Finsterlohe (noble family)
The Lords of Finsterlohe were a German noble family of the Franconian knight circle , which expired in 1572 in the male line .
Family history
The aristocratic family first appeared in the 13th century and named themselves after their ancestral seat Burg Finsterlohr , now in Finsterlohr , a village belonging to Creglingen. In addition to the name Finsterlohe , the spellings Finsterloh, Vinsterloh, Finsterloch, Vinsterloch u. Ä. before. The first documentary mention was made in 1224 with Cunrad von Vinsterloch. There were close ties with the Hohenlohe family . The Finsterlohe acquired many fiefdoms in the Tauber and Vorbachtal , where they were soon among the most important families.
During the so-called city war in the 14th century, many local aristocratic families clashed with the city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber . The Finsterlohr headquarters, Burg Finsterlohr, was also destroyed.
The family already had properties in Laudenbach near Weikersheim and in 1388 bought the shares of the Counts of Hohenlohe there. They moved to this place, built a castle and stayed here until they died out. There they founded the mountain church of Our Lady of Sorrows in 1412 . In 1486, Hans and Peter von Finsterlohe converted the castle and village into a man fief and swore the feudal oath to Bishop Rudolf II von Scherenberg of the Würzburg diocese . The family castle burned down in 1509 and was rebuilt by the Lords of Finsterlohe. Hans von Finsterlohe introduced the Reformation in Laudenbach in 1523 and died in 1572 as the last male representative of the tribe. The place and bailiwick of Laudenbach, like Finsterlohr, returned to the Würzburg monastery as a settled fiefdom .
The family's coat of arms tombstones are located in the Laudenbach mountain church , and a clerical lord von Finsterlohe is buried in the Würzburg Cathedral . The epitaph of figures and coat of arms of the cathedral capital Wipert von Finsterlohe († 1503) has been preserved in Speyer Cathedral , who also donated the preserved Mount of Olives next to the cathedral in his will. In the parish church of Aub until 1945 was the epitaph adorned with coat of arms of Jörg I. Truchseß von Baldersheim († 1483) and his wife Margareta von Finsterlohe. It was attributed to Jörg Riemenschneider and fell victim to the destruction of World War II ; only fragments remained.
coat of arms
The family coat of arms is red and silver, divided with the left step. The community Finsterlohr has adopted it as the local coat of arms.
literature
- Erwin Heißwolf: Studies on the history of the gentry family and the Finsterlohr parish , Finsterlohr, 2011.
- Ottmar Friedrich Heinrich Schönhuth: Creglingen and its surroundings: Chronicle a. Description , Mergentheim, 1846, pp. 78-87; (online) .
- Heinrich Wilhelm Bensen : Historical studies on the former imperial city of Rotenburg , Nuremberg, 1837, p. 485; (online) .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Website on the history of Laudenbach
- ^ Albert Schwartzenberger: Der Oelberg zu Speyer: A contribution to art history , Speyer 1866, pp. 10-11; (Digital scan)
- ↑ Website with photo of the epitaph of Aub
- ^ Website of the community arms of Creglingen