Christian Franz Dietrich von Fürstenberg

Christian Franz von Fürstenberg

Christian Franz Dietrich Imperial Baron von Fürstenberg (partly also Christian Franz Theodor ) (* February 5, 1689 at Fürstenberg Castle ; † August 24, 1755 at Herdringen Castle ) was canon before he returned to secular status and was a member of the Imperial Court Council and heir drost of various offices in the Duchy of Westphalia .

Early years

He was the fifth son of Ferdinand von Fürstenberg and Maria Theresia von Westphalen . The godfather was, among others, the future Prince-Bishop Franz Arnold von Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht . At the age of eleven, he began an external schooling in Cologne and then in Mainz . Most recently he attended the Jesuit grammar school in Cologne. He then studied law there until 1709. The father had intended him to be the prince of a second line of the von Fürstenberg family, but like most of the later sons he was given spiritual preambles . Since 1691 he had the right to a prebende in Halberstadt . In 1694, Prince-Bishop Hermann Werner von Wolff-Metternich resigned his cathedral priest in Hildesheim . In 1705 he took over the prebend in Münster from his brother Friedrich , but soon renounced it again. Due to the death of his brother Wilhelm Franz Adolf in 1707 he was appointed canon in Paderborn . The emancipation followed there in 1710. Due to the illness of his brother Ferdinand Anton in 1711 he came to a Domherrenstelle in Munster again.

Before he did his residency there, he completed the mandatory biennium at the Sorbonne in Paris , where he studied law and theology . He also practiced the skills of riding, dancing and playing the flute, which are important for aristocrats.

Back in Münster he was emancipated there at the end of 1712 and lived on the income of his various prebends in the following years. He switched back and forth between Münster and Paderborn, also visited his family in the Duchy of Westphalia and made several other trips. In addition, he devoted himself to history and theology and conducted Italian and Spanish language studies. Although his older brothers died and he became the heir to the family estate, he retained his position. Even after his father's death in 1718, he hesitated to do without it.

Offices and property in Westphalia

Only after Joseph Clemens von Bayern was elected Prince-Bishop in Münster did he give up his canon positions. Immediately after his father's death he was appointed to the electoral Westphalian council. He also took over the offices of Erbdrosten from Bilstein , Fredeburg and Waldenburg from him . He was also by inheritance court lord in Oberkirchen and Vogt of the monasteries Grafschaft and Ewig .

Instead, he took over the family property and looked around for secular offices that made it possible to live between town and country. With his brother Hugo Franz he agreed on the family inheritance. He waived a share on the condition that Christian Franz Dietrich would involve him in managing the property and promote his career in the spiritual service. Christian Franz Dietrich spent 10,000 guilders to get his brother a prelature in Münster and also supported him financially in the following decades. Financial agreements were also made with the mother, sisters and younger brothers to secure their lives or their education. At the beginning the family had five households. The mother got Schnellenberg Castle as a widow's residence . The households in Adolfsburg , Schloss Horst and Haus Ichterloh were dissolved.

The main seat was Herdringen Castle. The budget there was reduced in size and organized more strictly. Nevertheless, even after 25 years there were still 90 people, although Christian Franz Dietrich actually only thought 30 were necessary. In 1719 he acquired a castle loan in Salzkotten that was eligible for parliament . In 1733 he bought the Stirpe estate in the Erwitte parish and in 1744 the Schüngel castle in Neheim . He acquired the Schönholthausen estate and the Hachen and Reigern estates in 1749. However, it was not possible to acquire the Wicheln estate. The sovereign bought this.

Lime production for the production of fertilizer and later the cultivation of potatoes was introduced on his lands. He drew up a fourteen-page order for his tenants. In commercial terms, he operated hammer mills in Langenei and Oberkirchen and, since 1750, a steel hammer near Olpe . There were also mining activities in the southern Sauerland, but also in Ramsbeck and elsewhere. The charcoal required for the farms came from our own forests. The attempt to set up a blue paint mill near Oberkirchen failed. In Attendorn, from 1744, he had the hospital for the poor, which his father had planned, built below Schnellenberg Castle.

Foreign services

Although he would have preferred to serve at a Westphalian prince-bishop's court, out of loyalty to the Reich, he rejected Joseph Clemens von Bayern's pro-France policy. Instead, he traveled to Mainz in 1720. He took care of the family property there and got in touch with Elector Lothar Franz von Schönborn . He hoped that this would give him a post at the imperial court in Vienna and in 1721 also undertook a trip to the imperial city for several months. There he handed over a memorandum on the state of the empire, especially on the Lower Rhine, and on improving the emperor's interests there. A first inaugural visit to the Emperor Karl VI. he graduated in March and received the prospect of a position at the Reichshofrat in June 1721. In 1723 he also received the title of Imperial Chamberlain, which is rare for Westphalian aristocrats.

Back in Mainz he was appointed to the secret electoral council at the end of December 1721. In Bonn he took part in celebrations of the new Elector Clemens August of Bavaria . In 1722 he married Maria Anna von der Leyen in Koblenz . However, she died in 1723 after the birth of a daughter. As early as 1724 he married Maria Anna Theresia Agnes Luise von Hochsteden. She brought considerable possessions and a large dowry with his marriage. Clemens Lothar (1725–1791, Erbddrost) comes from this marriage. In 1726 he again traveled to Vienna with his family. His wife died there and was buried in St. Stephen's Cathedral. In December 1727 and January 1728 he performed his duties as chamberlain and in 1728 was appointed Reichshofrat with a seat on the Herrenbank. For a few weeks he took part in the meetings of the committee. He did not seek a permanent position, which was costly in the first ten years. He was also no longer interested in other offices, but remained loyal to the emperor. After traveling through Hungary, Silesia, Berlin, Saxony and Thuringia, he returned to Westphalia. For his decision to forego a career at court, a great attachment and a sense of duty to the Duchy of Westphalia also played a role.

While still in Vienna, he informed the family that he would be the third wife of the canoness from Nottuln Abbey , Maria Antonetta Josepha von Galen (daughter of Wilhelm Goswin Anton von Galen ). He married her in Dinklage in 1728 . The marriage resulted in five sons and four daughters. Among them were Maria Anna (1732–1788, Abbess in Fröndenberg ), Franz (1729–1810, Minister and Vicar General) and Franz Egon (1702–1761, Vicar General). The wife died of a miscarriage in 1739. Because of the large number of children he married the widowed Maria Theresia Felizitas von Schell (born von Nesselrode) in 1740. The marriage turned out to be less than harmonious.

Working in Westphalia

Although the Electorate of Cologne Minister Ferdinand von Plettenberg offered him close cooperation with the prospect of the position of Landdrosten, Christian Franz Dietrich kept his distance and saw the fall of Plettenberg with satisfaction. Then he received various electoral favors. In 1735 he was appointed the real secret councilor and commander of the Knightly Order of St. Michael . Fürstenberg made a number of suggestions to make the administration more effective and cheaper. He also criticized the elector's expensive buildings and high expenditures in the military sector.

Through his possessions he belonged to the state parliaments of the duchies of Münster and Paderborn and the duchy of Westphalia in Arnsberg . While he visited the former only irregularly, he often took part in those in Arnsberg. As a member of the knighthood, he was a member of the quarterly conventions that ran the day-to-day business between the general state parliament sessions. In the dispute over the position of the government in Arnsberg with the Hofrat in Bonn, von Fürstenberg spoke out in favor of a continued independent administration and a state parliament in the Duchy of Westphalia that was independent from the Rhineland. In his Patriotic Thoughts , written in 1735, he criticized the illegal attitude of a number of electoral advisors. He also criticized some of the high expenditures of the estates and the length of the diets. He was particularly critical of the head waiter Bernhard Adolf von Dücker, one of the main representatives of the Plettenberg party, not only because of his frequent stays in Bonn and Cologne for private business, but also because of a loan from the state estates for the Dückers wire factory in Rödinghausen. On the whole, he made few friends with his statements among the country's high officials.

He spent a considerable part of the year inspecting his possessions all the way to Gelderland for the Hochsteden legacy. There were also trips to Cologne and other cities. He also visited the courts in Koblenz, Paderborn and Münster as well as the seats of related noble families. He wrote down extensive instructions on his thoughts on education, property management and the like. Christian Franz Dietrich paid particular attention to the upbringing of children. The children were raised at home for as long as possible. Special emphasis was placed on religious upbringing, languages, mathematics, history and other subjects for the sons. The education program for the daughters was less extensive.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ to this in detail: Michael Jolk: manorial instructions for the Kötter of Christian Franz Theodor Reichsfreiherr von Fürstenberg. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 4/2004, pp. 165–178.
2. ^ Horst Conrad: Splendor familiae. Generational discipline and politics in the von Fürstenberg family. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 6/2006, p. 116.
3. ^ Horst Conrad: Splendor familiae. Generational discipline and politics in the von Fürstenberg family. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 6/2006, p. 113.

literature

• Helmut Richtering: Christian Franz Dietrich von Fürstenberg (1689-1755). In: Fürstenbergsche Geschichte Vol. 4, Münster 1979, pp. 27–53.