Eltz (noble family)

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Eltz is the name of an old, originally highly free noble family from the Rhineland . The family, some of which still exist today, belongs to the Moselle nobility .

Family coat of arms of the Eltz "from the golden lion"
Family coat of arms of the Eltz "from the silver lion"

history

origin

In older literature it is mentioned that a knight Eberhardus zu Eltz is said to appear among the patricians of the city of Trier as early as 690 . The genealogist Johann Maximilian von Humbracht begins the regular line of the family with Georg around the year 938.

According to the Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility , the family appears for the first time with Rudolfus , who is mentioned in documents from 1150 to 1157. He was the first family member to take the name of the family castle Eltz . Rudolph was a faithful follower of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and received from him in return for his military service a piece of land to fief . The uninterrupted line of trunks begins with Petrus nobilis vir, dominus de Eltze , who was documented between 1210 and 1257. He was probably a son of Elias , who was named in a document on March 27, 1194 as Burgsasse zu Eltz.

The originally noble lords von Eltz became ministerials of the Holy Roman Empire . As Burgmannen and Ganerbe they sat at Eltz Castle near Wierschem near the town of Münstermaifeld . After the Eltz feud (1331 to 1336), the Reichslehenverband was finally dissolved in 1356 and the castle became a fief of the Reichsstift Trier . The vassals of Eltz became feudal people of the Archbishop and Elector of Trier .

Spread and personalities

As early as the 13th century, the brothers Elias, Wilhelm and Theoderich divided the trunk into three lines, which in the course of time split into further branches and twigs. The castle and the goods belonging to it were also divided several times. The parts of the lines to Kempenich , Rübenach and Rodendorf can still be seen at Eltz Castle in the form of independent residential towers .

Many members of the family worked for the Teutonic Order in Pomerania and the Baltic States from an early age . Arnold von Eltz († 1329 or 1330) was first canon of Trier and was in 1324 by Pope Johannes XXII. installed as Bishop of Cammin . Robin von Eltz was Army Master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia from 1367 to 1392 and Georg von Eltz died in 1532 as Commander of the Teutonic Order. He was often entrusted with diplomatic missions on behalf of the order, including in Germany, Livonia, Poland , Spain and Rome .

Werner Brender von Eltz transferred the bailiwick of Rübenach to his son Peter in 1311 . Just one year later, the goods belonging to the Rübenach Vogtei were acquired by Count Ruprecht von Virneburg. In 1563 the Eltz- Rübenach line was enfeoffed again by the dukes of Luxembourg with Rübenach and Bisholder . In 1401, Dietrich, Herr zu Eltz , received the goods of Winand von Waldeck from the Roman King Ruprecht , as Count Palatine near Rhine . After Winand's death, the possessions fell back to the Count Palatine, who now passed them on to the Eltz family as a fief. In 1476 the goods that once belonged to the Brohls, Monreals and Einbergs could be acquired by inheritance.

In 1486, goods and lands belonging to the von Bachem noble family from Koblenz passed to the von Eltz family through a renewed inheritance. This also included a farm in Boppard ; the former court of the Lords of Bachem was first mentioned in a document in 1496 as Eltzer Hof . The von Eltz had settled in Boppard in a very short time and joined the knight's council of the Boppard city council. In 1495, Johann von Eltz the Old led a delegation from the city to the Roman-German King Maximilian I. On June 27, 1495, Maximilian issued the privilege of taking responsibility for the city fortifications. After a protest by the Elector of Trier, Maximilian revoked this privilege. Thereupon the city of Boppard tried to hold on to the privilege under the influence of Johann von Eltz. The elector then declared war on the city on June 7, 1497. After the siege by the Elector, Boppard capitulated on June 30, 1497. However, no peace could be concluded between Johann von Eltz and the Elector, as property disputes also played a role in addition to Boppard affairs. Attempts to resolve the dispute with the help of arbitrators failed. Even the Reichstag in Worms in 1497, to which he was delegated by the city of Boppard, failed to come to an agreement in the dispute. Epiphany of the year 1501 Johann von Eltz was to ship with 200-250 mercenaries to Boppard. With the agreement of the Boppard knighthood, he had the court of the Beyer von Boppard , who always sided with the elector, and the electoral castle plundered. On the same day Johann von Eltz wrote to the Elector of Trier explaining the reasons for his actions, then went into the service of the Elector of the Palatinate and became a bailiff in Kaub . Johann von Eltz died in 1517.

In 1526 the son of Ulrich von Eltz, lord of Burg Brohl , Philipp von Eltz, inherited the extensive estates of the Pyrmont family and the Ehrenberg estate from his mother Elisabeth von Pyrmont and her brothers.

Jacob III von Eltz, Elector Archbishop of Trier (1510–1581)

Johann Jakob von Eltz (* 1510) died in 1581 as Archbishop of Trier . On June 8, 1580, as Elector of Trier, he gave his nephews, the Anton brothers, electoral Trier council, marshal and bailiff , and Hans Reichard and their cousin Hans Anton the office of hereditary marshal of the Electorate of Trier as a fief. The office had reverted to Kurtierer after the death of Johann, the last of the von Helfenstein family.

The grandchildren of Georg, the brother of the elector, were the founders of the lines to Eltz- Oetingen and Eltz- Kempenich . Georg's cousins ​​again founded two lines, Johann Friedrich the Eltz- Bliescastell branch and Johann Philipp the Eltz- Waibling branch . Finally, Johann Adolph, son of Friedrich von Eltz on Bliescastell, created the Eltz- Rodendorf line . The lordship Rodendorf (later called Rotendorf, today Château-Rouge , Department Moselle, Lorraine) came through Johann Adolph's wife Katharina von Brandscheid in 1583, initially in half and in the 18th century completely in the possession of Eltz-Rodendorf, which also Freisdorf and from 1762 to 1812 owned the Bourscheid castle .

Two of the grandchildren of Johann Adolph von Eltz-Rodendorf, who had joined the Winter King in the Thirty Years' War , founded a Protestant line, also called the Braunschweigische : the brothers Johann Eberhard zu Eltz , the 1626/27 chancellor in the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and from 1628 Wallenstein's Chancellor in the Duchy of Mecklenburg and Philipp Samson zu Eltz. The latter married the heiress of Wolfenbüttel Chancellor Barthold von Rutenberg , heiress of Rethmar Castle near Hanover. Their son Friedrich Casimir zu Eltz (1634–1682) married Barbara Margaretha von Pfuel (1649–1695), a daughter of General Adam von Pfuel , in 1664 . He became mining captain and also acquired office, estate and castle Walbeck in the eastern Harz. The line became extinct with the death of his son, kurbraunschweigischen receding and large Vogts of Celle, Philipp Adam zu Eltz , in the 1728th

Philipp Karl von Eltz-Kempenich, Elector Archbishop of Mainz (1665–1743)

In 1732, Philipp Karl von Eltz-Kempenich (* 1665) was another offspring of the Eltz family who achieved archbishopric and electoral dignities. He was the son of Johann Anton zu Eltz and his wife Anna Maria Antonie Schenk von Schmittburg . Philipp Karl died in 1743 as Archbishop and Elector of Mainz . His younger brother Karl Anton Ernst († 1736) von Eltz received from Emperor Karl VI. on November 9, 1733 in Vienna the Palatinate (in primogeniture ) and on the same day the Imperial Counts . The family was also permitted on November 16, 1737 to combine the coat of arms and the name of Faust von Stromberg with theirs. The reason was the marriage of Anselm Kasimir Franz (* 1709; † 1778), a son of the first Count zu Eltz, with Maria Eva Johanna Freiin Faust von Stromberg († 1800), heir daughter of Baron Friedrich Dietrich Joseph Faust von Stromberg and the last representative of this Gender. The couple and their descendants carried or carry the combined name, married agnates in the form of Count and Noble Herr or Countess and Noble Herrin von und zu Eltz called Faust von Stromberg . The unmarried agnates carried the title Count and Noble Son or Countess and Noble Daughter . According to the BGB , the name is today: "Graf" or "Gräfin zu Eltz". On December 30, 1734, Anselm Kasimir Franz and his brother Hugo Franz Carl also received indigenous status in the Kingdom of Hungary .

Hugo Philipp Karl (* 1742 † 1818), a son of Anselm Kasimir Franz, inherited the rule of Vukovar in what was then the Kingdom of Hungary (now Croatia ) from his uncle, the Mainz Elector Philipp Karl . Eltz Castle was built there from 1749 . His full title was: Hugo Philipp Karl, of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary Count and Noble Lord of Eltz, called Faust von Stromberg, Count and Lord of Vukovar, Hereditary Lord of Trappstadt, Vendersheim, Römelheim and Leyen, Lord of Burggrafenrode and Wierschheim , Pfandherr zu Schmidtburg, Imperial Real Privy Councilor, Commander of the Imperial Order of St. Joseph, Electoral Mainz Real Privy Councilor and Chief Stable Master, Oberamtmann zu Oberlahnstein and Gerresheim, Electorate Trier Real Privy Councilor, Hereditary Marshal and Oberamtmann zu Mayen, Monreal and Kayserzesch . The Kurtrierische Hofkammer terminated the pledge of Kempenich Castle in 1776 and made it an official castle . Hugo Philipp Karl then lost a large part of his offices, honors and income in the Rhineland as a result of the French Revolution , because he was treated as an emigrant during the French rule on the Rhine from 1794 to 1815. His possessions on the Rhine and near Trier were confiscated. Eltz Castle and the associated goods were subordinate to the commandant's office in Koblenz. When it later turned out that Count Hugo Philipp had not emigrated but stayed in Mainz, he came back to use his goods and pensions in 1797. In 1815 he became the sole owner of the family castle through the purchase of the 'Rübenach House' of Eltz Castle and the associated property of the Barons von Eltz-Rübenach, which has since remained undivided in the hands of the Eltz-Kempenich counts.

During the 18th century, the Counts of Eltz belonged to the imperial knighthood in the knightly canton of Middle Rhine because of the possession of Burg-Graefenrode (one third) . Because of the inheritance of Burg Layen (a quarter) and the associated property in Rümmelsheim , they were enrolled in the knight canton of Upper Rhine of the Rhenish knight circle . From the middle of the 18th century, the Lords of Eltz also belonged to the knight canton of Baunach of the Franconian knight circle .

Antonia Maria zu Eltz, who was elected abbess and thus imperial princess in Munsterbilzen on September 13, 1756, comes from the count's line .

Emmerich Graf zu Eltz († 1844), Imperial Treasurer , was married twice, first with Maria Henriette Countess von Colloredo-Mansfeld († 1814) and in second marriage from 1821 with Maria Countess Samogy von Medgyes. From his first marriage there were three daughters, of whom Isabella (* 1795) married Prince Carl Anselm von Thurn und Taxis . From their uncles, Emmerich's brothers, Clemens (* 1770) became canons of Trier, Speyer and the knightly monastery of St. Alban , Lothar (* 1782) canons of Mainz and Trier, August (* 1783) imperial chamberlain and lieutenant field marshal and Franz (* 1786 ) Privy councilor, field marshal lieutenant and chief steward of Archduchess Hildegard .

Count Jacob von und zu Eltz-Kempenich called Faust von Stromberg (1779–1844)

Count Jacob von und zu Eltz called Faust von Stromberg (* 1779 † 1844) was President of the First Chamber of the Nassau estates. From his marriage to Maria Anna Freiin Wambolt von Umstadt († 1852) comes his son Karl (* 1823), who - like his father - became an imperial treasurer. In 1853 he married the widow of his brother Hugo († 1848), Ludvine Countess Pejácsevich von Veröcze (* 1823).

Jacob Graf and Edler Herr von und zu Eltz called Faust von Stromberg (* 1860, † 1906), entertainer at Eltz Castle in the Eifel, Majorate Lord at Eltville in the Rheingau and Eltz Castle in Vukovar (Slavonia, now Croatia), Imperial and Royal Chamberlain , married Princess Marie von Lobkowicz from the Mělník family . The marriage resulted from the star cross, Lady Lidwine Princess von Clary and Aldringen , wife of Prince Alfons von Clary and Aldringen (* 1887, † 1978).

An important representative of the family from recent times was Count Jakob von und zu Eltz (* 1921; † 2006). He became a Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion and a member of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta in Rome . From 1964 to 1976 Jakob Graf zu Eltz was President of the Rheingau Viticulture Association and a long-time lecturer in wine law and wine management at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz . From 1992 to 2000, as a Croatian citizen, he was a member of the Croatian Parliament .

Status surveys

Hugo Friedrich zu Eltz, cathedral dean in Trier, and the entire family received on June 19, 1646 in Linz from Emperor Ferdinand III. a confirmation of the gentry's status and the award of the title noble gentleman .

Carl Anton Ernst Edler Herr zu Eltz, elector of Mainz chamberlain, councilor, bailiff and court master, elector of Trier privy councilor and bailiff, hereditary marshal in the Electorate of Trier, was appointed on November 9, 1733 by Emperor Karl VI. in Vienna as the Imperial Real Privy Councilor, together with his brothers Damian Henrich, Canon of Trier and electoral Mainz Privy Councilor, and Philipp Adolph, Commander of the Balley Muffendorf of the Teutonic Order , raised to the status of imperial count with the salutation high and well-born .

Hugo Graf and Edler Herr von und zu Eltz, called Faust von Stromberg auf Trappstadt, and his siblings, who lived in Bavaria, were enrolled in the count class of the aristocratic registers in the Kingdom of Bavaria on August 16, 1816.

Emmerich Joseph Freiherr von Eltz zu Wahn, who came from the Eltz-Rübenach line, received Prussian recognition of the baron status by ministerial rescript on June 20, 1827 . The unmarried descendants carry the name Freiherr und Edler Sohn or Freiin and Edle Daughter from and to Eltz-Rübenach. Emmerich Joseph and Clemens Wenzelslaus Free and Noble Gentlemen from and to Eltz-Rübenach were entered in the nobility register of the Prussian Rhine Province in the class of barons under the number 48 after the Wahn House in the Cologne administrative district had submitted their application on June 19, 1829 .

Possessions

The count's line "from the golden lion" (named after the color of the coat of arms), Eltz-Kempenich, still owns Eltz Castle and the Eltzer Hof zu Eltville. The castle, which has been owned by the family for over 800 years, is open to the public as a museum; the current owner is Dr. Karl Graf and Edler Herr von und zu Eltz-Kempenich called Faust von Stromberg . The baronial line "from the silver lion", Eltz-Rübenach, is still living at the Kühlseggen Castle today , while they leased the castle house in Koblenz-Rübenach (owned by the family since 1316) and Wahn Castle . The former possessions include the "Eltzer Höfe" in Mainz and Boppard and Eltz Castle in Vukovar / Croatia.

coat of arms

Family coat of arms

The family coat of arms of the von Eltz family is divided into red and silver, with a growing golden lion at the top and single at the bottom. On the helmet with red and gold helmet covers a hermelingestulpter red monkshood, from which a golden lion between a besätem with silver hearts open red flight grows out.

The family coat of arms of those of Eltz-Rübenach is divided, above in red a growing two-tailed silver lion, below in gold without a picture. On the helmet with red and silver helmet covers, a hermelin-lined red hat, from which a silver lion grows out between an open red eagle flight sprinkled with silver hearts.

Count's coat of arms

The imperial count's coat of arms, awarded in 1733, is quartered and covered with a central shield containing the family coat of arms. 1 and 4 in gold an inward-looking, red-tongued black eagle , 2 and 3 in black an inward-facing golden griffin . The coat of arms has three helmets, on the right with black and gold covers the eagle, the middle one with red and silver covers the trunk helmet and on the left with black and gold covers the griffin. Two double-tailed, crowned, red-tongued golden lions serve as a shield holder .

Coat of arms association Eltz and Faust von Stromberg

The combined coat of arms of Eltz and Faust von Stromberg, awarded in 1737, is divided and split once at the top and twice at the bottom, as well as covered by a central shield containing the family coat of arms. 1 and 5 a red bar in gold and topped with an imperial-crowned black double-headed eagle . 2 and 3 a silver bar in black and occupied by an inward-facing red-tongued golden griffin, 4 of gold and red nested with 25 places , the first place occupied by a six-pointed black star (coat of arms of Faust von Stromberg). The coat of arms has four helmets with red and gold, the 4th helmet with black and silver helmet covers. On the first the double-headed eagle, the second the trunk helmet with inward-facing lions, on the third a red balaclava tucked into a gold-red chess, decorated with the black star between two outward- waving storm flags on golden poles, divided by gold and red or red and gold ( Helm of Faust von Stromberg), on the fourth helmet the griffin. Two double-tailed, crowned, red-tongued golden lions serve as a shield holder.

Heraldic saga

Messrs. Faust von Stromberg , who died out in 1729, had a heraldic shield made of red and gold in five rows, the top (first) chess set with a black star. The following legend explains the origin of the coat of arms: A Stromberg once played chess with his liege lord, a Count Palatine on the Rhine. They got into an argument and the Count Palatine insulted Stromberg, whereupon the latter hit him with his fist. Thereupon the Count Palatine moved in the Gut Stromberg and the Emperor punished Stromberg with the fact that he and his descendants had to write Faust and use the chessboard in the coat of arms. The black star in gold is supposed to remind of the punch. The Counts of Eltz took this coat of arms into their shield as the closest relatives of the extinct family.

Name bearer

Maria Theresia von Eltz-Rodendorf

Correspondence families

The Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility names another family with the same name, which also comes from the Rhineland, but whose origin is not clear. It begins its regular series with the cooper and guild master in Koblenz Johann Anton von Eltz (he appears in a document from 1610 to 1635). For reasons that are not clear, his descendants dropped the nobility predicate "von" for two generations. On September 14, 1797, the descendant Johann Franz Joseph von Eltz was forced by the revolutionary government to burn all documents reminding of feudality in order to plant the freedom tree on Paradeplatz in Koblenz, whereupon the family emigrated to the Baltic States. His grandson Hugo von Eltz, director of goods at Alexejewskoje, Jamburg district in the Saint Petersburg governorate, received confirmation of the Prussian nobility on August 7, 1856 in Berlin by heraldry rescript.

A Philipp Eltz, Prince Archbishop of Olomouc , was granted Austrian nobility recognition on November 2, 1868 by the highest decree ( diploma issued on December 15, 1868 in Vienna).

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h i j k l m Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelslexikon. Volume III, Volume 61 of the complete series, pp. 134-136.
  2. a b c d e New Prussian Adelslexicon Volume 2, pp. 125–128.
  3. a b c d e New General German Adels Lexicon Volume 3, pp. 97–99.
  4. Middle Rhine document book. Part 1; No. 599 and 567.
  5. "Nobility obliges - A noble family through the ages", Triangelis Article No. 27 of July 8, 2010. (PDF; 168 kB) Retrieved September 27, 2012 .
  6. a b Gerhard Köbler : Historical Lexicon of the German Lands. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 7th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 , p. 167.
  7. Middle Rhine document book. Volume 2; No. 175.
  8. ^ Walter Linden: Eltz, von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 470 ( digitized version ).
  9. Hans-Helmut Wegner: The prehistory and early history in the settlement area Boppard . In: Heinz E. Missling (Ed.): Boppard. History of a city on the Middle Rhine. First volume. From the early days to the end of the electoral rule . Dausner Verlag, Boppard 1997, ISBN 3-930051-04-4 , p. 223-224 .
  10. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (ed.): The art monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate . tape 8 : The art monuments of the Rhein-Hunsrück district. Part 2. Former county St. Goar, the first town of Boppard I. . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-422-00567-6 , p. 429-435 .
  11. ^ Ferdinand Pauly : The Eltzer Hof . In: Contributions to the history of the city of Boppard 1 . Rhine printing Boppard, Boppard 1989.
  12. However, the family members still listen to the historical name. Information from Dr. Karl Graf zu Eltz on June 6, 2009 in an interview for Saar-Report ( Memento from December 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  13. Johann Georg Theodor Grasse : Legends of gender, name and coat of arms of the nobility of the German nation . Reprint-Verlag, Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-8262-0704-1 , pp. 44-45.

literature

Web links

Commons : House of Eltz  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files