Friedrich Alexander Moritz

Johann Friedrich Alexander Moritz (born March 25, 1786 in Ansbach ; † November 10, 1852 in Koblenz ) was a Prussian officer ( major ) and district administrator in the Zell district .

Life

According to his parents' marriage certificate in Ansbach from 9 September 1783, Friedrich Alexander Moritz was the son of the Bavarian silver treasurer and castle administrator ( castellan ) Andreas Moritz (1752–1834) and his wife Maria, born in Nuremberg , from Nuremberg . Appoldt (1753-1828). After finishing school at the grammar school in Ansbach, he initially worked for two years as a record and accounting officer at the domain office . This was followed by an activity in the ministerial commission, where he was entrusted with negotiating separate contracts for Bavaria. In 1804 Moritz first moved to Berlin, then to the Franconian Ministry and then he joined the H 5 Hussar Regiment ( Black Hussars ).

After attending the military academy , which ended in 1812, he was transferred to the Guard Cavalry and took part as a soldier in campaigns of the Prussian army between 1813 and 1815 ( wars of liberation ). On April 6, 1816, Moritz had to end his service due to health problems, most recently with the rank of major in the Royal Prussian Army . Just a few months later, on August 27, 1816, he was sworn in and appointed district commissioner in the district of Zell, which was followed by official confirmation of his appointment as district administrator on January 16, 1817. As the successor to Salentin von Cohausen, he was the second district administrator in the still young district of Zell, which had only been published the year before on May 14, 1816 as one of 16 new districts in the Koblenz administrative district .

During his tenure, during which Moritz was primarily concerned with the establishment of “loyal, royal Prussian administrations in the communities under his control”, he was not only noticed by his positive commitment. It is known that he had dismissed at least 3 mayors from their offices in no less than 7 years. It also met at this time incumbent mayor (mayor in Zell (Mosel) from 1803 to 1818) and Certificateur (interpreting. Certification) -Notar John Adams, the Moritz had dismissed from office for alleged official misconduct. In truth, however, he disliked the mayor's pro-French stance. The story, however, drew so broad circles that in the end even the Prussian State Chancellor Hardenberg got to the bottom of the matter. After Hardenberg received an "Address of the City of Koblenz" with 5000 signatures from the publicist Joseph Görres on January 12, 1818 on the occasion of a visit to the Rhineland , the king ( Friedrich Wilhelm III. ), Who had not wanted to allow the collection of signatures , wanted to visit the community at the Get to know the Moselle, who refused to sign in order to publicly praise them and to grant them a year of tax exemption, the district administrator should even be awarded the Order of the Red Eagle .

Hardenberg had suspected, made his own inquiries at short notice, ignored the cabinet orders of his sovereign and immediately identified the district administrator, who had reported the "punishable" signature action only in order to wipe out personal differences from the mayor of the district town [Zell]. Furthermore, Hardenberg assumed that the district administrator Moritz, who was being considered with awards, had a “far and wide more than bad reputation” and was, as the Koblenz government declared, “the worst administrative officer in the entire Koblenz administrative district ” .

The next one Moritz wanted to remove from office was tax collector Peter Franz Maas, whom he had even brought charges against. During the trial, however, the allegations turned out to be baseless and the tax collector had to be reinstated.

There was another dispute with the Justizrath and Justice of the Peace Peter Schumm from Zell, the outcome of which, however, was not documented. However, in contrast to Moritz, he was awarded the fourth class Red Eagle Order.

Moritz is unlikely to have been harmed by these stories and the assessment of his work by third parties, as he was personally friends with King Friedrich Wilhelm III., Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And his younger brother Prince Wilhelm I. The district administrator had met the two princes more or less by chance in a riding accident in the Berlin pleasure garden . Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Visited the Moselle area several times from 1818 and was particularly interested in the lookout point called "Horse's Head". A year later, in 1819, he visited the spa town of Bad Bertrich , met Moritz and both of them visited the horse's head together, from which later, in honor of the prince, the name “Prinzenhöhe” and ultimately the name “Prinzenkopf” ( prince head tower ) arose . Prince Wilhelm I and Moritz met for the last time in 1847 in his residence in the castle in Zell on the Moselle.

After a large-scale fire disaster occurred in Zell (Mosel) on the evening of August 22, 1848, in which 152 residential and commercial buildings were destroyed, Moritz organized both state and private aid to provide the residents with the best possible support in the shortest possible time to give to their need.

After 34 years of service as the Prussian district administrator, Moritz took his well-deserved retirement in 1851. In the autumn of the following year he died in Koblenz while visiting his daughter.

Marienburg

Marienburg around 1900

When the Marienburg (Moselle) passed into the possession of France after secularization on September 8, 1803, it was first acquired by the surgeon Jodokus Crossius from Zell, then Stephan Kallfelz from Merl and, in 1838, District Administrator Moritz, hut owner Remy and the son of Kallfelz the ruins of Marienburg including the monastery garden and property.

Moritzheim

Moritzheim

When there was a major fire disaster in Senheim on August 13, 1839 , in which 106 residential and 22 wine press houses as well as 7 barns had burned down and not all families could find space in Senheim, District Administrator Moritz let in on the Hunsrück according to his plans found the Moritzheim "colony" in the Grenderich district . Since Senheim had made community land available for this purpose on the nearby Moselle hill, the settlement was initially called Hoch-Senheim , but later the place was renamed Moritzheim in honor of District Administrator Moritz .

Former synagogue

In 1849, District Administrator Moritz sold the upper floors of the domestics building ( servants' house ) adjacent to the Zell Castle for 300 thalers to the Israelite community of Briedel - Zell , represented by Jacob Hirsch and Jacob Bermann from Zell and Moses Hirsch from Briedel. The only requirement according to the sales contract was that an east-facing entrance door had to be established so that visitors to the synagogue and the prayer room did not have to go through the courtyard of the palace.

family

Zell Castle (Moselle)

Moritz had been with Elisabeth, born in Trier, since November 16, 1819. Courau (* 1796) married. From this marriage a total of 9 children were born. The family lived in Kaimt for the first few years, and later they lived in Zell Castle.

Complementary

Johann Friedrich Moritz was according to a letter from King Friedrich Wilhelm III. To the Upper President of the Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine , Karl von Ingersleben of March 21, 1818 "Government Plenipotentiary in Special Matters" .

literature

• Alfons Friderichs (ed.): Moritz, Johann Friedrich Alexander in personalities of the Cochem-Zell district. Kliomedia, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-89890-084-3 , pp. 248-249.
• Robert Castor: The district administrators of Cochem and Zell, Altkreis Zell (Mosel), Moritz Friedrich Alexander in Heimatjahrbuch Cochem-Zell 2006, p. 69.
• Heinz Kugel: Moritzheim - a still young place. The small Hunsrück village is only 168 years old. , in Heimatjahrbuch Cochem-Zell 2010, pp. 198-201.

Web links

• Entry on Friedrich Alexander Moritz in the Rhineland-Palatinate personal database
• Moritzheim ... (... in the Hunsrück and its history)
• at synagogezell.de "FORMER SYNAGOGUE of the Israelite community of Zell-Mosel-Briedel-Bullay-Merl and Pünderich Purchase contract of April 9, 1849 District Administrator Alexander Moritz to Jacob Hirsch and Jacob Bermann from Zell and Moses Hirsch from Briedel FOR A REMINDER AND ADMINISTRATION."
• The Zell fire disaster in 1848, at bestzeller.de “Half of the citizens were drunk because the notary Diel was married to his daughter… The District Administrator Moritz was also drunk and, despite many warnings, did not have a house demolished and the fire was defeated. "

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Andreas Moritz Ansbach, steward Andreas Moritz, address and Statistical Manual for Rezatkreis in the Kingdom of Bavaria: 1820 in-Google Book Search
2. ↑ Andreas Moritz, Königl. Bair. SchloßsCastellan und Silberkämmerer, in General Pocket Book for Freemasons: 1810 in the Google book search
3. ^ Obituary from April 15, 1828 from Maria Moritz geb. Appelt, in Königlich Bayerisches Intellektivenblatt for the Rezat district: 1828 in the Google book search
4. ^ Minutes of the Secret State Conference of July 8, 1803, 705 - Explanation of the term separate contracts
5. ↑ Johannes Adams in the RPPD
6. ^ Görres, Johann Joseph von (Bavarian staff nobility 1839), in German biography
7. ↑ District Administrator Moritz in Zell, Ernst Klein, From Reform to Restoration: Financial Policy and Reform Legislation of the Prussian State Chancellor Karl August Von Hardenberg, Walter de Gruyter 1965, pp. 229-230 in the Google book search
8. ^ I. Senate. Meeting of June 13, 1831. Lawyers: Kolthoff - Bleissem; (Case) Moritz - Maas (Peter Franz Maas), in Archives for Civil and Criminal Law of the Royal Prussian Rhine Provinces, Ed. G. Sandt, New Edition, Ninth Volume, First Department, Cologne am Rhein, printed and published by Peter 1832, pp. 71-80 in the Google book search
9. ↑ Schumm Peter Franz / 1765-1857, in the RPPD
10. ↑ Peter Schumm Friedensrichter Zell, Justice Ministerialblatt for Prussian legislation and administration of justice, Volume 6 in the Google book search
11. ↑ The observation tower on the Prinzenkopf, puenderich.de
12. ^ Chronicle of Senheim, at senheim.de
13. ^ Moritzheim, at hunsrueck-nahereise.de
14. ↑ Aerial photo of Moritzheim, beilocabook.de
15. ↑ Former synagogue Zell, at gastlandschaften.de
16. ↑ On the history of the synagogue, at allemania-judaica.de
17. ↑ Photo of the building with the entrance to the former synagogue before the restoration began, at allemania-judaica.de