Franz Ludwig von Helmstatt

The grave pyramid of Franz Ludwig von Helmstatt at the Finkenhof near Hochhausen

Franz Ludwig von Helmstatt (* 1752 in Hochhausen ; † 1841 ) came from the Oberöwisheim-Hochhausener branch of the Lords of Helmstatt . Through adoption and the title he had acquired in France, he succeeded in taking on the entire inheritance of the ramified von Helmstatt family. Above his grave near the Finkenhof near Hochhausen is a distinctive pyramid built in 1844.

Life

The son of Damian Hugo von Helmstatt (1719–1782) and Isabella von Knöringen joined Marie Antoinette's French service early on . As early as 1771 he had a captaincy license and later rose to the Maréchal de camp . In 1773 he was adopted by the childless Bleickart Maximilian Augustin von Helmstatt (1728-1802), who had the title of Count Mörching , and made his heir. From 1774 he was married to Princess Caroline de Broglie (1754–1795) and received the title of his adoptive father on the occasion of the wedding, including the "Comte de Morhange" (Count of Mörchingen), whereby the Oberöwisheim branch came into possession of the title of count. When the revolution broke out in 1789 , Franz Ludwig and Bleickart Maximilian Augustin had to flee France. After Bleickard Maximilian's death, Franz Ludwig inherited the Durcastler and Hingsinger estates , with the Lorraine goods temporarily confiscated by the French state. The final settlement of the inheritance, especially with regard to the properties in Kraichgau, dragged on until 1836. With his title of nobility from Lorraine, he was superior to his German relatives, who had lost their imperial immediacy in 1806. Because of his Catholic faith, he had to guarantee the Protestant citizens freedom of religion when he took up his inheritance in Hochhausen, where he had a Catholic chapel built in 1815. With Franz Ludwig, who was born in Hochhausen, the Oberöwisheim branch became the Hochhausener branch , which inherited the entire family. The modernization of the Neckarbischofsheim townscape also goes back to Franz Ludwig in part . In 1825, for example, he sold the Bischofsheim city gates that were no longer needed after the city wall was torn down. In 1829, after the “New Stone House” was demolished, he had the “New Castle” built in its place. In 1835 he also acquired the moated castle in Eicholzheim . He had already acquired the Finkenhof near Hochhausen in 1812, where he is now buried under a striking pyramid of graves built by his grandchildren in 1844.

He had a son, August Raban von Helmstatt (1776–1842), who died a year after him. His sons Karl Ludwig von Helmstatt zu Hochhausen (1807–1868) and Maximilian von Helmstatt (1810–1893) divided the property again into a Bischofsheimer line and a Hochhausener line .

literature

• Hermann Stein, Arnold Scheuerbrandt: Origin and history of the (Neckar-) Bischofsheimer main line of the gentlemen of Helmstatt. Their tombs and their buildings. 2nd Edition. Heimatverein Kraichgau , Sinsheim 2005, ISBN 3-921214-31-9 ( Small series. Volume 2).