Damian Hugo from Virmont

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Damian Hugo von Virmond, 1719

Damian Hugo Franz Adrian Anton von Viermund zu Neersen (from 1706 from Virmont ) (born August 24, 1666 in Herten ; † April 21, 1722 in Sibiu ) was a baron, from 1706 count, from Neersen and a member of the Lower Rhine noble family Virmond-Neersen (1502-1744). He was an imperial general and diplomat and rose to the rank of imperial count through special services in the Turkish wars .

youth

Damian Hugo von Viermund was born as the second son of Baron zu Neersen, Adrian Wilhelm von Viermund , and his second wife in Herten Castle . His father's successor was his older half-brother, Ambrosius Adrian . Damian Hugo was destined to become a clergyman from childhood and was trained accordingly. His maternal uncle, Baron Arnold Christian von der Horst , had already in 1675 a cathedral prebend in Speyer donated his favor. But Damian Hugo soon followed the image of his father and grandfather.

Military career

In 1696 he entered the imperial service as a colonel in a regiment that Duke Johann Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg equipped for Emperor Leopold I at his expense . The regiment was recruited in Franconia and gathered in Donauwörth to be accepted into imperial service on June 3, 1696. Colonel owner of the regiment was the German Master and Count Palatine Franz Ludwig , Duke in Bavaria , after whom it was named the “German Master Regiment”, later the “ Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment“ Hoch- und Deutschmeister ”No. 4 ”.

Damian Hugo took part in the Great Turkish War with his regiment and operated most of the time in Transylvania . He went through all the military levels up to military officer . On September 6, 1697 on the Szireger Heide and five days later in the Battle of Zenta , the regiment distinguished itself so well that the Emperor, on the report of Prince Eugene, issued a letter of thanks and appreciation to Damian Hugo. On September 29, 1906, a memorial was erected to the regiment in Vienna , which shows Damian Hugo in relief how he leads his regiment for the “baptism of fire at Zenta”.

Elevation to Count

For his valiant services he was elevated to the rank of imperial count by the emperor on September 8, 1706 , an honor that was already intended for his father, Adrian Wilhelm. Due to a misprint in the Siebmacher'schen coat of arms, Damian Hugo von Viermund's coat of arms was extended by adding coats of arms from the coat of arms of the extinct Counts of Pyrmont-Gleichen . His family name was also changed to the French "von Virmont" following the fashionable taste of the time. With him, his nephew, Ambrosius Franz Freiherr von Viermund-Neersen, was raised to the rank of count, making Neersen the center of an imperial county.

Diplomatic career

Damian Hugo later entered the diplomatic career. He was the imperial governor in Mantua . In 1715 he was an envoy at the court of the Swedish king in Stralsund and in 1716 at the court of the Prussian king in Berlin , where he negotiated with favorable success the keeping of Russian troops away from the Great Northern War .

From there he was hurriedly ordered to Poland in August 1716 , because Hungary was concerned about the Hungarian insurgents gathering in the Polish border towns ( uprising of Franz II Rákóczi ).

On November 21, 1717, he received the homage from the imperial city of Aachen and made a brilliant entry. This was the last homage which was received by a special imperial envoy. Damian Hugo, like his nephew, Ambrosius Franz, appeared everywhere with great brilliance as a representative of the emperor. With pompous entrances and entrances, they brought the emperor's declining power and prestige back to life.

Peace of Passarowitz

After Prince Eugen's brilliant victories in the Venetian-Austrian Turkish War , after the conquest of the fortresses of Temesvár and Belgrade , which were considered impregnable , the Ottoman government asked for peace. Prince Eugene did not want to lead the peace negotiations himself, but only wanted to be nearby in order to give the negotiations the necessary emphasis if necessary. At the end of 1717, Damian Hugo was appointed by him as one of three imperial representatives to lead the negotiations.

After Damian Hugo had spent the winter of 1717/1718 in Düsseldorf , he traveled down the Danube from Vienna with numerous entourage and 19 ships . He arrived in Passarowitz on May 7th via Buda (April 27th) and Belgrade (May 4th) . There, on the hill near the village of Clodit on the right bank of the Morava, in a tent pavilion brought by Damian Hugo, the peace negotiations finally took place. Due to insufficient authorization from the Turkish negotiators, negotiations did not begin until June 5, 1718, and progress was slow. Prince Eugene arrived in the region shortly afterwards and supported the speedy progress of the peace negotiations “with the threat of military demonstrations”.

On July 21st, the peace treaty known as the Passarowitz Peace was signed . Accordingly, the emperor received the Banat of Temesvár, little Wallachia , large parts of Serbia and part of Bosnia. The Ottomans had to release all Christian slaves for ransom and give up their support for the Hungarian insurgents. In addition, a trade agreement was concluded that granted all imperial subjects freedom of trade throughout the Ottoman Empire up to the Persian border and their protection by imperial consuls .

Grand Ambassador to Constantinople

At the time it was customary for each part to send an ambassador to each other's court to carry out the peace. The Emperor Damian sent Hugo as a grand ambassador to the High Porte in Constantinople . With a large, 400-strong retinue, he set out on May 17, 1719 with 72 ships in Vienna. On the way he was received by the nobility and the neighboring cities as if on a triumphal procession.

Behind Belgrade, he met the Turkish ambassador on the border , who also moved to Vienna with a large retinue of 762 people, 645 horses, 100 mules and 180 camels. Damian Hugo was taken over by a Janissary escort of 200 men on Turkish territory and moved on by land. At night he kept his men in camp outside the cities so as not to expose himself to the danger of an epidemic or attack on the still agitated population. In the cities that he passed on the way, he was honored and received by the local commander. On July 31st he arrived at the gates of Constantinople.

On August 3, Count Damian Hugo made a brilliant entry into the capital in front of Taut Pascha with flying imperial flags, kettledrums and trumpets. No other ambassador had ever been allowed to do this. Even the Sultan, Ahmed III. , watched the entry of the victorious Germans. On August 8, Damian Hugo had an audience with the Sultan.

As a result of illness and death, he was assigned to Pera apartments, where he stayed for six months and 27 days. A planned attack by the Janissaries against the Germans was discovered just in time and forty ringleaders were executed .

The Turkish court was responsible for the maintenance of the count and all of his staff. Including natural deliveries, the total cost of his stay probably amounted to 200,000 thalers.

During his stay, Damian Hugo achieved the following diplomatic successes: He obtained the removal of the Hungarian insurgents from the border and the banishment of their leader, Prince Franz II Rákóczi , to Rodosto . He obtained Fermane for the Catholic Christians on Chios and regulated the border and property relations of the boyars on both sides of the Aluta . It was through him that Queen Ulrike Eleonore of Sweden informed the Porte of the death of her brother Charles XII. who had sought protection in Turkey at the time.

After many festivities in his honor from the Turkish side, Damian Hugo started his return journey on April 27, 1720 and reached Belgrade on May 22, where he had a thanksgiving service held. After visiting the German-Swabian colonies in Hungary , he returned to Vienna on July 22nd.

General of Transylvania and Wallachia

After his return to Vienna he was appointed commanding general of Transylvania and Imperial Wallachia on March 12, 1721 . On April 21, 1722 Damian Hugo died in Sibiu in Transylvania and was buried in the Franciscan church there.

Attempt to regain lost family property

Like some of his ancestors, Damian Hugo strove all his life to regain the former goods and lands of his family in Hesse - especially after the extinction of the von Dersch zu Viermünden family (1717), which was enfeoffed with the other half of the Viermünden court .

But despite his services to the Holy Roman Empire and the "Christian world", despite all legal deductions and despite all the intercession of German princes, he was held up by the Hesse-Kassel government by concealing the feudal court and rejected by Landgrave Karl . A French mistress this Landgrave, the wife of Philippe de Gentils, the Marquis de Langallerie was preferred to Damian Hugo and the investiture of Viermünden . His nephew Ambrosius Franz, who was Reich Chamberlain in Wetzlar at the time , and who as a lawyer pursued this feudal affair even more energetically, was granted the same concealment and refusal. The latter died about it in 1744 and with him this question of property, which for 182 years had often preoccupied the noble family of the Viermunds as well as the West German princes and their courts, as well as the German emperors and electors of Brandenburg.

Marriages and descendants

Since 1693 he was married to Johanna Petronella Victoria Maria Anna von Nesselrode (* 1670; † 1698), daughter of Count Franz von Nesselrode-Reichenstein (* 1635; † 1707). After her death he married Maria Elisabeth von Bourscheidt-Burgbrohl († 1753).

Since Damian Hugo's only son Franz Adrian (* 1696) fell as an imperial officer during the storming of Temesvár on October 1, 1716, he only left two daughters. One, Maria Ludovica (also Marie Louise; * 1691), was married to Count Johann Hermann Franz von Nesselrode-Landscron (* 1671; † 1751), the other, Maria Anna (* 1710; † 19 December 1731), with Count Anton Cornisicius von Uhlfeld .

According to Damian Hugo's will of April 15, 1722, Maria Anna was also his universal heir.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deutschmeister monument on viennatouristguide.at
personal data
SURNAME Virmont, Damian Hugo von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Viermund, Damian Hugo Franz Adrian Anton von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION imperial general and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1666
PLACE OF BIRTH Herten
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 1722
Place of death Sibiu