Franz Joseph von Plettenberg

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Franz Joseph von Plettenberg-Wittem (1714–1779)

Imperial Count Franz Joseph Maria von Plettenberg and Wittem (born March 19, 1714 , † April 29, 1779 in Vienna ) was the Imperial Chamberlain and the Munster Hereditary Marshal and Chamberlain of the Electorate of Cologne .

Life

Origin and family

Franz Joseph von Plettenberg as a child with parents and sister

Franz Joseph von Plettenberg grew up as the son of Ferdinand von Plettenberg (1690–1737, Prime Minister of the Electorate of Cologne) and his wife Bernhardine Felizitas von Westerholt-Lembeck (daughter of Baron Dietrich Conrad Adolph von Westerholt zu Lembeck) together with his sister Bernhardina (1719–1769, ⚭ Count Joseph Franz Bonaventura von Schönborn-Wiesentheid ) in one of the oldest and most important noble families in Westphalia . Emperor Charles VI. elevated the family to the rank of imperial count in 1724 . By acquiring the imperial dominions Eys and Wittem in 1722, his father also acquired the imperial estate with a seat and vote in the college of the Westphalian imperial counts .

On November 10, 1737 he married Aloysia Steyer von Lamberg (1718–1796, daughter of Prince Franz Anton von Lamberg and his wife Princess Ludovica Friederike Ernestine von Hohenzollern-Hechingen ). She was awarded the Star Cross Order on May 3, 1768 by the Empress . The marriage had six children:

  • Franz Anton (1735–1766, canon in Hildesheim, from 1764 lord of Nordkirchen),
  • Aloysia ( canoness in Nancy ),
  • Friedrich Clemens August (1742–1771, hereditary marshal and administrator of Nordkirchen, ⚭ 1762 Maria Anna von Galen (1752–1829, daughter of Wilhelm Ferdinand von Galen zu Assen ))
    • Son: Maximilian Friedrich Graf von Plettenberg (1771–1813), heir to Nordkirchen Castle
      • his daughter and heiress of Nordkirchen: Maria (1809–1861), ⚭ 1833 Nikolaus Franz Graf Esterházy de Galántha
  • Maria (Salentinian in Vienna),
  • Bernhardine (1743–1779), ⚭ 1762 Prince Dominik Andreas von Kaunitz-Rietberg (1739–1812) and
  • Friedrich Ludwig (1745–1796, canon in Paderborn).

Career and work

Before Franz Joseph to the Electoral Cologne Erbkämmerer was ordered and appointed hereditary marshal, he studied in France and then at the University of Leiden law . He became a member of the Reichshofrat and in 1734 was accepted into the knighthood of the Lower Rhine. Four years later he took over the family estate. On March 1, 1746 the revolt to the knighthood of Münster followed. He was thus a member of the state parliament , a body made up of the three estates. Its task was to regulate the tax system and from 1447 also the feuding system in the bishopric of Münster . Franz Joseph also served as a chamberlain at the imperial court .

Nordkirchen Castle

Franz Joseph inherited the already heavily indebted possession of Schloss Nordkirchen from his father . The reason for the indebtedness was the enormous investment that the new palace swallowed up, which had already been started in 1695 by the Prince-Bishop of Münster, Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg . Franz Joseph once again increased the debt considerably through his lifestyle and his long stay in Vienna, so that bankruptcy proceedings were opened against him in 1764. He therefore transferred the family property to his son Franz Anton (1740–1766), who tried to settle debts. Franz Joseph and his wife then lived in modest circumstances. The situation was so precarious that he had to sell the family silver in order to ensure the survival of his loved ones. Nevertheless, Nordkirchen Castle remained in the possession of the heirs of his great-granddaughter Maria (1809–1861), married Countess Esterházy, until 1903 .

Others

A large part of the musical inventory of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster comes from Vienna and was probably collected by Franz Joseph during his Vienna years and brought to Nordkirchen Palace .

swell

Marcus Weidner: Landadel in Münster 1600–1760. Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 2000.

Sven Solterbeck: Blue blood and red numbers. Westphalian nobility in bankruptcy 1700–1815. Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2018.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Plettenberg, Franz Joseph von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Plettenberg and Wittem, Franz Joseph Maria von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Imperial Chamberlain as well as Imperial Hereditary Marshal and Electoral Cologne Chamberlain
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1714
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 1779
Place of death Vienna