Georg von Eerde

Georg Friedrich Karl Philipp Freiherr von Eerde (born April 25, 1825 in Geldern , † March 19, 1890 in Geldern) was a Prussian administrative officer. From 1859 until his impeachment in 1876 he was District Administrator of the Geldern district . From 1860 to 1888 he was a member of the provincial assembly of the Rhine Province .

Life

The later lawyer Georg Freiherr von Eerde was born on April 25, 1825 "just before six o'clock in the afternoon" in Geldern in the house at Großer Markt 7 as the eldest son of the incumbent district administrator Friedrich von Eerde and his wife Felicitas Philippine Maria née Ruys von Beerenbroeck. By virtue of the paternal office, the Catholic family von Eerde with their three sons and eight daughters belonged to the upper social class of the Catholic district town of Geldern.

Professional background

Georg von Eerde first grew up in the house at Großer Markt 7 and then at Gelderstrasse 31. Both residential buildings also served as a district office. The family's staff included three maids, a servant and a tutor. From 1839 Georg attended grammar school in Düsseldorf , and then on October 30, 1843, he enrolled at the University of Bonn to study law and camera science . In Bonn he became a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn . From 1845, von Eerde continued his university studies in Berlin .

Georg von Eerde

The professional career of the young lawyers were initially the Courts of Appeal Hamm (1846-1849) and Cologne (1849-1855), the district court Kleve (1855) and finally the district government Dusseldorf (1855-1858), where he was a research assistant was used. His rather moderate official assessments from this time occasionally also mention a "stammering of his own". In the summer of 1858 the legal affairs of the finance department of the Düsseldorf district government were transferred to the government assessor.

District Administrator of the district of Geldern

With the death of Georg's father in 1848, the position of the district administrator for the district of Geldern became vacant. The long-standing District Secretary Norbert Engelhardt (1848-1851), Government Assessor Wilhelm von Arnim (1848-1851), Max August Graf von Loë (1851-1854), Rudolf Graf von Schaesberg (1854) took over the commissioned or provisional administration for a period of nine years ), District Secretary Friedrich August Schwartz (1854) and Government Assessor Adolf Ernst von Ernsthausen (1854–1859).

In the election of a district council candidate by the district council, which was accompanied by intrigues by an influential group of Catholic nobles around Count Franz Egon von Hoensbroech , Georg von Eerde, who worked for the Düsseldorf district government, opposed the mayor of Geldern Maximilian on August 25, 1857 Friedrich Leopold Graf von Korff called Schmising- Kerssenbrock . On December 3, 1857, the district of Geldern was rebuilt within its borders from 1816 by separating the area of ​​the former Rheinberg district . But it was not until January 17, 1859, when the highest order was passed, that von Eerde was appointed district administrator. His choice had turned into an affair. The inauguration of the new district administrator took place on February 5, 1859.

Member of the Prussian House of Representatives

Eerde sat for the constituency of Düsseldorf 9 (Geldern, Kempen) in the 10th legislative period during the 1st session from November 15, 1867 to February 29, 1868 in the Prussian House of Representatives . He belonged to the faction of the Free Conservative Party .

Impeachment in 1876

In the course of the Kulturkampf , Georg von Eerde, who initially belonged to the Free Conservative Party and then to the Center Party , was relieved of his office as district administrator by the very highest cabinet order of August 14, 1876, "because of his political unreliability", and was put into temporary retirement. He had turned down the offer to voluntarily resign that had been suggested to him in July.

In his personal statement of July 15, 1876 to the Prussian Minister of the Interior Botho zu Eulenburg in Berlin, he confidently said: “Your Excellency! I am still proud today of being the Royal Prussian District Councilor; if, contrary to expectations, I should not be allowed to stay that way according to higher views, then I always hope to one day be recognized correctly. At least then I leave office with the confidence that during my long administration I have fulfilled my duty in the interests of both the state and the district, and I do not doubt that this recognition will be preserved by all dispassionate thinkers ”.

On September 5, 1876, the administration of the Geldern district administration was withdrawn from Eerde. From January 1, 1877, he received the statutory waiting allowance, which made up only about half of his previous earnings as district administrator. On March 18, 1878, von Eerde received a joint gift of honor from the "grateful circle residents", a now lost centerpiece, which the Cologne goldsmith Franz Wüsten had created based on a design by the Cologne cathedral builder Vinzenz Statz . The final retirement of Eerdes "because of his ultramontane direction" took place with the demissorial on January 14, 1885.

Last years of life

As the city ​​councilor of the Center Party representing the second class of voters , Georg von Eerde continued to take an active part in local affairs in Geldern from 1876 to 1890. He died on March 19, 1890 in his hometown “after long suffering endured with complete submission to God's will, well prepared by the frequent reception of St. Sacraments ”or“ after a long painful illness ”. In contrast to his father, who had found his final resting place in Eyll in 1848, he was buried in Geldern in the cemetery in front of the Geldertor. Georg von Eerde, his wife Auguste, née von Groote (born December 26, 1829 in Cologne , † January 30, 1911 in Cologne) and seven of his eight children name the inscriptions on the preserved tomb of the Eerdeschen grave .

Marriage and personal relationships

Georg von Eerde was married on May 21, 1859 to Auguste Josepha Stephanie von Groote from Cologne, whose mother Margarete Auguste, née Schaaffhausen, was the daughter of one of the four great Cologne bankers of the time. Her father Joseph Cornelius Aloys Anton Balthasar von Groote was Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cologne . In 1863 the Villa von Eerde, built in front of the Issumer Tor of the city of Geldern on the site of a former fortress bastion in neo-Gothic style, was ready for occupancy. Von Eerde had acquired the property in 1861 for 5000 thalers. In 1894 the villa became the property of the Geldern district, which used it for administrative purposes until 1974. It has been an official building of the city of Geldern since 1984. The coats of arms of the von Eerde and von Groote families on the street are evidence of the original inhabitants. In 2000, evidence was provided that, contrary to previous assumptions, a portrait photo published several times does not show District Administrator Georg von Eerde, but his unmarried brother Friedrich Heinrich Melchior Karl Franz von Eerde (born June 9, 1830 in Geldern, † September 19 1908 at Haus Eyll ), who was the mayor of Lintfort from 1857 until his death .

The district administrator's marriage resulted in eight children: Felicitas Maria Josephine (* May 22, 1860 Geldern, † October 10, 1929 in Honnef ), Auguste Maria (* November 8, 1861 in Geldern, † May 4, 1944 in Honnef), Huberta Maria (* January 28, 1864 in Geldern, † March 24, 1865 in Geldern), Friedrich Rudolph (* May 5, 1865 in Geldern, † October 15, 1890 in Geldern), Theresia Maria Huberta (* August 28, 1866 in Geldern, † November 5, 1948 in Honnef), who married the widowed Friedrich Franz von Twickel (* December 6, 1847 in Münster , † July 11, 1913 at Haus Ermelinghof ) on November 17, 1891 in Geldern , Karl Friedrich Alexander (* September 23, 1868 in Geldern, † March 5, 1869 in Geldern), the young court trainee Felix Friedrich Heinrich Aloysius (born November 11, 1869 in Geldern, † May 16, 1889 in Geldern) and finally Maria Camilla Josephine Huberta (* 2 November 1871 in Geldern, †?), Became a nun.

Services

Georg von Eerde not only emerged as a prudent district administrator, member of the provincial parliament and city councilor, but was also involved in Geldern, among other things, in the Friedrich Wilhelm Society, in the Catholic journeymen's association and in the church council of St. Maria Magdalena . On September 12, 1863 he was awarded the Red Eagle Order IV class and on August 28, 1872 the war memorial for the campaigns 1870-71 for non-combatants . The Geldern'sche Wochenblatt paid tribute to him on March 21, 1890 as follows: “The deceased was a long-time member of the provincial parliament, a member of the district, district and provincial administrations, city councilor, church council member, knight of the Red Eagle Order, etc. until 1876 the high deceased of the royal district councilor of the district of Geldern was in disposition when his loyalty to his convictions did not allow him to continue the office during the culture war. Since that time he has been continuously active in the field of self-government in the most successful manner. (...). The Rhenish Farmers' Association will also deeply lament his early death, as the deceased was a member of the Legal Protection Commission ”.

literature

• Friedrich Carl Devens : Biographical corps album of Borussia in Bonn 1827-1902 . Düsseldorf 1902, p. 122.
• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses 1921 . Pp. 195-196.
• Gregor Hövelmann : History of the district of Geldern, first part: 1816–1866 . Geldern 1974, p. 188 ff.
• Ders: The district administrators of the Geldern district . In: Geldrischer Heimatkalender 1975 . P. 10 ff.
• Ders .: Because of "political unreliability". The impeachment of the Geldern district administrator Freiherr von Eerde . In: Geldrischer Heimatkalender 1983 . P. 78 ff.
• Leo Peters: "The work should give a work of art". Supplementary information on the magnificent present for District Administrator von Eerde 1877/78 . In: Geldrischer Heimatkalender 1984 . P. 148 ff.
• Horst Romeyk : The leading state and municipal administrative officials of the Rhine Province 1816–1945 (=  publications of the Society for Rhenish History . Volume 69 ). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-7585-4 , p. 294, 425 .
• 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.
• Stefan Frankewitz : The Lower Rhine and its castles, palaces, mansions on the Niers . Goch 2011, ISBN 978-3-941559-13-4 , pp. 451 ff.
• Bernhard Mann : Biographical Handbook for the Prussian House of Representatives 1867-1918 (= Handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 3). Droste, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-7700-5146-7 , pp. 117-118.

Web links

Wikisource: Georg Friedrich Karl Philipp von Eerde  - Sources and full texts