Christoph von Dohna (1583–1637)

Burgrave Christoph von Dohna (born June 27, 1583 in Mohrungen , † July 1, 1637 in Orange ) was a German politician and scholar at the time of the Thirty Years' War .

Life

origin

He came from the Prussian branch of the noble family of the Burgraves of Dohna . His parents were Herr von Dohna, Car bindings and Lauck, Achatius von Dohna (* May 17, 1533 - October 18, 1601) and his wife Barbara von Wernsdorf (* 1547 - October 21, 1607).

Career

After the first brief instruction from private tutors , Dohna began a somewhat unsteady life at various universities at home and abroad: Rostock (1597), Altdorf (1598), Heidelberg (1599), Siena (1601), Perugia (1602), Geneva (1604) and finally again Heidelberg (1606).

This year, Christoph von Dohna accompanied Prince Christian I of Anhalt-Bernburg to Paris for the first time . In later years he was repeatedly entrusted with diplomatic missions by Prince Christian I.

Christoph von Dohna was accepted into the Fruit Bringing Society in 1619 by Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen . This gave him the company name of the healer and the motto of nature and forces . As an emblem he was given "the dictam with its flowers", ie the diptam dost ( Origanum dictamnus L.).

On the recommendation of Christian I of Anhalt, Christoph von Dohna was promoted to council of Elector Friedrich V of the Palatinate , who later became the "Winter King". Under his aegis, Dohna reached the high point of his career in 1620, when he was appointed Chief Chamberlain, and as such married Countess Ursula zu Solms-Braunfels (1594-1657) on March 23, 1620 . She was the sister of Amalie zu Solms-Braunfels , who, as court lady of the "Winter Queen" who had gone into exile in Holland , met Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Orange , governor of the Netherlands, and married in 1625 . Another sister, Louise Christina von Solms-Braunfels (1606–1669), later married the influential Dutch army chief Johann Wolfart van Brederode .

After the disastrous development of the Winter King's policy, Christoph von Dohna evacuated the electoral family to Küstrin (now Kostrzyn). Some time later he brought her to Spandau near Berlin and helped the princess to receive the allowance she was entitled to .

Carhaben Castle around 1860, Alexander Duncker collection

In the years between 1624 and 1626 Christoph von Dohna stayed as a privateer at home in Carrecken . In the Swedish-Polish war expelled from there, he went on Emden to Delft . His brother-in-law, Friedrich Heinrich von Oranien installed him in October 1630 as governor of the Principality of Orange .

Until his death on July 1, 1637, he held this office to the satisfaction of all. The local college, which he repeatedly supported financially, enjoyed special support.

In addition to translations of scientific works, Christoph von Dohna left behind several of his own poems in German, Italian and Latin .

family

He married Countess Ursula zu Solms-Braunfels on March 23, 1620 (* November 24, 1594; † August 28, 1657). The couple had several children:

• Friedrich, "the Younger" (* February 4, 1621; † March 27, 1688), Seigneur de Coppet, from 1648 am 1660 governor Orange ⚭ 1656 Espérance du Puy de Montbrun-Ferrassiéres (* 1638; † July 12, 1690)
• Christian Albrecht (December 10, 1621 - December 14, 1677), Kurbrandenburg General ⚭ 1644 Sophie Theodore von Brederode (March 16, 1620 - September 23, 1678)
• Heinrich, (born January 3, 1624 - † June 1643), killed in action near Nottingham
• Christoph Delphicus (June 4, 1628; † May 21, 1668) ⚭ 1658 Countess Anna Oxenstierna (* May 4, 1620; † August 10, 1690)
• Elisabeth Charlotte (February 14, 1625; † March 18, 1691) ⚭ 1643 Count Otto von Limburg-Styrum (* 1620; † August 27, 1679)
• Henriette Amalie (February 26, 1626 - February 23, 1655) ⚭ 1649 Count Fabian (III.) Zu Dohna (August 10, 1617 - November 22, 1668), statesman of Brandenburg
• Catharina (March 19, 1627 - March 28, 1697)
• Louise (July 27, 1633; † March 23, 1690) ⚭ 1662 Count Florence Otto Heinrich von Bylandt-Rheidt (* 1638; † March 3, 1701)
• Fabian Christoph (1622-1624)
• Wilhelm Belgicus (1630-1632)
• Sophie (* 1631)
• Theodor Auriacus (1632–1642)

Translations

• Petrus Ramus : Julius Caesar, From Warfare. Amberg: Schönfeldt, 1614 <from d. Latin. trans. by Christoph von Dohna>
• Abraham Scultetus : De curriculu vitae sue narratio apologetica. Emden: Petreus, 1628 <from d. Latin. trans. by Christoph von Dohna>

literature

• Walter Nissen :  Dohna, Christoph Burggraf von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 47 f. ( Digitized version ).