Georg David Hunter

Georg David Jäger (* 1712 ; † April 12, 1779 in Strasbourg ) was the syndic of the knightly canton of Odenwald . The construction of the Syndikus Jägerschen building in Kochendorf , named after him, goes back to him . Even entangled in various financial machinations, he uncovered the broken conditions in the knight's canton in a pamphlet in 1779 and committed suicide.

Life

Georg David Jäger studied cameral sciences and agriculture and became a privy councilor of the Duke of Zweibrücken. He came into the service of the knightly canton of Odenwald in 1750, was initially canton archivist for a few months and then first in-house counsel. From 1754 he was also tenant of the Presteneck manor in Stein am Kocher , later owner of the Bürg farm , from 1760 tenant of the Oedheim and Willenbach estates and from 1761/1762 also tenant of the aristocratic estates in Kochendorf , where the knight's canton relocated its office in 1762. Jäger ran beer breweries, distilleries, a starch factory and cattle breeding.

From 1761 to 1764 he had the Syndikus Jägerschen Bau built in Kochendorf , a large building complex consisting of three multi-storey buildings as well as ancillary buildings, which he himself moved into as his residential and office headquarters and which also served as a guest house to accommodate the convents in Kochendorf that would last for several weeks 30 to 50 Imperial Knights who stayed there were intended. Since the building was built against the resistance of some councils of knights, it was not considered a canton property, but was one of Jäger's private property, so that Jäger ultimately had to finance most of it privately. After the building was expanded again in 1777, Jäger's related debts amounted to over 130,000 guilders. Jäger had far-reaching plans for the building in which he wanted to open a knight academy in collaboration with Johann Bernhard Basedow .

As a syndic, Jäger was entrusted with the redevelopment of the finances of Meinhard Rüdt von Collenberg (1720–1789), who had become captain of knights in the knightly canton of Odenwald in 1750, but who had incurred debt as an envoy at the imperial court in Vienna and at the Württemberg court. Jäger had high hopes for Rüdts ironworks in Sennfeld , which, however, were not economically viable. Meanwhile, Rüdt forged numerous documents by improperly using the official seal of the knight's canton and thus mixing up private and cantonal business. Ultimately, he had accumulated around half a million guilders in debt and tried to evade responsibility by fleeing to Switzerland after a complaint with the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1777, but was arrested. On the part of Rüdts and other nobles, there were then allegations against Jäger, who wanted to be ascribed the sole responsibility for Rüdts financial misery.

Jäger then published the pamphlet Teaching to the Public in Heilbronn , in which he brought charges against corruption and intrigue within the knightly canton of Odenwald. For example, around 240,000 guilders are said to have been spent in bribes during his almost 30-year tenure in the knight's canton. On February 17, 1779, Emperor Joseph II ordered Jäger to be arrested and all of his pamphlets to be burned by executioners . Jäger fled to Strasbourg, where he shot himself to death in an inn on April 12, 1779.

He was married to the pastor's daughter Maria Jakobina Rittmann; they had two daughters and a son. The son of the same name, Georg David Jäger, was the second local syndic in Kochendorf until 1777 and then privy councilor to the Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim .

literature

• Lothar Hantsch: The Jäger Building in Kochendorf. In: Bad Friedrichshall 1933–1983. City of Bad Friedrichshall, Bad Friedrichshall 1983.
• Of the immediate Imperial Knighthood Canton Ottenwald file-like message of those against the older local Syndic Georg David Jäger, in the year 1777. Crimes committed and the thereby initiated proceedings against his person and property and those furthermore took place Highest Kaiserl. Realizations. Heilbronn 1778. ( digitized version )