Friedrich von Eerde

Friedrich Heinrich Melchior Clemens August Freiherr von Eerde (born January 5, 1781 at Haus Eyll (today Kamp-Lintfort) , † December 22, 1848 in Geldern ) was mayor of Vierquartier from 1813 to 1816 , and at almost the same time he was cantonal commissioner of Rheinberg and from 1816 to 1816 at his death the first royal Prussian district administrator in the Geldern district . Friedrich Freiherr von Eerde died while serving as a Privy Councilor and senior district administrator in the Düsseldorf administrative district .

Life

Friedrich Freiherr von Eerde was born on January 5, 1781 in the allodial house Eyll, which was only awarded to the Catholic family von Eerde, originally from Eerde Castle near Ommen in the Dutch province of Overijssel , in 1757 after a protracted dispute over inheritance before the Imperial Court of Justice . The occasion was the will of Catharina Johanna von Pallant, b. of Gysenberg (15 † January 1729 to house Eyll) of 29 July 1720. The baron title leads the family that the Dutch nobility is counted, at least since 1687. The coat of arms of the family of Eerde facing the blazon of Munster cathedral chapter "in On the inside there is a silver field with a red half-monen on the back, an open red helmet, on top a goldt, with a red strigell mixed stem, whereupon a wise feud bush, other extremities mixed with red and silver "(1713).

Friedrich was baptized on the day of his birth in the parish church of the Assumption of Mary belonging to the Eyll family. While his three first names clearly refer to the grandfather and Eyller patriarch Friedrich Heinrich Melchior Freiherr von Eerde (born January 4, 1690 in Fritzlar , † December 1771 in Haus Eyll), the last two relate to the Archbishop of Cologne and Elector Clemens August, who died in 1761 I. von Bayern , but also think of the godfather Clemens August Freiherr von Wendt .

The parents

Friedrich's parents were Franz Karl Jakob Freiherr von Eerde (born July 26, 1742 in Eyll, † November 23, 1796 in Eyll), Herr zu Eyll and Erprath bei Toenisberg, who belonged to the state parliaments of Cologne and Geldern and in 1778 was one of the many Chamberlain of Cologne Elector Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels had been appointed, and Maria Charlotte geb. von Brackel (born September 1, 1752 in Koblenz , † July 1, 1819 in Nieukerk ), the canoness of the Rellinghausen women's foundation .

The parents' marriage in 1773 - the marriage contract signed at Baldeney Castle dated May 26, 1773 - was marked by personal rifts and debts. After the accidental death of the father on November 23, 1796, the "Wittib Erde" went civil on February 19, 1799 and on February 21 ecclesiastically a second marriage with the French cavalry lieutenant Firmin Berly (born February 13, 1754 in Milencourt, † July 10 1832 in Nieukerk). The witnesses were the Cistercian monks Albericus Peters and Bernhardus Sassenfeld from Kamper as well as the day laborer Gördz Sauerkamp and the gardener Petrus Schlotten. The remarriage does not seem to have met with approval from family or relatives. The Berly couple left Haus Eyll soon afterwards and moved permanently to Nieukerk.

Childhood and youth

Friedrich von Eerde experienced his childhood at Haus Eyll, on which more than 80 rural properties were dependent around 1760, and first attended the grammar school in Kempen and the academy in Düsseldorf, in order to then undergo theoretical and practical agricultural training in Paderborn . His youth as a half-orphan fell during the French rule on the Lower Rhine. Haus Eyll, which was considered "very dilapidated" as early as 1780, was used by the French as a hospital for a time and suffered severe damage.

When his father died suddenly, Friedrich was a good 15 years old. His eldest sister Maria Theodora Antonetta (died September 28, 1774 in Eyll, † February 25, 1844 in Vissel) had been with Friedrich August von since May 1795, who was brought up at times in Trier and in 1792 by Emperor Franz II for the aristocratic dynasty of Flaesheim Pelden called Cloudt (* March 6, 1770 at Lauersfort Castle , † February 6, 1848 in Vissel) married and lived on Lauersfort near chapels . Maria Bernhardine (baptized September 28, 1778 in Eyll, † February 25, 1862 in Paris) in turn married the French Edmund Georg Maillard around 1796 and moved permanently to France.

On January 19, 1801, a contract was signed in Rheinberg between the 20-year-old Friedrich von Eerde on the one hand and his mother Charlotte Berly nee. von Brackel and his stepfather Firmin Berly on the other hand. The entire von Eerdesche property, which from 1791 to at least 1797 had been administered by the Kempen mayor Franz Emans "because of bad business" , was transferred to Friedrich, who in return undertook to take over the mother's debts and a quarterly pension of 900 francs and to deliver food, wood and flax at his own expense within a four-hour radius.

In the register of residents of the municipality of Lintfort, the later district administrator does not appear again until 1803 on Haus Eyll, namely as "Fridiric van Eerden" with the professional title "cultivateur" (farmer). At that time he devoted himself to the reorganization of the inherited parental property.

District Administrator of the district of Geldern (1816–1848)

Friedrich von Eerde gained his first practical administrative experience in 1813/16 as Maire (mayor) of Vierquartier - consisting of the communities of Kamperbruch , Lintfort, Rossenray and Saalhoff - and at around the same time as Cantonal Commissioner of Rheinberg. In an express letter from the provisional district president in Kleve dated April 21, 1816, "because of the assumption of the county council post in Geldern", Eerde announced that "the local royal government will not be averse to transferring this county council post to you subject to higher approval" . Three thalers a day and an annual travel allowance of 200 thalers were announced as "appropriate diets". Von Eerde replied on the following day that he would "endeavor to carry out the orders of His Royal Majesty and those of a highly commendable government as punctually as possible". The still unmarried 35-year-old von Eerde began his life's work as the royal Prussian district administrator in the Geldern district or initially as "district commissioner" on May 1, 1816. His first major official challenge was mastering the hunger crisis of 1816. From January 16, 1817, von Eerde was given the title of "District Administrator".

The district administrator was assisted by the competent district secretary Norbert Engelhard, as well as district assistants, a district messenger and district mailman, as well as a district builder, a district physician to oversee the doctors and pharmacists and a district veterinarian. The areas of responsibility of the district administration included the trade police, school and cultural affairs, recruitment and mobilization, the police, the health system and the collection of most direct state taxes. From 1823 the administrative area also extended to the area of ​​the former Rheinberg district, which was absorbed into the greater district of Geldern. From 1828 two so-called district deputies were deputies of the district administrator: Carl Ludwig Franz von Varo to House Caen (until 1853) and Baron von Grüter-Morrien to House Kalbeck , who was followed in 1839 by Carl Freiherr von Raesfeldt to House Tervoort near Repelen . District Administrator von Eerde chaired the district assembly, which met an average of only two times a year.

Regarding the revolutionary efforts, which did not stop at the city of Geldern, von Eerde confessed in a report to the government in Düsseldorf on June 17, 1848: I have spread my vigilance in all directions and hope the spirit of unrest and to remain a master of rebellion, although I must honestly admit that I met many characters in those times.

The first district administrator of the district of Geldern died at the age of 68 as the senior district administrator of the Düsseldorf district and secret government councilor on December 22, 1848 "early strengthened by the remedies of our Christian Catholic Church" in his house at Gelderstrasse 31 in Geldern from "the consequences of a nervous fever". He was buried in his native Eyll in the cemetery next to the parish church. He was the first of the von Eerde zu Eyll family to find his final resting place not in the church but in the neighboring cemetery.

Friedrich von Eerde managed the Geldern district for over 32 years. After his death, the position of the district administrator was initially held for a period of nine years by a total of six people on a temporary basis or by order.

Descendants

The first district administrator of Geldern was married to Felicitas (Felicia) Philippine Maria Ruys von Beerenbroeck, who was 20 years his junior and was born on April 22, 1801 in Kleve , daughter of Edmund Hieronymus Ruys von Beerenbroeck, general collector of the province of Limburg , and Clara Maria Anna Philippina, née. van Aefferden. The marriage was concluded in Maastricht on February 3, 1824 . This was preceded on December 10, 1823, also in Maastricht, with the conclusion of a notarial marriage contract . The district family initially lived in the house at Großer Markt 7, but moved to Gelderstrasse 31 around 1827/29.

After her husband's death, the widow von Eerde left Geldern and went to Cologne, where she outlived her husband by more than half a century. By contract of November 15, 1899, she renounced her husband's inheritance in favor of her eight children who were still alive. Felicitas von Eerde died on January 13, 1905 in Cologne at the old age of 103 and was buried four days later in the family grave at the Eyller cemetery.

The marriage resulted in a total of eleven children born in Geldern: Georg Friedrich Carl Philipp (1825–1890), Hedwig Maria Theoroda (1826–1916), Alexis Wilhelmina Charlotte (1827–1895), Bertha Bernhardine Albertine Maria (1829–1908), Friedrich Heinrich Melchior Carl Franz (1830–1908), who held the office of mayor of Lintfort from 1857 until his death, Justine Camilla Maria (1831–1912), Friedrich Wilhelm Maria (1833–1908), who embarked on a military career, Maria (1835–1927), Antonia Maria Philippine (1837–1930), Olga (1840–1919) and Maria Felicitas (1843–1889). The eldest son Georg von Eerde also became district administrator of the Geldern district in 1857/59.

Services

On August 22, 1822 Friedrich von Eerde, who is described as "generally popular in his circle", received a commendation from Friedrich Wilhelm III. because of its excellent reporting on the school system in the Geldern district. On January 18, 1825, in recognition of his service, he was awarded the fourth class of the Red Eagle , which was followed by the third class with the ribbon on May 1, 1841 on the occasion of his 25th anniversary in service. By cabinet order of Friedrich Wilhelm IV on October 6, 1847, Friedrich von Eerde was appointed a secret councilor.

Furthermore, Friedrich von Eerde tried to balance his family's relationship with the Catholic Church, which had suffered not insignificantly during his father's lifetime. The Münster bishop Kaspar Maximilian von Droste-Vischering thanked him personally for his long-standing efforts to rebuild the parish Eyll in 1835 in a letter dated June 17, 1835.

literature

• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of baronial houses 1921 , p. 195 f.
• WA Beelaerts van Blokland: De afstamming van het out-adelijk geslacht van Eerde , in: Maandblad van het Genealogisch-Heraldisch Genootschap "De Nederlandsche Leeuw" 49 (1931) 5, Sp. 129 ff.
• Richard Verhuven: Manor Erprath near St. Toenisberg in the Kempen-Krefeld district and its owners , Hüls 1934, p. 37 ff.
• Ders .: Castle and Parish Eyll , in: Die Heimat - Zeitschrift für Niederrheinische Heimatpflege 25 (1954) 3, 4, pp. 188 ff.
• JW Schaap: Die geschiedenis van het Overijssels-Gelderse geslacht van Eerde , in: Maandblad van het Genealogisch-Heraldisch Genootschap "De Nederlandsche Leeuw" 89 (1971), Sp. 6 ff.
• Gregor Hövelmann : History of the district of Geldern, first part: 1816–1866 , Geldern 1974, p. 20 ff.
• Ders .: The district administrators of the district of Geldern , in: Geldrischer Heimatkalender 1975, p. 10 ff.
• Ders .: Der Großkreis Geldern (1823–1857) , in: Meinhard Pohl (ed.), Spatial planning on the Lower Rhine - District reforms since 1816, Wesel 1985, p. 54 ff.
• Horst Romeyck: The leading state and local administrative officials of the Rhine Province 1816-1945 , Düsseldorf 1994, p. 425 f., ISBN 3-7700-7585-4
• Karin Koch / Martin Koch / Albert Spitzner-Jahn: News about the Geldern district administrators Friedrich and Georg von Eerde , in: Geldrischer Heimatkalender 2000, p. 180 ff.
• Albert Spitzner-Jahn: An inventory of the house Eyll in Kamp-Lintfort from the year 1631 , in: Jahrbuch Kreis Wesel 2000, p. 65 ff., ISBN 3-87463-327-6