Dietrich von Landsberg zu Erwitte

Daniel Dietrich von Landsberg zu Erwitte against the backdrop of the battle of Stadtlohn

Daniel Dietrich von Landsberg zu Erwitte (sometimes referred to as Theodor von Landsberg) (* around 1615/18; † November 15, 1683 in Arnsberg ) from the noble family of the Lords of Landsberg was a high-ranking officer in the imperial , Spanish and Electoral Cologne service, diplomat and Landdrost in the Duchy of Westphalia .

family

The year of birth of Dietrich von Landsberg zu Erwitte is not known for sure. According to a family chronicle that has not survived, he died in 1683 at the age of 65, but this information is doubtful. As early as 1624 he is documented as the owner of a cathedral fringe in Paderborn, which could only be taken over at the age of seven; his year of birth can therefore probably be dated back a few years. His father was Jobst von Landsberg zu Erwitte (1568-1622), Landdrost in the Paderborn office of Dringenberg , imperial colonel and noble councilor in the Electorate of Cologne and in the Duchy of Paderborn . The mother was Dorothea von Erwitte zu Welschenbeck (around 1572 to 1656).

He himself was married three times. In 1642 he married Anna Margarethe Reichsfreiin Raitz von Frentz zu Frentz and Kendenich , who died in childbed in 1643 after the birth of their son Ferdinand Franz . His second wife Anna Katharina Erwitte von Plettenberg zu Meiderich died soon after the wedding in 1646 (buried in St. Nicolai in Balve ). His third wife was Jutta Antonetta von und zu Leyen and Bongard (1633–1704) survived her husband and was buried next to him in the Wedinghausen monastery .

One son was Lieutenant General and Governor of the City of Munster Franz Anton von Landsberg , other sons Franz Kaspar Ferdinand von Landsberg zu Erwitte , Franz Dietrich Joseph von Landsberg zu Erwitte , Franz Ferdinand von Landsberg zu Erwitte , Franz Johann von Landsberg zu Erwitte and Franz Ludolf von Landsberg zu Erwitte .

Live and act

Early years

The father died very early. Only a little later, the older brother Jobst also died. Originally, Dietrich von Landsberg was intended for the clergy, but now became the family owner and main heir.

From 1633 he studied law at the University of Orléans . In addition, he was trained in aristocratic skills such as fencing, dancing, music and mathematics. Then in 1636 he embarked on an extensive cavalier tour to France , England , Italy, as far as Naples and Sicily , Hungary and the Spanish Netherlands .

After his return he stayed at the court of the Cologne Elector Ferdinand of Bavaria. In Cologne in 1642 he married his first wife, a daughter of the landlord Adolf Sigismund Baron Raitz von Frentz zu Frentz and Kendenich. In 1643, the elector appointed Landsberg treasurer and Westphalian councilor. In the same year Landsberg received the right to the office and the Gogericht Erwitte .

Thirty Years War and Spanish Military Service

In the same year Landsberg was sergeant general in the war against France and served in Flanders and Artois , among others . On behalf of the estates of the Duchy of Westphalia, he undertook numerous delegations to Bonn , Cologne and Kassel, among others . In 1644 he accompanied the chief envoy of the Electorate of Cologne, Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg, to the peace congress in Osnabrück . Since 1646 he was the office of Erwitte. This office became hereditary in 1657.

In 1647, Landsberg was together with Franz Egon von Fürstenberg the electoral Cologne ambassador to the imperial court. He was also an envoy to the Reichstag , France and Sweden . In the same year he was appointed Electoral Cologne Erbkämmerer appointed. Also in 1647 and not until 1649 Landsberg was Landdrost and thus representative of the Elector in the Duchy of Westphalia. He presided over the first meeting of the landscape deputies in October of that year. During a further stay at the Viennese court was von Landsberg in 1648 by Ferdinand III. raised to the imperial baron status.

In 1648 he was colonel of a foot regiment in the army in Westphalia for the Catholic League . In 1649 he joined his regiment in Spanish service and served as a sergeant-general over "a corps of German peoples." Elsewhere he is referred to as sergeant-general over eight regiments of German peoples. He mainly served in the Dutch theater of war. In 1650 he left the Spanish service and returned to his Landdrostenamt in the Duchy of Westphalia.

The siege of Münster in 1657 - etching by Caspar Merian

Electoral envoy

In 1651 he was officially accepted into the knighthood of the Duchy of Westphalia. He enjoyed the full trust of Elector Maximilian Heinrich of Bavaria and his Minister Franz Egon von Fürstenberg. Therefore, as a Landdrost, diplomatic and military missions were repeatedly assigned to him. In 1653 he took part in Ferdinand IV's election as a king . He was also present in Frankfurt am Main when Leopold I was elected emperor in 1658 . On various occasions he was envoy to Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen in Münster. In the 1650s and 1660s he was commissioner of the state parliament in the Hildesheim monastery on behalf of the elector and prince-bishop of Hildesheim . He also took part in the war conference of the Rhenish Confederation in Hildesheim in 1658/59. From Hildesheim he traveled to the courts of Hanover and Wolffenbüttel in 1659 and to Berlin in 1660 . In 1665 he tried to mediate between the conflicting branches of the Guelphs. Even later he was occasionally active in diplomacy. So he negotiated in 1677 at the court of Pfalz-Neuburg .

Military missions

Landberg was in demand with the elector and his minister not only as a diplomat, but also as an expert in military tasks. He held something like the position of a commanding general in the Duchy of Westphalia. Later his position even resembled that of a war minister for the electoral state. During the siege of Münster in 1657, Landsberg commanded the Electoral Cologne auxiliary troops. Since the bombardment of the city also caused considerable damage to the churches, Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen ordered him to stop. In 1671 Landsberg was again the commander of a regiment and served as governor of the city of Neuss until 1672 . He was then commander of the troops of the Electorate of Cologne in the Duchy of Westphalia. In 1673 he was governor of the city of Bonn and led the defense of the city during a siege . A year later he was governor in Rheinberg . He held this post until his death.

Administration as Landdrost

Landsberger Hof

His diverse diplomatic and military tasks meant that Landsberg was often unable to exercise his office as Landdrost. He was represented at this time by Ferdinand von Wrede , Drost von Balve . Because of his close ties to Franz Egon and Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg and their pro-French politics, he met with criticism from part of the local nobility, such as the Westphalian Fürstenbergs . He was evidently not very popular in Erwitte's office either. Probably against the accusation that he would neglect his office as Landdrost, he wrote a letter of justification in 1663 in which he enumerated his services for the duchy. He emphasized the aim of safeguarding the country's old privileges and constitution.

Among other things, he mentions that the offices of Waldenburg, Bilstein and Fredeburg, pledged to the Westphalian Fürstenbergs, were triggered between 1652 and 1654. He was then also significantly involved in the Recessus perpetuae concordiae of 1654. In this compromise between the estates of the cities and the knighthood, the general tax exemption of the nobility was established. This was obliged to pay taxes in times of need, such as during wars. The tax rate for the cities was reduced at the expense of the farmers.

He also assigned the system of quarterly statuses from 1657 and thus the further development of the corporate tax system. His measures also included the stipulation of a tightening of the ancestral test for acceptance into the knighthood. During his time, the elector introduced the cost of consumption for the deputies of the estates in the state parliaments, or the settlement of disputes between the estates. The recognition of indigenous rights by the sovereign and the Cologne cathedral chapter was particularly important for the independence of the country . After that, offices in the duchy could only be given to locals. The dispute with Waldeck about the Free County of Düdinghausen could also be settled.

Further plans that he listed aimed to further strengthen the position of the duchy in relation to the electoral state. So he planned his own feudal chamber, the introduction of a special land law and even the acquisition of his own seat in the Imperial Council . However, these plans never came to fruition. In practical administrative work, he exercised considerable influence on the appointment of officials and judges, as well as executioners and even clergymen, through his knowledge of the place and people.

For his services to the Duchy of Westphalia, the estates gave him a representative palace in Arnsberg, which has since been called the Landsberger Hof.

Family and church support

In addition to his public offices, Landsberg took great care to strengthen his family. Partly in return for the capital that he made available to the elector to redeem the pledged office Balve , he was granted the inheritance of the Drostenamt in Erwitte in 1657. He also became senior bailiff of the prince-bishop of Paderborn manorial rights in Erwitte and Westernkotten . With the help of his considerable income and a targeted marriage policy, he was able to increase the ownership of his house. His marriage to his first wife brought him good contacts at the electoral court, his second marriage brought him entitlements to considerable estates and his third marriage brought further links with important noble families.

In 1656 half of Schloss Wocklum and the large property belonging to it passed into the possession of the Landsberg family via his second wife. He acquired the second part for around 38,000 thalers. He paid 29,000 thalers for the Mellen estate , to which he was entitled through his wife. He also acquired the Broickhof near Erwitte and the Völlinghausen estate . He bought the Corey hereditary and wine farm on the Moselle.

Landsberg donated a Fideikommiss in 1681 to secure the family property . Its value was put at almost 270,000 Reichstaler. In addition, he had invested 32,400 thalers in the Westphalian landscape.

His sovereign valued Landsberg's catholicity. He significantly supported the construction of the Capuchin monastery in Werl , which was founded in 1645 , in which he brokered the purchase of a piece of land for the community and gave money for the construction in 1651. He saw himself as principalis fundator of the monastery and was honored with an inscription on the foundation stone. In 1648 he also laid the foundation stone for the Franciscan monastery in Attendorn . In 1680 he donated a new high altar to the Wedinghausen monastery . This was created by the sculptor Christian Gresemann and the painter Elisabeth Cronenberg . The costs amounted to 2700 thalers. The monastery granted him the right to lay an inheritance burial for his family under the choir.

When he died, the von Landsbergs were among the leading noble families in Westphalia. Landsberg was buried in the church of the Wedinghausen monastery at the Landsberg Altar donated by him.

literature

• Gerd Dethlefs: The Landdrost Dietrich von Landsberg († 1683) and the state constitution in the Electoral Cologne Duchy of Westphalia in the middle of the 17th century . In: Südwestfalenarchiv . 2008, p. 9-58 .
• Gerd Dethlefs: Dietrich von Landsberg (around 1615 / 18–1683) . In: Friedrich Gerhard Hohmann (Hrsg.): Westfälische Lebensbilder 19 (=  publications of the Historical Commission for Westphalia ). New series 16. Aschendorff, Münster 2015, ISBN 978-3-402-15117-4 , p. 53-70 .

Web links

• Biography on lwl.org

Individual evidence

1. ^ Letter of October 17, 1657 (PDF; 3.2 MB)