Friedrich Carl Devens

This article describes the district administrator. For the writer of the same name, see Friedrich Karl Devens

Friedrich Carl Devens (born November 7, 1782 in Horst-Emscher , † January 4, 1849 in Welheim ) was a Prussian judicial commissioner and member of the Westphalian provincial council.

Career

Friedrich Carl Devens around 1830

Antonette Devens, b. Billmann around 1830

His parents were Dr. med. Caspar Maria von Devens (1750-1810) and Petronella Constantine, b. Wolff (1749–1834), who lived in Horst / Emscher (today Gelsenkirchen-Horst ) in the "Doktorhaus" built in 1753 on Essener Chaussee. His godparents were his uncle Franz Joseph Devens, canon of the Essen Cathedral Church, and his aunt Franziska Josephine Callenberg.

Friedrich Carl Devens attended the Latin monastery school in Essen and studied law in Halle / Saale . In 1804 he passed his exam as a lawyer .

On September 17, 1804 he began his work as a trainee lawyer with the Duke-Arenberg government in Recklinghausen . After just one year, he was promoted to court judge on August 6, 1805 . In the same year he was appointed syndic of the Coming Welheim . In 1809 he started a new job as a district and trademark judge in Vest Recklinghausen . In 1810 he was appointed Grand Ducal Bergisch tax auditor of the Recklinghausen division. In 1812 he worked as an advocate for the Bergischer Appellationshof. In 1814 he became the commander of the Landsturm in the Horst district. After the Grand Duchy of Berg fell to Prussia , Devens became Prussian Justice Commissioner on May 6, 1815 and, as such, carried out the legal transactions of Baron von Fürstenberg-Herdringen and Prince von Bentheim-Tecklenburg with extensive powers. In addition, Devens held many honorary and secondary positions. He made a special contribution to the order of the cadastral system and as a member of the state parliament for the province of Westphalia, where he was able to enjoy the support of Minister of State Baron Friedrich von and zum Stein (1757-1831), with whom he was closely related. At his suggestion, he was awarded the "Red Eagle Order IV Class" by Friedrich Wilhelm III in 1820 .

From 1825 he lived with his family at Haus Knippenburg , a medieval moated castle. Devens bought it on June 9, 1821, along with several hundred acres of land, gardens, parks, tenement houses, and farm buildings. He also leased the possessions of the former Kommende Welheim with the Horster Mark and the Welheimer Mark including Karnap . In addition to horse breeding, he ran an extensive farm here. Like his uncle, Canon Dr. theol. Johann Ignaz Devens (1754–1821), he bred “excellent wild horses in the Emscherbruch near Welheim, a large number of which were sent to the Royal Kings every year until the beginning of the 1940s. Remontekommission in Recklinghausen were sold. "

Friedrich Carl Devens maintained a friendly relationship with Alfred Krupp (1812–1887) and his family. Krupp had the first steel barrels for hunting rifles and target pistols made in his factory in Essen and gave them to his friend Devens. These new barrels made the previous hammering in of the balls by means of a greased cotton plaster superfluous. Alfred Krupp was also a frequent guest at Welheim Palace, where he a. a. used the shooting range.

In 1826 he became a member of the first Westphalian Provincial Parliament for the Recklinghausen district, which he represented until 1828. On February 8, 1827 he was awarded the title of court counselor to the Prince of Bentheim-Tecklenburg .

In the district election of December 16, 1829 Devens lost in the first ballot against the Count of Westerholt-Gysenberg with 8: 7 votes. Freiherr vom Stein, who accused the Count of laziness and incompetence, put through a second ballot, which Devens won, so that on July 6, 1830, he received the royal appointment as district administrator of the Recklinghausen district. On July 7th, 1830, the district administration moved from Westerholt Castle to Welheim Castle with five carriages, where the two castle towers housed the office and archive.

From 1837 to 1841 Devens was again a member of the Westphalian Provincial Parliament. In this role he played a key role in the final solution to the dispute over the division of Horster Mark, the construction of paved roads and the construction of the Cöln-Minden railway line . From 1842 to 1848 he was also a member of the United State Committees in Berlin.

In 1848 Friedrich Carl Devens fell seriously ill. On January 4, 1849, at the age of 66, he died of "weight loss" at Welheim Castle and was buried in the Devens' hereditary crypt in the old cemetery on Horster Strasse in Bottrop .

In Gelsenkirchen-Horst, Bottrop and Recklinghausen a street has been named after him.

family

Friedrich Carl Devens married 15-year-old Antonette Francisca Gertrude Billmann (born March 27, 1796 in Recklinghausen; † October 19, 1863 at Welheim Palace) on September 3, 1811, daughter of the Arenberg government director Edmund Billmann (1770-1811) and his wife Marie Antoinette, b. Cranes (1772-1837). The marriage resulted in 11 children:

• Constantine Friederike Antonette Devens (1813–1814)
• Johann Ignaz Friedrich Carl Devens (1815–1861)
• Antonie Maria Devens (1816-1883)
• Constantine Franziska Friederika Devens (1818–1865)
• Therese Sophie Wilhelmine Devens (1820–1869)
• Anton Ferdinand Devens (1822–1872)
• Franz Joseph Edmund Devens (1824–1848)
• Louise Georgine Christine Devens (1826-1896)
• Friedrich Leopold Devens (1831-1894)
• Prosper Caspar Leonard Devens (1834-1882)

A letter from Friedrich Leopold Devens from 1839 has been preserved in the Postage Club Recklinghausen, in which he informed his father about the training opportunities and costs of his brother Anton Ferdinand as an ensign.

Devens was a family man. His aunt Louise Marquise de Vauchausade lived on his estate with her family and the later imperial educator Georg Ernst Hinzpeter (1827–1907) lived with his family. The poet Luise Hensel (1798–1876) lived at Knippenburg for a few weeks every year. In her correspondence, she is enthusiastic about the castle, the beautiful landscape and the hospitality of the Devens family. The stays inspired her u. a. to her famous prayer " I'm tired, go to rest " and the poem "Knippenburg":

A castle rises gray and solemn, made of corridors and ancient trees, the hospitable gate to the stately rooms of the house opens in a friendly manner . And the myrtle turns green and the laurel rustles and oranges blow in the wind, and many a friendly word is exchanged on the green, fragrant linden tree. But on the terrace, in the garden and park, there is no poetic essence; the word of eternal life resounds through hearts and marrow . Because when the bell of the tower rings high above the silent chapel, the speech of the mouth fades away like the wave fleeing the stream!

Individual evidence

1. ↑ William Berdrow: The Krupp family in Essen from 1587 to 1887. Graphic Institute of the Friedrich Krupp AG, Essen 1,931th

literature

• Jürgen Schäfer (arrangement), Recklinghausen district (ed.): The district administrators of the Recklinghausen district from 1816 to 1999 . Recklinghausen 2001.
• Paul Bahlmann : Friedrich Karl Devens. First district administrator of the Recklinghausen district . In: Journal of the associations for local and local history in the fortress and district of Recklinghausen , vol. 6 (1896), pp. 147-149b.
• Homeland. Edited by Kurt Gaertner. Bimonthly magazine of the Recklinghäuser Zeitung.
• Alfred Bruns (Ed.), Josef Häming (compilation): The Members of the Westphalia Parliament 1826–1978 (= Westphalian source and archive directories, Volume 2). Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, Münster 1978, p. 242.