Friedrich Wilhelm von Lepel (1716–1783)

Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Lepel (1716–1783)

House coat of arms of the Counts of Lepel

Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Lepel (* December 1, 1716 in Bahne near Hoogstede ; † December 2, 1783 in Nassenheide ) was a German heir , feudal lord and court lord on Böck, Nassenheide, Plöwen, Blankensee, Frauenhagen and Kuhweide, Prussian officer, Art collector, knight and commander of the Order of St. John .

origin

Friedrich Wilhelm von Lepel was the son of Otto Gustav von Lepel , Prussian major general , manor owner on Böck , Blankensee and Nassenheide and governor of the fortress Küstrin and Louisa Scholastika, born von Blanckensee (1683–1745).

Life

When his father died in 1735, at the age of nineteen he became the heir of the Nassenheider estates. He took the feudal oath in Stettin in 1736. For ten years he was in Prussian military service . In 1735 he became an ensign with the Dragoons in the “von Graevenitz” regiment in Magdeburg , and in 1740 he was promoted to second lieutenant . Because of an eye ailment that over time - more than thirty years before his death - led to his complete blindness, Friedrich Wilhelm decided at the end of 1745 to say goodbye. He then lived in France for several years, then in Szczecin. During this time the Nassenheider estates were leased. Later he lived on Nassenheide, but left it with the lease. As a result of his numerous art-oriented travels, he put on art collections in the manor house, which after his death were considerably expanded by his son Wilhelm with even greater passion and energy.

On February 26, 1737, he was made Knight of the Order of St. John in the church in Sonnenburg . Later he also became their commander.

The Prussian King Friedrich II elevated Friedrich Wilhelm and his legitimate descendants to the hereditary count of "beyderley sex" with a diploma dated August 26, 1749.

From 1751 to 1771 he had to go through a twenty-year feudal process, initiated by the von Ramin family. But he won the process with perseverance and the greater financial reserves.

Friedrich Wilhelm is said to have lived in Stettin after the death of his wife, completely blind, but died in Nassenheide. Like his father, he was buried in the family crypt in Böck.

family

Friedrich Wilhelm married Countess Amalie Henckel von Donnersmarck (1720–1783) in 1752. The marriage resulted in five children, three sons and two daughters. But only his son and heir Wilhelm (1755–1826) and their two daughters Ottilie (1756–1843) and Ulrike (1759–1831) survived childhood.

1. Heinrich (life data not known)
2. Wilhelm Heinrich Ferdinand Karl (1755–1826), Royal Prussian envoy to the Swedish court in Stockholm
3. Juliane (born October 17, 1756; date of death not known), twin of her sister Ottilie
4. Eleonora Maximiliane Ottilie Louise (1756–1843), lady of the palace and chief stewardess to Maria Pawlowna , Grand Duchess of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach, ⚭ Frauenhagen, Stolpirer Kreis, January 11, 1774 Viktor Amadeus Henckel von Donnersmarck (1727–1793), Prussian lieutenant general and governor from Koenigsberg.
5. Friederike Henriette Ulrike Scholastika (born April 10, 1759 in Nassenheide; † December 20, 1831 in Stettin), since 1804 lady-in-waiting of Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg in Ludwigslust, ⚭ January 30, 1781 Bogislav Karl von Schmeling (* 1754; † before 1804)

literature

• Historisch-Genealogisches Handbuch des Familie v. Lepel (Lepell). Developed by Andreas Hansert and Oskar Matthias Frhr on the basis of family history sources. v. Lepel with the assistance of Klaus Bernhard Frhr. v. Lepel and Herbert Stoyan. German Family Archives, Volume 151, Verlag Degener & Co., owner Manfred Dreiss, Insingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7686-5201-8 .
• Oskar Matthias Frhr. v. Lepel: Nassenheide in Pomerania. History of a manor. Barton Verlag, Metternich 2014, ISBN 978-3-934648-03-6 .