Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Herdringen

Franz Egon Freiherr ( from 1843 Count) von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (born August 15, 1818 in Herdringen ; † February 1, 1902 there ) was Fideikommissherr , politician and builder of the new Herdringen Castle .

Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (silhouette painting around 1845)

Egon von Fürstenberg-Herdringen

Origin and family

Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (not to be confused with his uncle Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Stammheim ) was the son of Baron Franz Egon Philipp (1789–1832) and his wife Ferdinandine (née Freiin von Landsberg-Velen). After the early death of his father in 1832 and his grandfather's death in 1835, the family property fell to the then 17-year-old. The property was administered by trustees until the age of majority. During this time, Fürstenberg received extensive training in preparation for taking over ownership. He attended the grammar school in Paderborn between 1832 and 1836 and then received private tuition in the apartment of Paulus Melchers (later Archbishop of Cologne) in Münster . In 1838 he finished school with a high school diploma. Fürstenberg then studied law and history at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn . Interrupted by military service, he continued his studies in Munich and Heidelberg . In 1841 he took over the family business.

Live and act

Fürstenberg moved the headquarters from Adolfsburg to Herdringen and operated from there administration and expansion of the property of the Fürstenberg-Herdringen line. In 1843 the owner of the entails was raised to hereditary count ( primogeniture ) by Friedrich Wilhelm IV . A short time later he was also awarded the honorary title of Erbtruchseß in the Duchy of Westphalia . In 1847 he married Caroline Freiin von Stael-Sutthausen in Münster. From this marriage came five children, among them the only son and heir, Engelbert Egon .

In addition to managing his property, he also took on political functions. In 1852 he was a member of the Provincial Parliament of the Province of Westphalia . He had been elected as a deputy member for the knighthood in the constituency of the Duchy of Westphalia. When the first chamber of the Prussian state parliament was transformed into a mansion , in which its namesake Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Stammheim played an important role, the Fürstenberg-Herdringen family received a hereditary seat in this upper house. There Franz-Egon represented a conservative and, after the establishment of the Center Party, also a Catholic position. He did not come forward with independent political initiatives. In the few weeks of meetings in the year, contact with the court and social encounters in Berlin were more important to him.

Herdringen Castle seen from the park (photo from 2005)

The function of Franz Egon von Fürstenberg as the client was historically more significant. The core of the old Herdringen Castle dates from the 16th century when the property was taken over and was surrounded by newer buildings from the following centuries, which were built in different styles. Like his uncle of the same name, he commissioned the Cologne cathedral builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner with a new building in 1844 . By 1853, the neo-Gothic building of the castle and an English-style landscape park were built. The old castle was demolished. The design of the park was in the hands of the gardening director of Cologne, Jakob Greiß . In the following decades, the landscape garden was expanded more and more to finally around 65 hectares.

See also

• Barons von Fürstenberg

literature

• Markus Brunsing: Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Stammheim (1797-1859) In: Michael Gosmann (Hrsg.): Fürstenberg sketches - forays through 700 years of Westphalian families and regional history. Arnsberg, 1995. pp. 97-100
• Alfred Bruns (Ed.), Josef Häming (compilation): The Members of the Westphalia Parliament 1826–1978 (= Westphalian source and archive directories, Volume 2). Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, Münster 1978, p. 280.