Gersdorff (noble family)
Gersdorff (also Gersdorf ) is the name of a noble family with the same name headquarters in Gersdorf in the Oberlausitz that the German nobility counts. Individual branches of the von Gersdorff family were raised to barons and imperial counts .
history
Origins, possessions and ramifications
The sex of the von Gersdorff was mentioned for the first time 1,241th The unbroken lineage begins with the first mentioned on April 25, 1301 Christian von Gersdorff (dominus Christianus aduocatus provincie Gorlicensis dictus de Gerhardisdorff) , the multiply the office of bailiff of Görlitz province exercised. At the same time his brothers Jencz and Ramfold are named as gentlemen on Gersdorf and Reichenbach / OL .
In the Middle Ages and in the early modern period , the Gersdorffs were mainly based in Upper Lusatia and Saxony . But also in Lower Lusatia , Silesia and Bohemia Gersdorffs belonged to the estates . From the 14th century onwards, members of the family held positions of the estate in these countries or they were in the service of various princes, in particular the Bohemian kings , who were sovereigns of Upper and Lower Lusatia from 1319/1329 to 1635 and Silesia until 1742, and the neighboring ones Elector of Saxony , who then took over the rule in the Lausitz.
No other noble family in Upper Lusatia has branched out so extensively and acquired so many goods. In 1544 the family owned 68 manors in Upper Lusatia alone. The tradition of a sex day held in Zittau in 1572 gives an impression of the number of members in the family . A memorial monument made in memory of this event in 1623, which was once installed in the Görlitzer Vogtshof and has only been preserved in fragments, reports on two hundred "Manns-Personen" who had gathered with five hundred horses in the Upper Lusatian Six Town, including only Upper Lusatians Gersdorffs, without the Bohemian and Silesian cousins.
Since 1406 the Baruth (Upper Lusatia) rule was owned by the family. These included Hennersdorf , Berthelsdorf , Kemnitz , Bretnig , Kreckwitz , Rackel , Hauswalde and Buchwalde . In 1446 the Reichenbach headquarters also fell to the Baruther line, but in 1580 it passed to the von Warnsdorf family . In 1489 the old moated castle in Baruth burned down; then the large renaissance castle was built. After Adolf Nicolaus Graf von Gersdorff died in a duel in 1787, large parts of the rule fell to the family of his sister Marianne Gräfin zur Lippe-Weißenfeld , who owned them until 1945. The castle was demolished in 1949/50.
The private scholar Hans von Gersdorff (1630–1692), Lord of Weicha near Bautzen, set up the Gersdorff-Weichaische Foundation in Bautzen in 1684 with a library of 5000 volumes, atlases, maps and an extensive collection of scientific and art-historical graphics. In 1680 he had the Gersdorff'sche Palais built in Bautzen .
In 1638 the rule of Meffersdorf in Upper Lusatia came to Wigand von Gersdorf, who founded six new places for exiles from Bohemia and Silesia, including Neu-Gersdorf and Wigandsthal. During the Thirty Years' War Protestants who did not want to convert fled the Habsburg hereditary lands to the territories of the Saxon elector after he had taken over Upper Lusatia from the Habsburgs through the Peace of Prague in 1635 . The Meffersdorf baroque castle, which still stands today, was built in 1767/68 for Adolf Traugott von Gersdorf , who had also inherited the Niederrengersdorf manor . The Meffersdorf estate was sold in 1823.
Since the 15th century, Berthelsdorf in Upper Lusatia was owned by the Gersdorff. The widow of the bailiff of Upper Lusatia Nicol von Gersdorff on Berthelsdorf and Großhennersdorf , Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff , born. Freiin von Friesen (1648–1726), raised her grandson Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Großhennersdorf and accepted refugees from Bohemia in her house. Both founded an orphanage in Großhennersdorf in 1721 and the town of Schönbrunn in 1724 , which attracted hundreds of exiles. After her death, founded Zinzendorf in Berthelsdorf 1727 the Moravian Church and built the settlement on the Berthelsdorfer corridor Herrnhut .
In 1725, Count Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff (1699–1751), who had been the Oberamtshauptmann of Upper Lusatia since 1731, acquired the Uhyst manor and had the magnificent New Uhyst Castle built from 1738 to 1742 , which remained in the possession of the Count's line until 1795 and still exists today. Gersdorff was a cousin and student friend of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf and set up a Sorbian preacher's school for his Moravian Brethren on his Klix estate . In 1743 he moved it to a newly built building next to the church in Uhyst, where a nobility education center with boarding school was subsequently established. Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff also renovated Spreewiese Castle (then Groß-Lychnam ) near Klix from 1728 onwards .
The natural scientist Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff -Meffersdorf founded the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences together with Karl Gottlob Anton in 1779 .
Ernst Bruno von Gersdorff (1820–1883) emigrated to the USA in 1849 as a Forty-Eighter . He married into the Boston upper class ( Boston Brahmins ) and became the progenitor of the American branch of the family.
In 1945 there was only one manor in Upper Lusatia ( Alt Seidenberg ) in the family's possession.
Gersdorf Castle , Upper Lusatia
Baruth Castle , Upper Lusatia
New Uhyst Castle , built by Friedrich Caspar Graf von Gersdorff from 1738 to 1742
Meffersdorf Castle , built by Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff in 1767/68
Berthelsdorf Castle , Upper Lusatia
Spreewiese Castle , Upper Lusatia
Tombs of Gersdorf zu Kauppa , 17th century
Known family members by date of birth
-
Heinrich von Gersdorff († 1557), councilor and captain in the Erzgebirge district
- Heinrich Otto von Gersdorff († 1617), state syndic and district judge of Lower Lusatia and owner of the Dobrilugk pledge
- Hans Abraham von Gersdorff (1609–1678), Colonel of the Electorate of Saxony in the cavalry and war commissioner
- Joachim von Gersdorff (1611–1661), Imperial Court Master of Denmark (1650–1660), negotiated the Peace of Roskilde
- Anna Magdalena von Gersdorff , wife of Hans von Raußendorf , landlord of the village Spremberg in Upper Lusatia since 1617, († 1632), owner of the manor of Nieder-Spremberg (1619–1632), today the city of Neusalza-Spremberg
- Nikolaus von Gersdorff (1629–1702), chief chamberlain, secret councilor, diplomat and governor of Upper Lusatia, imperial baron since 1672, lord of Baruth, Berthelsdorf, Breitlingen, Bretnig, Buchwalde, Hauswalde, Hennersdorf, Heuscheune, Kemnitz, Kreckwitz and Rackel
- Hans von Gersdorff (1630–1692), gentleman on Weicha near Bautzen , private scholar
- Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff (1648–1726), third wife of the previous one, known as a religious poet, promoter of reform movements in the Protestant Church and promoter of Herrnhut
- Frederik von Gersdorff (1651–1724), Danish lieutenant general
- David Gottlob von Gersdorf (1658–1732), head of the 18th infantry regiment, Prussian lieutenant general, knight of the Black Order of the nobility and governor of the Spandau Citadel
- Lucretia Hedwig von Gersdorff (1664–1701), b. from Salza , used. of Nostitz , primary and court mistress and church patron of the Saxon Exulant New Salza 1682-1698, wife of Christoph Sigismund von Gersdorff
- Christoph Friedrich Graf von Gersdorff (1666–1725), on Klix , Privy Councilor and Vice High Court Judge, Reichstag envoy for Electoral Saxony from 1718 to 1725. Married 1697 to Maria Sophia v. Schönburg († 1728). Buried as a heart burial without a grave monument in the ambassadorial cemetery near the Trinity Church in Regensburg.
- Karl Gottlob Friedrich von Gersdorff (*?; † 1751), director of the secret council and in 1745 first Count von Gersdorff . Son of Nikolaus Gersdorff and Katharina Henriette, b. Baroness of Friesian
- Friedrich Caspar Graf von Gersdorff , (1699-1751), Saxon Privy Councilor since 1731 Oberamt captain of the Oberlausitz as a friend Zinzendorf also missionary in Wenden active
- Ernst Ludwig Gottlob von Gersdorff (1732–1789), electoral Saxon district and official governor, appointed condirector of the Naumburg bishopric
- Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff (1744–1807), scholar, mineral collector, social reformer, co-founder of the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences , since 1756 lord of Meffersdorf and Schwerta
- Karl von Gersdorff (General, 1765) (1765–1829), Saxon lieutenant general and military writer, gentleman on Neukirchen and Steinbach near Nossen
- Wilhelmine von Gersdorff (1768–1847), writer
- Ernst Gustav von Gersdorf (1780–1843), manor owner, lawyer and politician, first President of the First Chamber of the Saxon State Parliament
- Johann Rudolf Ritter von Gersdorff (1781–1849), mining expert and entrepreneur. The mineral arsenic nickel sheen " Gersdorffit " was named after him because of his scientific achievements .
- Ernst Christian August von Gersdorff (1781–1852), Minister of State of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenachs (1819–1848), represented the state at the Congress of Vienna , where he negotiated territorial expansion and grand ducal dignity, and co-initiator of a constitution that was also supposed to guarantee freedom of the press
- Heinrich August von Gersdorff (1793–1870), judge and homeopath
- Ernst Bruno von Gersdorff (Bruno de Gerstorff, 1820–1883), German-American doctor
- Carl Ernst Rudolf von Gersdorff (1803–1876), member of the Frankfurt National Assembly
- Louis von Gersdorff (1807–1880), Prussian lieutenant general
- Hermann von Gersdorff (1809–1870), Prussian lieutenant general
- Paul Max von Gersdorff (1814–1872), district administrator in the Beeskow-Storkow district
- Friedrich von Gersdorff (1837–1920), Prussian lieutenant general
- Carl von Gersdorff (1844–1904) was a lifelong friend of Friedrich Nietzsche (extensive correspondence)
- Hans von Gersdorff (1847–1929), Prussian major general
- Walter von Gersdorff (1848–1929), Prussian lieutenant general
- Wigand von Gersdorff (1851–1920), Prussian lieutenant general
- Egon von Gersdorff (1854–1917), Saxon lieutenant general; Military governor of Czenstochau
- Ada von Gersdorff (Ada von Knobloch, Ada von Maltzahn, pseudonym: Harry von Gersdorff; 1854–1922), writer
- Claire (Clara Johanna Caroline) von Gersdorff (1858–1927), from 1881 to 1918 court lady of the later Empress Auguste Victoria , from 1888 canon at the Wallenstein Abbey in Fulda
- Kurt von Gersdorff (1858–1916), German administrative officer and district administrator of Wittgenstein
- Hans Otto von Gersdorff (1864–1908), member of the German Reichstag
- Wolf von Gersdorff (1867–1949), Royal Chamberlain, District President in Merseburg (1910–1922), honorary doctorate from the University of Halle-Wittenberg
- Ernst Freiherr von Gersdorff (1878–1916), captain and commander of Kaghol 1 ( Combat Squadron of the Supreme Army Command ), shot down as a fighter over Novéant-sur-Moselle on June 19, 1916.
- Ernst-Carl von Gersdorff (1902–1977), lawyer and notary, general agent of the formerly ruling Prussian royal family
- Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff (1905–1980), German major general, involved in several attacks on Adolf Hitler in the resistance against National Socialism
- Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff (1905–2018), German age record holder
- Ursula von Gersdorff (1910–1983), German military historian
- Dagmar von Gersdorff (* 1938), writer
- Matthias von Gersdorff (* 1964), publicist
Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff -Meffersdorf (1744–1807), scholar
Ernst Gustav von Gersdorf (1780–1843), President of the Saxon state parliament
Ernst Christian August von Gersdorff (1781–1852), Saxony-Weimar State Minister
Heinrich August von Gersdorff (1793–1870)
Hermann von Gersdorff (1809–1870), Prussian lieutenant general
Carl von Gersdorff (1844–1904)
Wigand von Gersdorff (1851–1920), Prussian lieutenant general
Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff (1905–1980), major general
Other persons with surname (from) Gersdorff
- Hans von Gersdorff (approx. 1455–1529), surgeon, presumably from Görsdorf in Lower Saxony ; probably not belonging to the Upper Lusatian noble family von Gersdorff
- Julius Gersdorff (1849–1907), German poet
- Bernd Gersdorff (* 1946), German soccer player, former press spokesman for Salzgitter AG
coat of arms
Blazon : The family coat of arms of the von Gersdorff family shows the coat of arms divided , red above and split by black and silver below; On the helmet with red and silver covers on the right and black and silver covers on the left, there is a silver and black tucked red tournament hat with six cock feathers (three silver, three black).
The Franconian lords of Parsberg had a similar coat of arms, it is represented by the family association that a tribal community appears possible.
Reichenbach / OL , an early ancestral seat of the family, still carries the Gersdorff coat of arms as the city coat of arms. The Kodersdorf community also has a derived coat of arms.
Ancestral coat of arms of the von Gersdorff family without coat of arms decoration
Coat of arms of the Counts of Gersdorff with ornament, after Tyroff HA
Bellwitz Castle , under which von Heldreich built in 1743. Supraporte on the east side with coats of arms of the von Hartitzsch, von Gersdorff and von Klüx families
literature
- Walter von Boetticher : History of the Upper Lusatian nobility and their estates 1635-1815. Vol. 1, Görlitz 1912, pp. 424-608.
- Genealogical manual of the Baltic knighthoods. Görlitz 1930, pp. 231-232. ( Full text ).
- Genealogical manual of the nobility , Volume 67, 1978, Adelslexikon .
- Gersdorff family news. 1818 GDZ Göttingen .
- Hermann Knothe : History of the Upper Lusatian nobility and its goods from the XIII. until the end of the XVI. Century. Leipzig 1879, ND: Spitzkunnersdorf 2008, pp. 185–246.
- Hermann Knothe: Genealogy of the various lines of the von Gersdorff family in Upper Lusatia from the middle of the 16th century to 1623. In: New Lusatian magazine. 69: 153-202 (1893).
- Astaf von Transehe-Roseneck : Genealogical manual of the Livonian knighthood . Volume 2, Görlitz, (approx.) 1935, pp. 731-746.
- Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses, 1887, seventh and thirtieth year, p. 301 ff , 1914, p. 279 ff.
Web links
- Gersdorff, from. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964,ISBN 3-428-00187-7, pp. 318-323 ( digitized version).
- Website of the Gersdorff family association
- Gersdorff article in “Genealogical Handbook of the Livonian Knighthood” 1935
Individual evidence
- ↑ Coat of arms, approx. 13th - 14th century, according to GHdA Volume 67, 1978, Adelslexikon
- ↑ Cod. Dipl. Lus. sup. I, p. 166
- ↑ See Hermann Knothe: History of the Upper Lusatian nobility and its goods from the XIII. until the end of the XVI. Century, Leipzig 1879, ND: Spitzkunnersdorf 2008, pp. 185–246, here p. 185.
- ↑ See Kai Wenzel: Memorial work of a noble family from Upper Lusatia, in: Martina Schattkowsky (Ed.): Noble living worlds in Saxony. Annotated picture and written sources, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2013, pp. 362–367.
- ↑ The Reichshofmeister was the highest state office in the Danish Empire. He was a kind of prime minister and representative of the king. In addition to his prominent constitutional position, he had important tasks, even if his duties were not clearly defined. In the 16th century he headed the financial administration and was in charge of the rent chamber and customs.
- ^ Albrecht Klose / Klaus-Peter Rueß: The grave inscriptions on the ambassador's cemetery in Regensburg. Texts, translations, biographies, notes . In: Stadtarchiv Regensburg (ed.): Regensburger studies . tape 22 . Regensburg City Archives, Regensburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-943222-13-5 , p. 20 .
- ↑ Lubina Mahling: "Highly deserved for the Wenden soul's heyday" - Imperial Count Friedrich Casper von Gersdorf. An investigation into the transfer of culture in Pietism . Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 2017, ISBN 978-3-7420-2431-2 .
- ^ Website of the Gersdorff family association