Clemens August von Landsberg zu Erwitte

Clemens August von Landsberg zu Erwitte (* 1733; † June 12, 1785 in Velen ) from the noble family of the Lords of Landsberg was a public official in the Duchy of Westphalia and the Duchy of Münster . In addition, he was entrepreneurial on a large scale.

Family and education

Clemens August grew up as the son of Franz Kaspar Ferdinand von Landsberg zu Erwitte and his wife Anna Maria Theresia von der Recke together with his siblings Anna Adolphina (* 1751, ∞ Hermann von Spiegel zum Desenberg ), Johann Matthias (1734-1813, court chamber president) and Franz Karl (1735–1779, Canon) in the Westphalian noble family von Landsberg . Above all, the mother provided considerable impetus for commercial development. She had both a sawmill and a new steelworks built at Wocklum Castle . Landsberg studied from 1750 first in Paderborn and then from 1752 law in Mainz .

Public officials

From 1753, he was kurkölner Chamberlain and noble advice of the Duchy of Westphalia. In 1755, Landsberg was sworn to the knighthood of the Duchy of Westphalia. In the same year he was appointed heir drosten von Erwitte and in 1761 Drost von Balve . In 1756 Landsberg was sworn up to the knighthood of the Principality of Münster. He was also appointed to the real Secret Council. In the same year he married Anna Theresia von Velen (1735–1775), the heiress of the Velen estate.

From 1761 he was adjoint Drost of the Meppen office and from 1769 there regular Drost. From 1779 Landsberg was also hereditary officer to Erwitte and from 1784 also from Westernkotten .

After the death of his first wife, Landberg married Sophie Therese von Fürstenberg zu Herdringen (1757–1782) with papal dispensation.

Entrepreneurial action

Landsberg was interested in the coal and steel industry, influenced by his mother, but had not had any training in this area. In the marriage contract with Anna Theresa from 1756, the administration of the landsberg entails was initially left to the mother because of her “good economy and tireless diligence”. In 1758 Landsberg took over his father's property himself.

The new steel works only now seems to have gone into operation. Landsberg continued the development of the only "mining group of the then Westphalian-Mark economic area" that the mother had started. The research emphasizes his remarkable willingness to take risks in raising capital for the expansion of the smelter, the construction of hammer mills or the opening up of mines. Landsberg's goal was to create an independent "factory system" with Wocklum as its center. This should include all stages of production from ore mining to smelting and the manufacture of finished goods.

Compared to the bourgeois competition, Landsberg had the advantage of being exempt from taxes on property and being exempt from duties for the nobility in the Duchy of Westphalia. There were also good relationships with the electors, who not infrequently resided in the Landsberger Hof during their stay in Arnsberg . The economic interests extended in addition to the companies in the Hönnetal to salt pans in Sassendorf and Westernkotten and various iron and metal ore mines . Landsberg also acquired shares in the Sundwiger Hütte in the county of Mark in 1775, and in particular in the Helle and Dahle mines. In the march, however, noble privileges and relationships hardly played a role. The commitment in the county of Mark served to expand the raw material base and to be able to fully utilize the three hammer mills he built. His investment in Sundwig led to the revitalization of the metallurgical industry in County Mark, which had previously been almost completely paralyzed. In 1775 a scythe mill and a grinding mill were attached to the Stabhammer in Wocklum in order to be able to use the water power as much as possible. The plans to build numerous new hammer mills that went beyond this failed due to the lack of suitable hammer smiths, and the acquisition of an Osemund smithy was not possible due to the guild regulations in force in the county of Mark. It is noteworthy that Landsberg supported several mining attempts on hard coal in order to get a replacement for the not very productive mine near Hörde . A considerable part of the bar iron manufactured in the company was exported, with the family's headquarters in Erwitte serving as a transhipment point for business in eastern Westphalia. In addition to expanding the iron industry, Landsberg also tried to expand the family's forest holdings. He also suggested building a stocking factory, a glass factory, a brandy distillery, a yarn bleaching facility, a potash factory, a soap factory and a lime distillery. In addition, other sawmills, oil and grain mills were built.

literature

• Franz Lothar Hinz: The history of the Wocklumer Eisenhütte 1758–1864 as an example of Westphalian noble entrepreneurship . Altena 1977.

Web links

• Entry at lwl.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ the exact date is not known, he was baptized on August 8, 1733 in Drensteinfurt
2. ↑ Hinz p. 33
3. ↑ Hinz, 38