Friederike von Reden

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Friederike von Reden, memorial at the Wang Church in Karpacz

Friederike Countess von Reden , called Fritze von Reden , née Freiin Riedesel zu Eisenbach (born May 12, 1774 in Wolfenbüttel , † May 14, 1854 in Buchwald , Riesengebirge ) was the wife of the Prussian Minister Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden . Because of her social commitment, she was also called the "mother of the Hirschberger Valley " .

Life

Portrait of Friederike von Reden drawn by her sister Charlotte

The daughter of General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel zu Eisenbach and his wife Friederike Charlotte Luise , b. von Massow, grew up in the USA . Her mother and children followed her husband in 1776, who fought on the side of the English as commander of the Brunswick troops in the American War of Independence . Even after the end of the war and their return in 1783, the family's life was unsettled. General Riedesel was often on trips between Berlin and Holland, later he fell seriously ill as a result of his imprisonment and died in 1800.

At that time the family lived on their estates in Silesia . On August 9, 1802, Fritze married the Prussian chief miner Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden , whom she had met for the first time in London in 1776 as a child before her departure . There was an age difference of 22 years between the married couple and for Friederike Friedrich Wilhelm was also a father figure. In 1808 her mother died in Berlin.

The marriage had no offspring and her husband died on July 3, 1815. She found her new purpose in life in the pietistic faith. Friederike von Reden set up soup kitchens and took care of the poorest people. As a successor to her husband, she continued to run Gut Buchwald, cultivating plants, especially new types of grain, and promoting flax cultivation.

Buchwald Castle became an intellectual and spiritual center for the Silesian nobility. Here u. a. Field Marshal General von Gneisenau , Elisa Radziwill , Marianne von Prussia and members of the Count's houses of Reuss-Köstritz and Schaffgotsch . At that time, the Hirschberg Valley developed into a meeting place for the German and Polish nobility. The castles in Stonsdorf (Staniszów) and Neuhof (Radociny) were owned by the Reussians, Schloss Fischbach (Karpniki) had been owned by Prince Wilhelm of Prussia since 1822 , Ruhberg (Ciszyca) had belonged to Princess Luise Radziwill since 1824 , and Erdmannsdorf (1832) Mysłakowice ) to King Friedrich Wilhelm III. and Schloss Schildau (Wojanów) from 1839 his daughter Luise , Princess of the Netherlands. They had a close friendship with the later King Friedrich Wilhelm IV .

Friederike and her husband were buried in the so-called abbey ruins of Bukowiec , a mausoleum built for the family in the landscape garden of the castle.

Buchwalder Bible Society

Shortly before his death, on June 15, 1815, von Reden founded the Buchwalder Biblical Society and made Friederike president for life. Under her leadership, the Bible Society developed into a social aid organization in Silesia , which primarily helped to alleviate the plight of the Silesian weavers, pre-industrial homeworkers, among whom the Silesian weaver rebellion broke out in the region of the neighboring Owl Mountains in 1844 .

Foundation of Zillerthal-Erdmannsdorf

Friederike von Reden came up with the idea of ​​founding the Exulantendorf Zillerthal-Erdmannsdorf (Mysłakowice) in the Giant Mountains and in 1837 she founded the Committee for the Zillerthalers , which she chaired. Friedrich Wilhelm III. At her request, 422 Zillertal inclinants , who were expelled from the Tyrolean Zillertal because of their Protestant beliefs , allowed them to settle in Silesia.

Implementation of the Wang Church

Wang Church around 1900
Memorial stone for the Countess Speeches next to the Wang Church

The implementation of the Norwegian stave church Wang from the 12./13. Century is one of the greatest achievements of the Countess von Reden. This church, which was to be replaced by a larger church in Vang in southern Norway, was bought by Dresden professor Johan Christian Clausen Dahl for 95 species in 1840 . The painter, who came from Norway , was unable to bear the transportation costs, which were several times the purchase price of around 427 marks, and offered the church to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV . Friedrich Wilhelm was willing to take on the costs and intended to build it on Pfaueninsel on Berlin's Wannsee .

Countess von Reden considered this location unsuitable. It showed the king the necessity of a church for the Giant Mountains villages Krummhübel ( Karpacz ) and Brückenberg ( Karpacz Górny ) below the Schneekoppe , the construction of which, which had been planned since 1743, could not be carried out due to lack of money. This convinced Friedrich Wilhelm. The church, which had already been shipped to Berlin via Bergen and Stettin, found its new location in Brückenberg on a piece of land made available by Count Leopold Schaffgotsch . The cost of the purchase and implementation amounted to 23,000 thalers. Friedrich Wilhelm IV granted the Countess an amount of 40,000 thalers, of which she used the surplus for social purposes. Reconstruction began in 1842 under the direction of master builder Hamann. On July 28, 1844, in the presence of the king, the church was consecrated, in the vicinity of which August Stüler built a massive tower and a parish and school house. After her death, the king had the Countess Reden put a memorial stone with a long inscription he wrote next to Wang Church. These buildings are still preserved in Karpacz Górny today. The countess was buried next to her husband in the mausoleum of the artificial "abbey ruin" built in 1815 in the park of Buchwald .

See also

literature

Mausoleum "Abbey ruin" in the park of Buchwald

Web links

Commons : Friederike von Reden  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Talk, Friederike von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Speeches, Friederike Countess von (full name); Talk, Fritze of; Riedesel zu Eisenbach, Friederike Freiin zu (birth name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of the Prussian Minister Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolfenbüttel
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1854
Place of death Buchwald