Christoph Martin von Degenfeld

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Christoph Martin von Degenfeld
Epitaph for Christoph Martin von Degenfeld in the Church of St. Cyriakus in Dürnau

Christoph Martin Freiherr von Degenfeld (* 1599 in Eybach ; † October 13, 1653 in Dürnau ) was an important general in the Thirty Years' War and in the 6th Venetian Turkish War .

Life

Christoph Martin von Degenfeld was born in Hohen-Eybach in 1599 as the fourth son of Konrad von Degenfeld († 1600) and Margarethe, b. von Züllnhart († 1608) born. The father was stabbed to death by the Schorndorfer Obervogt in October 1600 when Christoph Martin was not yet a year old. The grandfather Christoph von Degenfeld died in 1604 and his mother in 1608. Christoph Martin and the two older brothers who were still alive after his mother's death received a proper education from their mother's brother, Niklas von Züllnhart zu Dürnau , and training at various universities Travel: In 1613 he was in Strasbourg , 1614 in Jena , 1615 in Gießen , 1616 in Tübingen and 1617 in Geneva . From there he traveled to France, Holland and England.

After the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 he returned home and in 1619 served in the personal company on horseback of Margrave Karl zu Baden-Durlach. In 1621 he entered the imperial army service with his brother Christoph Wolfgang. In 1624 he was a company commander, after which he was Rittmeister of a cuirassier regiment and fought under Wallenstein in Hungary against Prince Gabor. Later he fought as Rittmeister under Tilly's orders against Count Ernst von Mansfeld , distinguished himself in the battles at Wimpfen and Höchst , whereupon he was awarded the title of Oberstwachtmeister title and he had to bring the news of victory to the imperial court in Vienna, where he, his brother Christoph Wolfgang and her cousin Christoph Jacob in 1625 by Ferdinand II. A. a. was allowed to use the age-old predicate " Freiherr ", which the family had lost a long time ago.

As a result, the baron served under Ambrosio Spinola in the Netherlands and was involved in the unsuccessful siege of Bergen. After returning to Tilly's army, he fought in the campaign against King Christian IV of Denmark in August 1626 at the Battle of Lutter.

The eldest brother, Christoph Wilhelm, died in 1624, the other brother Christoph Wolfgang was killed in the Battle of Mantua in 1631. As a result, Christoph Martin inherited his father's property, even though he was the youngest of the brothers. He also inherited the lords of Dürnau and Gammelshausen from his uncle Niklas von Züllnhart, who died in 1623 .

Although the Counts of Degenfeld and Christoph Martin's great-grandfather Martin von Degenfeld had converted to the Reformation before the mid-16th century , the three brothers were brought up Catholic from 1608 under the care of Niklas von Züllnhart. Christoph Martin's wife, Anna Maria von Adelmann, whom he married in 1629, also came from a Catholic family. In 1632 Christoph Martin entered the service of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden and thus converted back to Protestantism. Degenfeld set up two cavalry regiments for the Swedish king , whose colonel he became and with whom he took part in the battles near Nuremberg and Lützen . In 1633 he and his two regiments were involved in the army of Field Marshal Gustaf Graf Horn in the siege of Villingen and in the advance on Tuttlingen . For his military successes he received some of the areas conquered by the Swedes: Krapfenberg , Straßberg and Lautlingen as well as the spiritual areas of the city of Gmünd and the Premonstratensian monastery Schussenried .

The consequences of the Nördlinger Battle immediately reversed all conditions - at least in southern Germany: all of Swabia was taken by the imperial and like so many others, Degenfeld's estates were lost, both the fragmented new acquisitions and the inherited estates. The castles Hohen-Eybach and Dürnau were burned down by the imperial troops, the Degenfeld family archive burned in Schorndorf.

The baron resigned from the Swedish service and in the autumn of 1634 fled with his family to Strasbourg , where he was offered to enter French service. With a contract dated December 5, 1634, he committed himself to the formation of two cavalry regiments, in which many of his former German riders joined. In 1635 he received the position of "colonel général de la cavallerie étrangère" (supreme general of the foreign cavalry in the French army) and thus command of 16 regiments, with which he distinguished himself on several occasions, u. a. in battle at Tavon.

Intrigue and temptation caused him to leave the French service in 1642. He strove to regain possession of his lost hereditary property through imperial grace and conducted corresponding successful negotiations from Geneva , where he was also offered to enter the service of the Republic of Venice . Degenfeld committed himself to seven years of service and arrived in Venice on December 14, 1642. In the war waged by Venice for the Duke of Parma against Pope Urban VIII, he was appointed General of the Cavalry of the Republic. The campaign ended without any significant battles in 1645. After that, in the war against the Turks that soon broke out, he was appointed Governor General of Dalmatia and Albania . He landed in Zara in August 1645, accompanied by his eldest son Ferdinand . Despite the scarce armed forces that the suspicious republic granted its commanding generals, Degenfeld managed through skill and personal leadership in the years 1645 and 1646 to achieve decisive successes over the Turks and to save all of Dalmatia. He held the city of Sebenico against overwhelming odds and then pushed the Turks back from Albania in a loss-making war.

Venice showered the victorious general with honors. A medal was minted on the occasion of the rescue of Dalmatia and presented to Degenfeld on a 3½ pound gold chain. He was celebrated in the streets of Dalmatia with the cry "Viva il barone" . In 1648 he returned to Venice and the next year, when his seven-year contract came to an end, he said goodbye, which he received with numerous honors. His health had started to suffer from the many hardships and the unfamiliar climate and Degenfeld was often plagued by attacks of gout.

His estates in Swabia, which were neglected and half destroyed, required his presence. After his arrival in Eybach, he set about repairing goods and buildings. He lived in Göppingen until the castle in Dürnau was restored . The Republic of Venice tried several times to win Degenfeld again for their services, but his health did not allow him. So he could only recruit a 2,000-strong troop for the republic, which went to Venice in autumn 1651 without him. His wife died on August 26, 1651. In 1652 he was in Regensburg before the election of the Roman-German King Ferdinand IV , who was interested in Degenfeld's warfare in Dalmatia.

Christoph Martin von Degenfeld died on October 13, 1653. His epitaph is in the Church of St. Cyriakus in Dürnau and praises him as "Germany's ornament, France's brave warrior, the high price of Welschland, the Turks value winner".

progeny

Degenfeld was married to Anna Maria Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden , with whom he had ten children:

  • Ferdinand (1629–1710) the eldest son, went to Dalmatia with his father at the age of sixteen and was blind there from a gunshot wound. He returned to the court of Elector Karl Ludwig von der Pfalz and received high positions of honor despite his blindness . He died in Venice in 1710.
  • Marie Luise (1634–1677, born on the run in Strasbourg) married the Elector and received the title of Raugräfin .
  • Maximilian (1645–1697), electoral Palatinate privy councilor, died as the only one - 1697 - a natural death and became the lineage holder of the family
⚭ Amalie von Landas (1647–1683)
⚭ 1686 Margarete Helena von Canstein (1665–1746)
  • Gustav (* December 12, 1633; † 1659) fell as a Swedish colonel in the assault on Copenhagen in 1659
  • Adolf (born January 20, 1640; † 1648) was in the Venetian service and succumbed to a wound in Candia
  • After the death of his brother Adolf, Christoph (* October 8, 1641; † 1685) received his regiment on Candia and several wounds, which allowed him to return home, but which resulted in his death shortly afterwards ⚭ Juliane Susanne von Neideck ( Neidegg)
  • Hannibal (1648–1691), the youngest son, also became a soldier and was in Venetian service as captain general against the Turks ⚭ Anna Marie von Gersdorf
  • Isabella Sophie (born March 31, 1631)
⚭ Ferdinand Albrecht von Liebenstein
⚭ Georg Wilhelm von Brunn (also: von Bunnen im Herrenkopf and Haselberg)
  • Charlotte Christina (born September 2, 1636) ⚭ Franz von Welden
  • Anna Katharina (February 9, 1638; † 1712) ⚭ Christoph Albrecht von Wollmershausen (1649–1708)

see also: Counts of Degenfeld

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Degenfeld, Christoph Martin von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Degenfeld, Christoph Martin Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION General in the Thirty Years War and in the Turkish War
DATE OF BIRTH 1599
PLACE OF BIRTH Eybach
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 1653
Place of death Dürnau (District of Göppingen)