George Koppehele'sche Family Foundation
The George Koppehele'sche Family Foundation , based in Magdeburg, is a family foundation founded in 1604 by the Magdeburg cathedral vicar Georgius Koppehele , which up until around 1921 supported the descendants of the founder's siblings with grants and grants based on special principles .
founding
It was founded by will of Georgius Koppehele, who died on December 16, 1604. This was in 1538 in the Archdiocese of Magdeburg associated Gräfendorf been born, studied theology, possibly Jura and was eventually top Vicar (summus vicarius) at Magdeburg Cathedral and the end of his life canon or canon at the Archbishop's court orchestra and collegiate St. Gangolf . His bronze epitaph is in the Magdeburg Cathedral.
Foundation idea
In his will, Koppehele decreed that his assets were not to be attacked, but that grants and support were given to the descendants of his siblings from the annual interest :
- 1. Thomas (1530-1630),
- 2. Margarethe (1535–1601),
- 3. Anna (1536-1575) and
- 4. Elisabeth Koppehele
should be paid out. Belonging to the Koppehele family is therefore not limited to the male line with the name Koppehele, but includes all daughter descendants of all subsequent generations, provided that there is a blood relationship in direct line with the siblings of the foundation's founder. Scholarships were awarded:
In addition, foundation funds were used to support relatives in old age.
Foundation history
Active period of the foundation (1604 to 1921)
The cathedral chapter under the supervision of the canon administered the foundation for two centuries and recorded branches of the family entitled to inheritance by drawing up family tables . After the dissolution of the cathedral chapter and archbishopric under Napoleonic occupation of Magdeburg (1806-1814), the church property was taken over by the Prussian state . At the same time the foundation came under the supervision of the Prussian government . From now on, the foundation was headed by a board of trustees elected by the family from among their members and confirmed by the government . This consisted of three family members and was based in Magdeburg .
The preamble to the foundation regulations from 1835 (the third statute since the foundation was established), which was passed by family resolution of October 23, 1834 and January 5, 1835, provides information about the early days of the foundation's history:
“Georg Coppehl, vicar at the local cathedral monastery, and at the same time Canonikus Sub Aula, who died on December 16, 1604, disposed of his property in his will for the benefit of his relatives, who were descended from his brothers and sisters; However, the will is as little in the original as in the copy; rather, it was probably lost during the destruction of Magdeburg during the Thirty Years' War. Since one was therefore in ignorance of the actual and original arrangements of the testator, one proceeded according to his will, as it certainly emerged imperfectly from the will and other incomplete reports, until March 15, 1765, when at the instigation of several interested parties complaints received by the cathedral chapter, which administered the foundation, were approved by the local royal government on November 16, 1755 because of the use of revenue [= income from the foundation's assets].
However, these regulations are in themselves very inadequate, but in particular due to changed circumstances, such as the abolition of the cathedral chapter and the expansion of the Coppehl family, they have become almost entirely inadequate for the current administration of the foundation.
It has therefore become an urgent need, both through other regulations
- A. the future administration of the foundation's assets, as well
- B. determine the principles, according to which the arising income should be distributed among the beneficial owners of the family
and that is why the local royal pupil college [= Guardianship Court], under whose supervision the foundation is, ordered the draft of such regulations. "
According to these statutes, the foundation's assets in 1835 consisted of lease income of
- Land near Jüterbog
- 16 acres of farmland near Schönebeck
- a meadow near Magdeburg
- a meadow across the Elbe near Salbke.
In addition, there were grain leases paid for various farms in the Magdeburg area.
Foundation without assets (1921 to 1945)
The most decisive turning point in the foundation's history took place in 1921/22, when the real estate, which was the foundation's actual assets, was sold on their own initiative by the curators in office at the time (probably primarily for their own enrichment). Neither the family members nor the responsible supervisory authority had previously been informed of this step. The former curators managed to hold themselves accountable through gross deception. The proceeds from these sales were invested in state gold Pfandbriefe, which the state had not yet repaid by 1937. It is still unclear whether the Gold Pfandbriefe were ever redeemed and, if this was the case, where the corresponding funds remained.
What was left of the foundation's former cash assets was barely significant residual assets in an account of the Magdeburger Sparkasse, which, however, could no longer be accessed after 1945, as all of the Sparkasse's documents were destroyed when Magdeburg was bombed in 1945.
Attempt at reconstitution (1935 to 1945)
In 1935 family members founded the " Koppehele Family Association " with its headquarters in Berlin (local groups in Jüterbog , Luckenwalde , Magdeburg , Halle and Dessau ). This family association, which is closely related to National Socialism , was initially founded with the intention of re-acquiring the foundation's real estate, which had been sold in 1921/22. In addition, he had devoted himself to " clan research " or " clan care " and published his own small periodical in this context. Although its members were mostly recruited from the family members entitled to the foundation (descendants of the founder's siblings), the family association was a separate body independent of the foundation .
Rest of the foundation (1945 to 2005)
Since, after the air raids on Magdeburg in 1945, neither reliable documents on the current financial situation nor the board of trustees of the Koppehl Foundation were available, the foundation was simply ignored by the Magdeburg City Council, the administrative authority now responsible. At least, in contrast to numerous other Magdeburg family foundations, she was spared liquidation.
As documents from 1954 (Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt) attest, it can be assumed that the foundation will continue to exist.
Revival since 2005
Inspired by the 400th anniversary of the founding of the foundation in 2004, the “Interest Group of the Koppehl Family Foundation 1604” was founded in 2005 to represent the interests of the descendants of the siblings of the foundation's founder. Since then, the interest group has devoted itself to researching the history of the foundation and is committed to reviving the old family foundation. At his suggestion, an official review process had been running since 2005 with the aim of restoring the foundation ex officio. In mid-2010 the foundation was finally entered in the foundation directory of the state of Saxony-Anhalt under the provisional registration number 306-LSA-11741-225, which formally established the foundation's continued existence. On October 23, 2010, the first family reunion of the post-war period was held on this basis. An updated, contemporary version of the foundation's statutes from 1835 was drawn up and, in accordance with the statutes, a new foundation board of three curators was elected. The foundation currently bears the name "Georg Koppehele Family Foundation".
Foundation files
Comprehensive foundation material, which spans the years from approx. 1630 to 1962, has been preserved in various archives .
The Jüterbog City Archives contain a list of the family members entitled to the foundation. There are three volumes with ancestral lines that contain information on over 5000 descendants of Georgius Koppehele's siblings. Since a Lutheride (a descendant of Martin Luther ) married in a branch of the Koppehele family, there is also a (small part) of the Koppehele descendants in the Luther descendants book (ed. B. Clasen).
Further documents can be found in the Jüterboger Stadtmuseum, in the state archives of Saxony-Anhalt (Magdeburg), as well as in the archives of the consistory and church office in Magdeburg. Furthermore in the Secret State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin-Dahlem, in the Brandenburg State Main Archive in Potsdam , in the archive of the genealogical association Herold, also in Berlin-Dahlem (collection of bequests), in the Genealogical Society in Leipzig , in the archive of the Working Group Genealogy Magdeburg, as well as in Fläming-Flandern eV of Lutherstadt Wittenberg .
The archives mentioned are also likely to be of considerable genealogical interest, as they often offer older material than the church registers of those localities in which the foundation members lived.
Known relatives
Well-known descendants of the Koppehele siblings (and thus belong to the group of beneficiaries) are, for example, the members of the Potsdam architect family Krüger, the most important of which are the painters and architects Andreas Krüger (1719–1759), his nephew Andreas Ludwig Krüger (1743–1822), as well as Friedrich Ludwig Carl Krüger (* 1770), son of the latter, count. Other well-known descendants of Koppehele are the Berlin pianist Walther Carl Meiszner (1896-1931), husband of the Japanese singer Hatsue Yuasa (1905-after 1943), Albert Ludwig Meißner (1832-1909), professor of modern languages at Queens University Belfast and Author of several linguistic didactic works (including "The Public School German Grammar", 1887, many other editions) as well as the Irish lawyer, pastor and church historian John Ludwig Gough Meissner (1884–1976), member of the Royal Irish Academy. Another well-known descendant is the German-Peruvian adventurer, photographer and documentary filmmaker Karl Walter (Carlos W.) Emmermacher (* 1886), who was also the foundation's curator in the 1930s.
Alternative names
The foundation appeared in files and documents under a large number of inconsistent spellings, which, however, always refer to the same institution. A selection of the terms used: Koppehele Foundation, Koppehel Foundation, Koppehl Foundation, Koppehle Foundation, Coppehele Foundation, Coppehl Foundation, Coppehl Testament, Georgius Koppehele Family Foundation Magdeburg 1604 etc. The latter term can be found in the official stamp of the first curator of the foundation in the 1930s.
literature
- Erco v. Dietze, Claudia Hunsdieck-Nieland: Foundations in Central Germany with an introduction by A. v. Campenhausen. Edited by the Federal Association of German Foundations. Vol. 3. Bonn 1999. 400 pp.
- Karl Walter Emmermacher: Communications of the family association of the sex of the Koppehele. Berlin 1935 ff.
- Gerlinde Kühn: Georgius Coppehele (1538 - 1604) from Graefendorf: founder of the Koppehl'schen family foundation; the administration of the foundation through the centuries. 1st ed., Self-published Kühn, Staufenberg 2005, 44 pp.
- Johannes Lorenz: Georg Koppehele and his family foundation , in: Monday newspaper. The Heimatblatt Mitteldeutschlands (scientific supplement to the Magdeburgische Zeitung), 82nd year (1940), no. 2 (from January 22, 1940).
- MW (published anonymously), Biographical Notes on Karl Walter Emmermacher, 8 p., O. O., 2014 electronic version .