Völkershausen Court

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The court Völkershausen was a rule of the Lords of Völkershausen in the Rhön. At different times it was under the suzerainty of the monasteries of Hersfeld and Fulda. In addition, various ruling families of the region had property in their rulership, such as the Counts of Henneberg and the Landgraves of Thuringia and Hesse.

From 1706 the area belonged entirely to the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel and in 1816 it became part of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach . As a result of the administrative and territorial reform of the Grand Duchy in 1850, the judicial office was dissolved.

Geographical location

The court Völkershausen was south of Vacha in the valley of the Oechse in the Thuringian Rhön ( Salzunger Werrabergland ). The most important mountains in the area are the Öchsenberg and the Dietrichsberg . During his affiliation to the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach, the office was in the Eisenacher Oberland . The ruled area is now in the west of the Free State of Thuringia and, apart from Poppenberg, belongs to the town of Vacha in the Wartburg district .

Adjacent administrative units

Office Vacha (Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel) Vogtei Kreuzberg (Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel) Exclave Dietlas (to the office of Salzungen , Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen)
Office Vacha (Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel) Neighboring communities Lordship of Lengsfeld
Geisa Office (clerical principality of Fulda) Exclave Oechsen (to the Vacha district , Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel)

history

prehistory

The first mention of the place Völkershausen as Wulfricheshusen is dated to the year 827. At that time it was in the " Buchonia " district. The first documentary mention of Völkershausen dates from 1214. In the years that followed, the family of the Lords of Völkershausen played a role again and again, for the first time in a document dated December 6, 1214. Between the first mention and the existence of Völkershausen as a court (from approx. 1300) is the construction of the castle, on the foundation walls of which the later "Upper Castle" was built around 1800.

Völkershausen under the rule of the Fulda monastery

The Lords of Völkershausen initially belonged to the service aristocracy of the Imperial Abbey of Hersfeld in the monastery bailiwick of the Lords of Frankenstein , a sideline of the Counts of Henneberg . With Berthold II. Von Völkershausen (1367–1387) and Wilhelm von Völkershausen (1483–1493), the lords of Völkershausen appointed two Hersfeld abbots .

The Frankensteiners, in decline due to feuds with the surrounding princes, sold the Völkershausen court to the Counts of Henneberg in 1336. Their servants, the lords of Völkershausen, became vassals of the Fulda monastery , which in 1336 brought under the rule of the Völkershausen court and the neighboring Vacha office . Since other aristocrats had also acquired farms and property in the village of Völkershausen, part of Völkershausen was still owned by Herfeld, which led to tension. In a feudal letter from 1386, the Fulda abbots owned half of Völkershausen's share. The brothers Thilo, Hermann and Fritz von Völkershausen were enfeoffed with a quarter of the castle, bailiwick, office and court of Völkershausen von Fulda and Henneberg.

Fulda occupied the fortification with castle men or gave it to the family of Frankensteiners and later to the Henneberger as fiefs. Both the Frankensteiner and the Henneberg counts entertained castle men in the important border castle Völkershausen. There were numerous other pawnbrokers, so the ownership structure was confusing. In addition to the abbots of Fulda and Hersfeld, over 20 counts and nobles are mentioned as partial owners at different times in the documents.

The Lords of Völkershausen

Between 1430 and 1500 the Lords of Völkershausen bought almost all of the numerous parts of Völkershausen. Only the Lords of Herda kept some rights until 1587 and those of Buchenau remained in possession until 1570. The pledges were sold to the Lords of Boyneburg , who in turn sold their rights in 1701 to those of Völkershausen.

In 1481 Hans von Völkershausen was enfeoffed with the village and Völkershausen castle. During the German Peasants' War , the knights of Völkershausen were besieged in their possessions in 1525 by the rebellious peasants. Knight Hans von Völkershausen was forced to join the league. In a document dated March 13, 1526, it is reported that Hans von Völkershausen, as court lord, punished 23 peasants who had taken part in the peasant uprising in 1525 and charged them with higher burdens.

In 1534 Hans von Völkershausen introduced the Reformation, regardless of the fuldaisch-hersfeld sovereignty over his rule. The lords of Völkershausen played a leading role in the Buchon knighthood . The Buchonian (Fulda) knights received their provisional freedom in 1631 and their final imperial freedom in 1656 and joined the Franconian knightly canton of Rhön-Werra as "Buchisches Quartier" . The cantons were intended to strengthen the knights' political influence over the neighboring territories - in this case, the rule of the Fulda Monastery , the Counts of Henneberg and the Landgraves of Hesse and Thuringia, which was often geared towards expansion, was concerned .

The Henneberg family of counts as part owners of the estate died out in 1583. The inheritance came to the Wettiner Albertine and Ernestine lines, as well as the Landgraviate of Hesse . The lower castle was built in 1613 and used as the seat of the branch lines of the noble family. The magistrates of the estate court were based in this building. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) the area was repeatedly affected by drafts and fighting. After an unsuccessful siege of the moated castle by horsemen from isolan hordes, the lower castle was completely plundered in 1634, but not destroyed. During this time Völkershausen was affected from 1628 by a counter-reformation initiated by the Fulda monastery , which was put down as early as 1631.

Administration by the Landgrave of Hesse

After the Thirty Years' War , Hersfeld Abbey became a secular principality, which was granted to the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel as an imperial fief in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 . Thus, Hessen-Kassel also became the legal successor to the Völkershausen fiefdom of hersfeld, which affected half of the court.

After the von Völkershausen family died out in 1706, the Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel moved to the Völkershausen court. He took half of the court as a Hersfeld fief and also bought the allodial goods from the heirs . The prince abbot of Fulda also had claims until then. The former monastery courtyards of the Servite monastery in Vacha (Poppenberg, Luttershof, Busengraben and Hedwigsberg) fell back from the Vacha office to the Völkershausen court, to which they had previously belonged. Landgrave Karl bought the Mariengart estate from the prince abbot of Fulda and also gave it to the administration of the Völkershausen court.

In 1714 the Landgrave had the old upper castle demolished and in 1750 a new "castle" made of simple half-timbering was built. Since then, the rent office has been housed in the lower castle, which existed from 1815 to 1847 under Saxon-Weimar rule. At the same time as the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss concluded in 1803 and the secularization of the clergy, the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel became the Electorate of Hessen .

Napoleonic occupation

Elector Wilhelm I of Hesse-Kassel did not join the Rhine Confederation , which was dominated by Napoleon , and tried to remain neutral . Thereupon Napoléon occupied the country and after the Peace of Tilsit in 1807 it was almost completely added to the newly formed Kingdom of Westphalia of his brother Jerome . The Völkershausen court was assigned to the canton of Vacha in the Hersfeld district within the Werra department . After the dissolution of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1813, the Electorate of Hesse and its administrative structure were restored.

Belonging to the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar Eisenach from 1816

After the Congress of Vienna , the judicial district of Völkershausen with the neighboring office of Vacha came to the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach in 1816 . The castle became state property. Völkershausen and the surrounding villages and farms now formed a landgrave Hessian patrimonial office under Grand Ducal-Saxony-Weimar sovereignty .

In 1843 property and jurisdiction passed to the grand ducal treasury. In 1849/50 the judiciary was separated from the administration in the Grand Duchy. The Völkershausen Patrimonial Court was dissolved and in 1850 it became part of the Vacha Justice Office . Völkershausen came with other offices of the Rhön to the administrative district of Dermbach , which was also referred to as the fourth administrative district . This comprised the southern part of the former Duchy of Saxony-Eisenach , which was also known as the Eisenacher Oberland in the 19th century . In 1874 the rent office was moved to Vacha.

Associated places

Villages
Yards

owner

Main owner of Völkershausen

Partial owner of Völkershausen

  • Brothers of Buttlar (before 1368)
  • Lords of Völkershausen (from 1368; initially a quarter, later purchase of further shares)
  • Wolfram von Ostheim (1367; a quarter)
  • Lords of Buchenau and Lords of Bienbach (1395–1570, one quarter)
  • Vacha Monastery (1420: buys shares in the Luttershof (Leutters farm) and the Friedrichrode desert from Thilo III. Von Völkershausen)
  • Lords of Boyneburg to Lengsgeld (1570 to 1701)
  • Lords of Herda (until 1587)

Between 1430 and 1500 the Lords of Völkershausen bought almost all of the numerous parts of Völkershausen. Only the Lords of Herda kept some rights until 1587 and those of Buchenau remained in possession until 1570. The pledges were sold to the Lords of Boyneburg , who in turn sold their rights in 1701 to those of Völkershausen.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Regesta diplomatica necnon; Dobencker; Volume II
  2. ^ "Document from 1214 gives reason to celebrate", Südthüringer Zeitung, Bad Salzungen edition of May 3, 2012, p. 13
  3. ^ History of Völkershausen

literature

  • Kronfeld, Constantin: Thuringian-Saxon-Weimar history. - Weimar: Böhlau, 1878. - (Regional studies of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach; T. 1) / [reviewed by:] Ulrich Stechele

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