741 ibid) was the ruling Count of Wittgenstein-Berleburg . He was an important builder and had Berleburg Palace expanded in a baroque style. He also founded several hilltop villages in the area of ​​today's town of Winterberg . He was pietistic and a great supporter of the translation project of the Berleburger Bible . He was tolerant and offered refuge to persecuted religious people. As a result, the county became a center of radical pietistsand church separatists. But he himself remained loyal to the Reformed Church .

family

He came from the Berleburg line of the Sayn-Wittgenstein family . His father was Ludwig Franz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1660–1694). The mother was Hedwig Sophie zur Lippe-Bracke (1669-1738), a daughter of Count Casimir zu Lippe-Brake .

On February 18, 1711, he himself married Marie Charlotte zu Ysenburg and Büdingen (1687-1716). With this he had three children, including his successor Ludwig Ferdinand zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg . In his second marriage, on May 26, 1717, he married Countess Esther Maria Polyxena von Wurmbrand-Stuppach , daughter of the President of the Court Council Johann Joseph Wilhelm von Wurmbrand-Stuppach . With this he had five children, but only two of them reached adulthood.

Early years

His father had died in 1694, so that his mother initially held the reign in the name of Casimir. Her brother Rudolf zur Lippe-Brake was responsible for Casimir as guardian. The mother was strongly pietistic and had formed a Philadelphian cooperative in 1700. Berleburg became a haven for radical pietists. Their influence grew so strong that they ruled the evangelical community. The innovations - there were no more baptisms - led to resentment, so that Casimir's second godfather, Count Rudolf zur Lippe-Brake, put an end to the activities of the radicals by force in April 1700.

The mother provided careful training. Casimir attended the universities of Marburg and Gießen at an early age before his mother sent him to the University of Halle in 1705 so that he could not only study law and political science, among others with Samuel Stryk , but also theologians who were close to their views such as August Hermann Francke should hear. At first, however, Casimir preferred to occupy himself with amusement before a new pious court master was appointed for him. Then he went on a cavalier tour to England and the Netherlands. In England he was impressed by the Philadelphian faith with its tolerance and emphasis on charity, so that he now followed this religious model. He also traveled to Switzerland and France. Like himself, his first wife Marie Charlotte zu Ysenburg and Büdingen was a pietist. He was strongly influenced by mystics such as Johannes Tauler , Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon and the Pietists of his time. He translated the writings of the wife of Guyon himself.

Regency

Casimir took over the reign in 1712. His mother retired to an estate.

Religious politics

Lured by Casimir's policy of religious freedom, the county again became a refuge for religiously persecuted people from Germany and neighboring countries. Bible studies and meetings were held. In order to spread the Pietist ideas, he founded a printing company in 1714, which was initially connected to an orphanage . The company grew to such an extent that in 1717 he even had a paper mill built. The printing company was flourished by the Haug family of printers who had fled Strasbourg and came to Berleburg in 1720.

His second wife came from a Lutheran family and brought considerable wealth into the marriage. From 1724 Casimir kept a diary in which he gave an account of his sins in particular. He promoted the Berleburger Bible translation and commentary ( Berleburger Bible ) developed between 1724 and 1742 . The driving force was in particular the pastor Ludwig Christof Schefer . The main feature of the translation was that it was based as faithfully as possible on the original texts. Casimir contributed personally to the commentary insofar as his translations of the texts of the wife of Guyon were included. He brought the necessary employees, including Johann Christian Edelmann and scientific experts for the project such as Johann Conrad Dippel , to his court. The work by Johann Heinrich Haug was published in eight volumes . Casimir provided the start-up funding. He also succeeded in preventing possible censorship of the work at the national level. In 1730 Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf came to Berleburg and founded a Philadelphian assembly there in the form of the Moravian Movement . However, this group could only hold its own for a short time.

Although Berleburg increasingly became a rallying point for separatist and radical pietist groups, Casimir himself was not one of them, but remained connected to the Reformed Church. But without his tolerance, his area could not have become a refuge for radical pietists.

Secular rule

Berleburg Castle

Casimir took his regent duties seriously, worried about small problems in his county and tried to get in touch with the inhabitants. Given his Christian outlook, it is not surprising that in 1723 he passed moral laws against gambling and drinking. Apparently these didn't work, so he tightened the law against drinking in 1729 again. In 1731 he issued a "mandate in marriage and police matters in order to protect the subjects from all kinds of abuses and sins of the patriarchal". With a view to those who still had enough, he tried to alleviate the famine of 1740 by means of a regulation on thrift. On the border with the Electoral Cologne Duchy of Westphalia , he founded the Höhendörfer Mollseifen , Langewiese , Hoheleye and Neuastenberg in 1713 . In addition, he tried hard to maintain the good reputation of the Berleburger stud .

Despite his pietistic attitude, Casimir was an important builder. To compensate his two younger brothers, Carl Wilhelm (* April 4, 1693, † January 18, 1749) and Ludwig Franz (* December 13, 1694, † February 24, 1750), he had the Carlsburg and the Ludwigsburg built in Berleburg . He had hunting lodges built in the Casimirtal and Röspe . Both brothers established their own sidelines. Above all, he magnificently expanded the garden of Berleburg Palace and the residence itself in the 1730s. This is how the middle section was created in his time. In particular, the fortune of his second wife made his construction work possible. His preferences for hunting, music and display of splendor also show him as a baroque prince.

For the last sixteen years of his life he suffered from physical ailments, particularly gout.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Katja Lißmann: Gender in Pietism: Networks and Gender Constructions. Interdisciplinary center for Pietism research at Luther University Hall 26-29. October 2011

literature

• Paul Tschackert:  Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Casimir Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 629-631.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Winckel: Casimir, ruling Count zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and the religious-ecclesiastical life of his time. Bielefeld, 1850.
• Ulf Lückel:  Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Casimir Graf to. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 19, Bautz, Nordhausen 2001, ISBN 3-88309-089-1 , Sp. 1196-1202.
• Christoph Reimann: The diaries of Count Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1687–1741) as a self-testimony of a pietistic sovereign . Dissertation 2017, kassel university press GmbH, Kassel 2019, ISBN 978-3-7376-0622--6 (print), ISBN 978-3-7376-0623-3 (e-book).
• Ulf Lückel: nobility and piety. The Berleburg Counts and Pietism in their territories. Vorländer Verlag, Siegen 2016.

Web links

• Entry in nachlassdatenbank.de