Castolus Reichlin from Meldegg

Portrait of Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg from 1793/94 ascribed to Johann Michael Koneberg

Grave of Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg in the crypt of St. Lorenz

Castolus (Kastolus) Reichlin von Meldegg , also Reichlin von Meldegg-Amtzell (born September 26, 1743 in Unterthingau ; † May 28, 1804 in Kempten ), born as Johann Marquard Reichlin von Meldegg, was im from 1793 until the prince's Benedictine monastery was dissolved the course of the secularization in 1803, the last abbot of Prince pen Kempten .

Origin and life

Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg came from the Württemberg branch of the noble family of Barons Reichlin von Meldegg, who were originally ministerials of the St. Gallen monastery . He was a son of Johann Maria Carl Josef Reichlin von Meldegg and his wife Anna Franziska Maria von Sankt Vincenz. His father was a privy councilor from Kempter , royal Kemptischer Hofmarschall , councilor and curator of Unterthingau, acquired the manor Amtzell in 1748 and was in the entourage of Prince Abbot Anselm Reichlin von Meldegg when he traveled to Frankfurt in 1742 for the coronation of Empress Maria Amalia .

Castolus made his profession on May 17, 1761 in the Benedictine monastery of Kempten , was initially the monastery capital of Kempten, from 1775 vice dean, from January 1786 dean , one year later president of the chamber, 1791 provost of Lautrach and from 1794 until the abolition of the monastery in 1803, the last prince abbot of the Princely Monastery of Kempten. One year after the fall of his territory, Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg died of serious illness on May 28, 1804 at the age of 61 and was buried with his predecessors in the crypt of the collegiate church of St. Lorenz in Kempten.

Act

Before the Kempten prince monastery was dissolved

After Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg had succeeded in the first year of his reign as prince abbot in maintaining the agreement with the prince-abbot-Kemptic landscape for a short time, his refusal to use the rights of the landscape as a basis for negotiation under Rupert von Neuenstein in the so-called "Interim Declaration" to acknowledge, to confrontations with the landscape and thus to thwart inner peace. In the course of the First Coalition War (1792 to 1797), the billeting and passage of French troops, which was associated with high financial costs, as well as the immense maintenance costs for the Imperial Army gave further cause for social discontent among the foundation's subjects and for unrest. When the contingent of the Kempten landscape was to be increased to a further 200 men, but they refused to provide troops, the revolutionary potential was now so high that Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg was forced to flee for security reasons. He fled to Reutte in the summer of 1796 and did not return to Kempten until October 17, 1796.

After his return, Reichlin von Meldegg first tried to continue negotiations with the landscape. However, these were interrupted by the Second Coalition War (1798 to 1801). When the French troops moved back into Kempten on May 12, 1800, and plundered the monastery and the princely residence , Reichlin von Meldegg fled again; but this time to Salzburg . He did not return to Kempten until February 1801, after the Treaty of Lunéville had been concluded .

After the dissolution of the Princely Monastery of Kempten

The Peace of Lunéville meant the end of independence for both the Free Imperial City and the Princely Monastery of Kempten. On September 2, 1802, Bavarian troops marched into Kempten and occupied the territory of the Prince-Abbey of Kempten. Two months later, in November 1802, the prince monastery took civil possession and with it the nationalization of the abbey property. With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , which came into force in April 1803, the city and the monastery fell to Bavaria for good, losing their previous statehood .

In the course of secularization, Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg lost all of his sovereign rights. As a severance payment, he demanded an annual pension of 20,000 guilders from the Bavarian government, lifelong right of residence in the entire upper, south-facing floor of the residence, a horse and car park, as well as Grönenbach Castle as a summer residence and the hunts at Grönenbach and Theinselberg . In view of the poor financial situation of the monastery, the Bavarian government only wanted to pay the former abbot an annual pension of 10,000 guilders, but in September 1803 finally gave in to his demands for lengthy negotiations.

But just eight months later, Castolus Reichlin von Meldegg, who found it difficult to come to terms with the loss of his office, died after a serious illness and thus relieved the Bavarian government of the obligation to make further pension payments.

literature

• New genealogical Reichs- und Staats-Handbuch for the year 1796, p.165

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hermann Freiherr von Reichlin-Meldegg: History of the family Reichlin von Meldegg . Verlag Friedrich Pustet , Regensburg 1881, p. 142.
2. ↑ Eduard Zimmermann, Friedrich Zollhoefer (ed.): Kempter coat of arms and symbols encompassing the city and district of Kempten with the adjacent areas of the Upper Allgäu. In: Alfred Weitnauer (Ed.): Old Allgäuer sexes. XXXVIII. Allgäu homeland books. Vol. 60, Verlag für Heimatpflege, Kempten 1963, p. 253.
3. ↑ Markus Naumann: Andacht und Agape - On the religious, cultural and social-historical as well as church-political importance of early modern brotherhoods in the prince monastery of Kempten, especially in the parish of St. Lorenz, up to the middle of the 19th century . In: Birgit Kata u. a. (Ed.): "More than 1000 years ...". The Kempten Monastery between founding and relinquishing 752 to 1802 ( Allgäu research on archeology and history ; 1), Likias Verlag, Friedberg 2006, ISBN 3-9807628-6-6 , pp. 301–390, here p. 349 (note 181 ).
4. ^ Franz-Rasso Böck : Kempten in transition. Studies on the transition phase from imperial abbey and imperial city to Bavarian country town with special consideration of continuity and change in constitution and administration 1799 - 1818 ( materials on the history of Bavarian Swabia ; issue 12), AV-Verlag, Augsburg 1989 (also diss. University of Augsburg 1988 ), ISBN 3-925274-22-7 , p. 136.
5. ↑ Maximilian Walter: The Princely Monastery of Kempten in the Age of Mercantilism. Economic policy and real development (1648-1802 / 03) ( contributions to economic and social history, vol. 68). Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-515-06812-0 , p. 75.
6. ^ Wolfgang Petz: Twice Kempten. History of a twin city (1694-1836) ( Writings of the Philosophical Faculties of the University of Augsburg. Historical-Social Science Series No. 54). Ernst Vögel Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89650-027-9 , pp. 450–453.
7. ^ Wilhelm Liebhart: War and Peace. From the mid-16th century to 1803 . In: Volker Dotter Weich u. a. (Ed.): Geschichte der Stadt Kempten , Verlag Tobias Dannheimer , Kempten 1989, ISBN 3-88881-011-6 , pp. 244–256, here p. 253.
8. ^ Franz-Rasso Böck : Kempten in transition. Studies on the transition phase from imperial abbey and imperial city to Bavarian country town with special consideration of continuity and change in constitution and administration 1799 - 1818 ( materials on the history of Bavarian Swabia ; issue 12), AV-Verlag, Augsburg 1989 (also diss. University of Augsburg 1988 ), ISBN 3-925274-22-7 , pp. 131-136.

predecessor	Office	successor
Rupert von Neuenstein	Prince Abbot of Kempten 1793 - 1803	---