Franz von Armansperg

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Franz Graf von Armansperg , actually Franz Seraphin Felix Karl Johann Robert Aloys Reichsgraf von Armansperg , (born June 7, 1762 in Burghausen , † February 8, 1839 in Regensburg ) was a Bavarian enlightener , church critic, lawyer and politician.

Life

Education and church criticism

Born in Burghausen an der Salzach as the second son of Franz Xaver Iganz Joseph von Armansperg and his wife Maria Anna Elisabeth, née. Sainte-Marie Eglise on Grumenab and Perslein, Armansperg was first educated in the Jesuit college there, where later Cistercian monks taught (today Elector Maximilian Grammar School). There the very intelligent and sporty pupil from the Bavarian nobility is said to have learned to hate the Jesuits so much that he was still collecting material against the order, which was dissolved in 1773, in old age. What is certain is that Armansperg used sometimes brutal means against the church throughout his career and that he took sharp measures against monasteries before and during the secularization . He forbade the Capuchins in the St. Anna monastery in Altötting to receive pilgrims, to ring the bells, to preach and to light an Easter fire. Armansperg is said to have often drunk and appeared unannounced on "control visits" in the Capuchin refectory and rioted there. He acted similarly briskly against the Capuchins in Burghausen. Their local monastery was formally closed, the monks present were not allowed to accept gifts, hold services outside their own church and freely choose where to stay overnight. They were therefore subject to "strict police supervision" and Armansperg to their "high-level police monitor".

After the abolition of the monasteries by Elector Maximilian IV Joseph on January 25, 1802, Armansperg took care of the liquidation of the Raitenhaslach Cistercian monastery from March 18, 1803 , had the entire inventory auctioned and unsalable buildings demolished. In the autumn of 1804 a school opened in parts of the former monastery complex with "spacious, beautiful and light" classrooms and modern equipment for the time, which Armansperg personally opened at a ceremony.

The rococo- style pilgrimage church Marienberg, which was only fifty years old at the time, was described by the district magistrate in 1806 as a "dilapidated field chapel", had parts of the interior furnishings auctioned off or outsourced and urged the building to be demolished. He tried to suppress protests from the local population and fined twelve men. Crown Prince Ludwig, who was passing by on his return journey from Salzburg on June 6, 1812, was extremely indignant about Armansperg's behavior and very energetically ordered the preservation of the church, which was put back into operation on January 15, 1815. These events were repeatedly the subject of local amateur theater performances ("Kampf um Marienberg").

Member of the Illuminati

As a combative enlightener, Armansperg became a member of the Illuminati secret society under the religious name of "Brother Maxentius" and was one of the bitter critics of his own aristocracy, which in his view was too often caught up in outdated conventions. The ban on the Illuminati in 1784/85 does not seem to have harmed him any further, unlike many officers and officials. He was neither expelled from the country, nor dismissed, "which only happened to a few and which therefore speaks for his impartiality in this intricate matter". Against the background of the French Revolution, Armansperg's political views appear to be decidedly liberal and sharply anti-reactionary. He was committed to helping the Poles expelled from their home country , saw himself as a pioneer of freedom of the press and a constitutional government modeled on France.

Public Service Careers

Armansperg began his public service career as early as 1782 at the age of just twenty. At that time, he became Hofkastner in Burghausen and was responsible for the taxes in kind and other income of the landlord. At the same time he was appointed governor and judge in Julbach , a Lower Bavarian community near Braunau am Inn . Armansperg inherited the Grünau estate near Mauerkirchen in the immediate vicinity . On January 1, 1783, the Bavarian Elector Karl Theodor , who was very unpopular with his subjects because of his Palatinate origins, made him his chamberlain. On July 7, 1790, the Armansperg family was raised from barons to counts. From 1803 Armansperg worked as a district judge in his hometown of Burghausen, where he was often entrusted with the confiscation of provisions and similar ungrateful tasks during the coalition wars between France under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte and Austria .

Since Bavaria had sided with the French, Armansperg saw itself personally threatened after the Austrian invasion in April 1809. During a visit to the regional headquarters of the Austrian army in Marktl am Inn, where the district judge protested against the invasion and the related confiscations, he was arrested and held in Linz , Vienna , Budapest and Peterwardein . It is said that Armansperg was preceded by the rumor that he had planned an assassination attempt on the Austrian Archduke Karl and that he was harboring "spies". Like all appointed Bavarian state officials, the count was declared hostage and was supposed to find a place of residence in Bohemia or Moravia . After working in Budapest, Brno , Mladá Boleslav (Jungbunzlau) and Chrudim , Armansperg was allowed to return to his homeland in September 1809. His wife is said to have stood up for him personally with Napoleon when the emperor stayed in Burghausen from April 28 to 30, 1809. On March 31, 1811, Armansperg was expressly praised for his patriotic behavior in the Bavarian Government Gazette.

Although he initially resumed his position as a district judge, since the district was reduced, he applied for a position at the Court of Appeal in Straubing , where he began his service on December 1, 1812. In the area he had temporarily managed the family estates Loham, Egg and Mariaposching on behalf of his brother. In 1822, after a total of forty years of service, he applied for retirement, but continued to occasionally take part in court sessions and added to the Senate when another judge was absent at short notice. In 1825 Armansperg retired in Regensburg , where he is said to have devoted himself to studying classical literature. In addition, from 1831 he was on the board of the historical association for the rain district. From December 1838 he suffered several strokes , from which he finally died after he lost his speech and suffered paralysis.

family

Relatively late, at the age of 35, Armansperg married Anna Maria Countess von Berchem von Piesing in 1797 (March 17, 1774 - June 21, 1843). Son Karl Ludwig (August 24, 1798 - November 15, 1861) became a judge at the court of appeal in Neuburg an der Donau, the three daughters Therese, Annette and Liesette were compensated with 15,000 guilders.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data cited from Neuer Nekrolog der Deutschen , 17th year, Weimar, 1841, p. 207
  2. ↑ General renovation and new construction of St. Konradkloster Altötting 2006 - 2008 , p. 15 [1] accessed on June 3, 2020
  3. ↑ Angelikus Eberl: History of the Bavarian Capuchin Order Province (1593-1902) , Freiburg 1902, p. 464
  4. ^ Bonifaz Huber: History of the City of Burghausen , Burghausen 1862, p. 375
  5. ^ History of the Raitenhaslach Monastery [2] accessed on June 3, 2020
  6. ^ News from the German school system in Baiern: a monthly publication , Volume 2, October 15, 1804, p. 146 ff.
  7. ^ The hour brotherhood from help and consolation of the dying in Marienberg , Burghausen 1864, p. 4 f.
  8. ^ Kampf um Marienberg , Passauer Neue Presse , June 14, 2015 [3] accessed on June 3, 2020
  9. ^ Sieglinde Graf: Enlightenment in the Province: The Moral-Economic Society of Ötting-Burghausen 1765-1802 , Stuttgart 1993, p. 220 f.
  10. ^ New Nekrolog der Deutschen , 17th year, Weimar, 1841, p. 207
  11. ↑ Franz Xaver von Weilmeyr: sketched Stemmatographie today counts of Armansperg in Bavaria: A historical-biographical contribution to the German nobility customer , o O. 1830 S. 56th
  12. ^ Franz Joseph Adolph Schneidawind: The war of Austria against France, its allies and the Rhine Confederation in 1809 , Volume 1, Schaffhausen 1842, p. 76
  13. ↑ Franz Xaver von Weilmeyr: sketched Stemmatographie today counts of Armansperg in Bavaria: A historical-biographical contribution to the German nobility customer , o O. 1830 S. 56th
  14. ^ Georg Völkl: Becoming and working of the historical association for the Upper Palatinate and Regensburg 1830 - 1955 [4] accessed on June 3, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Armansperg, Franz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Armansperg, Franz Graf von; Armansperg, Franz Seraphin Felix Karl Johann Robert Aloys Reichsgraf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bavarian enlightener, church critic, lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1762
PLACE OF BIRTH Burghausen
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1839
Place of death regensburg