Frankenstein (noble family)

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Coat of arms of those of Franckenstein

Franckenstein (also Frankenstein ) is the name of a Franconian , noble-free sex that descends from the lords of Lützelbach and their descendants, the dynasts of Breuberg , in the Odenwald .

Family legend

In the year 948 an Arbogast von Franckenstein is said to have promised in two contracts with the abbot of the Lorsch monastery to “protect and shield the wagon trains on the Bergstrasse not only alone through the Frankenstein area, but also to momling. Where the gentlemen von Breuberg take over this service ... “Also this year said Arbogast is said to have won the tournament there at the invitation of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne , who is said to have previously been abbot of Lorsch Monastery.

Arbogast von Franckenstein is mentioned in Rüxner's tournament book and is therefore most likely only legendary, since Rüxner's statements, especially in the "early centuries", are often fictitious. The contracts mentioned are by no means to be found in the Lorsch Monastery, but only appear in secondary literature. The fact that these alleged contracts are also written in a New High German dialect instead of Latin or at least the Old High German still spoken in the 10th century supports the view of a later, historicizing invention.

Another argument against the authenticity of Arbogast von Franckenstein is the fact that knight tournaments did not take place in Germany until the 12th century.

Since it is certain that the Frankenstein knights descended from Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg , the lineage of the lords von und zu Frankenstein may not have arisen until the 13th century.

The grave inscription of Worms Bishop Johann Karl von und zu Frankenstein in the Frankfurt Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartholomew also refers to the family tradition with the knight tournament . It is:

“ Here rests Johann Carl, confirmed Bishop of Worms, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, from the very old line of Freiherrn von und zu Franckenstein, famous for knight games for 900 years, who renewed two altars and vicarages in this church, which were made by the Germans Donated to Knights von Sachsenhausen, Wolfram in 1320 and Rudolf in 1325 and transferred to the Cleen and Franckenstein families. "

history

Wiknand von Luetzelbach was the ancestor of the Frankenstein family and is first mentioned in a document in 1160.

His grandson Konrad I and his descendants built the Breuberg Castle of the same name around 1200 and subsequently called themselves Herren von Breuberg . Through the marriage of his son Eberhard I. Reiz von Breuberg to Mechtild (Elisabeth?), One of the five heir daughters of Bailiff Gerlach II von Büdingen , in 1239 power, property and interests also shifted to the Wetterau , where the Breuberger Arrois, Gerlach and Eberhard III. successively held the office of bailiff of the Wetterau. They found their final resting place in Konradsdorf Abbey near Ortenberg.

Before 1250, Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg built the Frankenstein Castle and named himself after her. He became the founder of the imperial direct dominion Franckenstein with possessions in Nieder-Beerbach , Eberstadt , Ockstadt bei Friedberg, the Wetterau and the Hessian Ried . Eberstadt (now part of Darmstadt ), Nieder-Beerbach (now part of Mühltal ), Ober-Beerbach (now part of Seeheim-Jugenheim ), Schmal-Beerbach (now part of Lautertal ), Stettbach (now part of Seeheim-Jugenheim ) were under the Frankenstein suzerainty (overlords) ), Allertshofen (now part of Modautal ), Bobstadt and Ockstadt. In addition, the Frankensteiners had further ownership and lordship rights as burgraves in Zwingenberg ( Auerbach Castle ), Darmstadt, Groß-Gerau ( Dornberg Castle ), Bensheim and Frankfurt am Main , which are still reminiscent of Frankensteiner Platz and Frankensteiner Straße in the Sachsenhausen district. In 1292 the Counts of Katzenelnbogen forced the castle to open . In the following years, the castle belonged to the sphere of influence of the Katzenelnbogen Upper County around their secondary residence in Darmstadt.

Due to territorial differences and the associated disputes with the Landgraves of Hesse and the adherence to the Catholic faith by the Frankensteiners and their subjects or their church patronage rights after the Reformation in the Landgraviate of Hesse, the rulership was sold to the Landgraves in 1662, after previous trials before the Reich Chamber of Commerce .

The family was able to fill offices and posts in various cathedral chapters, abbeys and dioceses as cathedral capitulars , abbesses and prince-bishops thanks to the offices and posts that became increasingly vacant in the course of the Reformation .

After the sale of the Franckenstein estate, the family withdrew to their estates in Ockstadt (Ockstadt Castle ) and the Wetterau and acquired the Ullstadt estate in Middle Franconia at the end of the 17th century . In the 19th century she also acquired the Thalheim dominion in Upper Austria . The family still consists of two lines living in Germany, Austria, Great Britain and the United States of America.

coat of arms

  • The family coat of arms shows a red ax bar ( hatchet ) set in gold with a crosswise rectangular handle opening. On the helmet with red and gold covers an open flight marked like the shield .
  • The increased coat of arms from 1706 (coat of arms association with von Sachsenhausen and von Praunheim) is split, divided twice and covered with the main coat of arms as a heart shield. In fields 1 and 6 a three-leaved red shamrock ( † from Cleen ) in gold , in fields 2 and 5 in blue a silver helmet on the right, on it a growing silver swan, whose raised red wings are each covered with a silver bar, 3 and 4 in gold a red bar, above 3 green branches with 3 leaves each ( † von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen ). 3 helmets with red and gold covers on the right, blue and silver covers on the left, on the right neck and head of a natural peacock between a closed flight (from Cleen) that is black on top and sprinkled with silver hearts, gold on the bottom and covered with a red clover leaf (by Cleen) an open golden flight covered with the red iron hatchet, on the left the swan (von Sachsenhausen).

  • Original coat of arms of the Lords of Breuberg

  • Coat of arms of the Breuberg rule around 1330–1350

  • Franckenstein coat of arms from the Scheibler coat of arms book

  • Prince-Bishop's coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Philipp Anton von Bamberg

  • Prince-Bishop's coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Philipp Anton von Bamberg at Ullstadt Castle

  • Pure family coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Philipp Anton von Bamberg at Ullstadt Castle

  • Coat of arms in the Ingeram Codex

  • Franckenstein coat of arms on Seehof Castle

  • Franckenstein coat of arms in Darmstadt-Eberstadt town hall

  • Franckenstein coat of arms window in the Katharinenkirche (Oppenheim) , around 1450

  • Coat of arms of the municipality of Mühltal in the Odenwald

  • Coat of arms of the municipality of Modautal

  • Coat of arms of the Bobstadt community

  • Coat of arms of the Friedberg district of Ockstadt

  • Seal of Abbess Anna von Franckenstein

Present and former possessions

  • Breuberg Castle, Merian engraving 1648

  • Frankenstein Castle

  • Ullstadt Castle , owned by the family from around 1718 until today

  • Traunegg Castle , engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer 1674

  • Villa Sonnwend in Windischgarsten

Known members of the sex

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Knight tournaments in the Middle Ages by Björn Böhling, In: ritterturniere-im-medieval
  2. ↑ M. Stimmlng, Mainzer Urk.- Book I 1932 No. 586 and 6 (5).
  3. ↑ 350 years ago: The Frankensteiner Land became Hessian in 1662, In: Geschichtsverein Eberstadt-Franckenstein According to the publication of the Geschichtsverein Eberstadt-Frankenstein eV

literature

  • Karl Otmar von Aretin : Franckenstein A political career between Bismarck and Ludwig II. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-608-94286-6 .
  • J. Friedrich Battenberg: Roßdorf in premodern times. Everyday life and culture of conflict in a rural Hessian community in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology , Vol. NF 60 (2002), ISSN  0066-636X , pp. 29–60.
  • Roman Fischer: Finding aid for the holdings of Frankenstein fiefdoms 1251–1812. Kramer, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-7829-0433-8
  • Georg von Franckenstein: Between Vienna and London memories of an Austrian diplomat. Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 2005, ISBN 3-7020-1092-0 .
  • Walter Scheele: Fabulous Franckenstein . Societäts-Verlag, Ulm 2004, ISBN 3-7973-0875-2 .
  • Hellmuth Gensicke : Investigations into the genealogy and property history of the lords of Eschollbrücken, Weiterstadt, Lützelbach, Breuberg and Frankenstein. In: Hessische Historische Forschungen (1963), pp. 99–115.
  • Walter Scheele: Franckenstein Castle . Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2001, ISBN 3-7973-0786-1 .
  • Rudolf Kunz: Village regulations of the Franckenstein rule from the 2nd half of the 16th century. Reprint from: Archives for Hessian History and Archeology. Volume 26, Issue 1, 1958.
  • Wolfgang Weißgerber: The gentlemen of Frankenstein and their women: landscapes, people, stories . Schlapp, Darmstadt-Eberstadt 2002, ISBN 3-87704-050-0 .
  • Karl Otmar Freiherr von Aretin:  Franckenstein, barons from and to. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 329 ( digitized version ).
  • Norbert Hierl-Deronco: It is a pleasure to build. About builders, builders and building in the baroque in Kurbayern, Franconia, Rhineland. Krailling 2001, ISBN 3-929884-08-9 , pp. 133-142.
  • Anke Stößer: Lords between the Rhine and the Odenwald. In: Knights, Counts and Princes - secular dominions in the Hessian area approx. 900-1806 (= Handbook of Hessian History  3 = Publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse 63). Marburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-942225-17-5 , pp. 152-170, especially pp. 163-165
  • (Ed.) Geschichtsverein Eberstadt / Frankenstein: Reader on the history of Frankenstein. Burg - Herrschaft - Familie , Darmstadt-Eberstadt 2018.
  • Johann Heinrich Zedler, Great Complete Universal Lexicon of All Sciences and Arts , Volume 24

Web links

Commons : Frankenstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files