Friedrich Wilhelm von Graevenitz

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Friedrich Wilhelm von Graevenitz (born May 5, 1679 , † February 24, 1754 in Dalwitz ) was a Württemberg Privy Councilor , chief steward and prime minister . Since 1727 he was a member of the Imperial Counts as a member of the Franconian Imperial Circle and the Franconian Imperial Counts College. The imperial county ceased to exist in 1735 when the successor to Duke Eberhard Ludwig (died 1733), Duke Carl Alexander, an avowed and strict Catholic, drastically curtailed the power of the von Graevenitz family at the Württemberg court. The Duke considered the former Limpurgian Welzheim to have fallen back and turned it into a Kammerschreiberei-Oberamt that existed until 1807 (cf. Landesarchiv Stuttgart, Abt. Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, Findbuch A 441 L).

Life

Friedrich Wilhelm comes from the Mecklenburg noble family Graevenitz . He was the son of Hans Friedrich von Graevenitz (* 1637; † December 31, 1697) and his second wife Dorothea Margarethe, born von Wendessen († 1718) from the Borne family. His father was Herr auf Schilde, Waschow, Dockow and Schwanheide as well as Mecklenburg-Güstrower Privy Council, Chamber President and Obermarschall.

Graevenitz entered the service of Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Württemberg in 1705 as a chamberlain . Probably to make his fortune, he called his sister Christiane Wilhelmine to the ducal court. She soon became the duke's omnipotent mistress . Like herself, she knew how to provide all her followers, including her family, with plenty of offices, goods and the like.

Graevenitz Castle in Heimsheim

Graevenitz became a Privy Councilor , Chief Chamberlain and Prime Minister, and at the same time she was raised to the rank of imperial count on September 1, 1707. On January 18, 1716, he was made Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle by the Prussian King . He had earned some merit through his suppleness and through successful, intelligent negotiations in times of war and peace, in particular also skillful negotiations because of the disputes in the succession of the Württemberg county Mömpelgard (occupied by France since 1728). There he was also governor from 1723 to 1733. In 1724 Graevenitz received Heimsheim from Duke Eberhard Ludwig as a fief. He had the Graevenitz'sche Schloss built in 1729/30 by the Italian builder Paolo Retti on the remains of an old castle.

Even after his sister was overthrown in 1732, he remained at the head of the ministry for as long as Duke Eberhard Ludwig (died 1733) ruled. Already in 1731, he was named by the Prussian king for Prussian lieutenant general charged by the army, had there but never a command . He also brokered the rental of Württemberg troops to England.

It was only after the Duke's death in 1733 that his successor, Duke Carl Alexander , had him captured and interrogated from 1734 to 1735 at the Hohentwiel Fortress . After intervention by the emperor, he ceded his possessions in the country in exchange for compensation of 65,000 thalers and was released from prison. The fiefdom Heimsheim was transferred to the Duchess Maria Augusta in 1734, to whom it served as a widow's residence. Having fled to Vienna , he tried in vain to make trouble against the duke. He died in 1754.

family

Graevenitz was married several times. He married his first wife on January 8, 1698, it was Margarethe Sophia von Walsleben († October 5, 1698). The couple had no children.

His second wife was on December 30, 1699 Katharina Louise von Oertzen († August 26, 1703). The couple had the following children:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm (born November 3, 1700; † June 2, 1760), until 1733 Obermarschall, Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle ⚭ February 4, 1727 Sophie Luise von Wendessen († 1779)
  • Victor Sigismund (born October 20, 1701; † 1766), Comitial envoy until 1733, Knight of the Black Eagle Order
⚭ May 22, 1725 (divorced 1739) Christine Caroline Henriette, Countess of Limpurg-Speckfeld (born November 26, 1691; † November 13, 1765), daughter of Georg Eberhard von Limpurg-Speckfeld
⚭ Louise von Zabeltitz († 1774), daughter of Johann Philipp von Zabeltitz (also: Otto Ferdinand, commander of Hohenneuffen Castle )

One year after her death, he married Freiin Franziska von Stuben on June 1, 1704 († January 24, 1720). The couple had the following children:

  • Maria Luise Johanna Josepha (March 19, 1705 - September 19, 1746) ⚭ 1720 Ludwig Dietrich von Pfuhl (1669–1745), Swabian general

Shortly after her death, he married Amalie Magdalena von Wendessen on April 16, 1720 (* December 6, 1697; † August 1, 1738). The couple had the following children:

  • Eberhardine Henriette Wilhelmine (born July 3, 1721 - † May 13, 1767), nun in Gandersheim
  • Eberhard Friedrich Wilhelm (born February 3, 1724 - † May 8, 1730)
  • Friederike Caroline Wilhelmine (born August 14, 1730 - † April 22, 1765)
  • Sophia Friederike Louise (born October 22, 1736)

His fifth and last wife was on December 23, 1739 Albertine Elisabeth von Bassewitz (born August 13, 1712 - March 29, 1787), daughter of Henning Friedrich von Bassewitz . The couple had the following children:

  • Friedrich (born September 19, 1740 - † November 20, 1797)
⚭ NN
⚭ Adelheid Benedicta von Rantzow (* June 17, 1716 - September 19, 1793)
  • Henning Friedrich (March 12, 1744 - April 8, 1764)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ life data according to Priesdorff (lit.): * May 5, 1666; † February 25, 1755 in Perleberg .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Graevenitz, Friedrich Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Württemberg secret council, chief steward and prime minister
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1679
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1754
Place of death Dalwitz