Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
Count Gustav Otto zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born April 14, 1633 in Frankfurt , † October 15, 1701 in Marburg ) was a German imperial count from the house of Sayn-Wittgenstein . His full title was Gustavus, Count of Sain, Witgenstein and Hohnstein, Lord of Homburg, Vallendar, Neumagen, Lahr [= Lohra] and Clettenberg .
Live and act
Gustav was the second eldest son of Count Johann VIII (1601–1657) and his wife Anna Auguste, b. Countess von Waldeck (1608–1658), daughter of Count Christian zu Waldeck-Wildungen . According to his father's will, he was appointed regent of his acquired county of Hohenstein with the associated lordships of Lohra and Klettenberg , whereby the eldest son Ludwig Christian retained sovereignty, which he later ceded to Gustav against payment of 20,000 Reichstaler. From 1671 the new Hohenstein regent moved into his residence at Klettenberg Castle. The dispute over the County of Hohenstein, which his father had received from the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg in 1647 , continued to smolder. Johann VIII was honored by the elector with the Count of Hohenstein (Hohnstein) for his services in the negotiations that contributed to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 , although the latter apparently had no overview of the size of his gift. After the death of the Great Elector, his successor, Elector Friedrich III . against payment of 100,000 thalers, assumption of all debts due to the county and other benefits, to induce Gustav to cede the county of Hohenstein. Count Gustav did not respond to this for many years.
Initially not entitled to inheritance according to the house law of the southern county of Wittgenstein, Gustav only came into the possession of the county of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein at the age of 50 after his older brother Ludwig Christian (1629-1683) had died without heirs. However, the latter had already left him with the affairs of state of the county in 1668, with the exception of the rights over the Elsoff Bailiwick .
Gustav took over the county at an economically critical time and he had to take on considerable debts from his brother. The value of the coins issued declined considerably during this time, to which the new regent also contributed: Gustav had coins made with lower silver content in his mints (Ellrich im Harz, Klettenberg, Schwarzenau , Wittgenstein Castle and Feudingen ). After these coins were no longer accepted in the neighboring territories of Hesse and Kurköln, Gustav forged his low-value coins by having them provided with earlier dates. This earned him the dubious reputation of a father of the hedge coins .
Similar to his predecessor, he increasingly neglected the business of government and devoted himself mainly to religious edification. Gustav was drawn to the idea of pietism . In 1698 he handed over the affairs of state of the southern county to his eldest son Henrich Albrecht, and handed over the county of Hohenstein to the younger son August . Then he left the county and moved to Marburg to spend his old age there.
family
Gustav married on August 12, 1657 the Huguenot Anna Helene de la Place (* 1634; † February 24, 1705), daughter of Count Franz de Machaut, Lord in Verriére and Berliére.
The marriage resulted in a total of 13 offspring, some of which died in childhood:
- Henrich Albrecht (1658–1723)
- Karl Friedrich (* February 7, 1661; † May 25, 1686 in Vienna)
- Charlotte (January 2, 1661 - February 9, 1725)
- August David (1663-1735)
- Amalie (* 1664; † 1724)
- Johann Ludwig (* 1665; † 1676)
- Anna Sophia (born July 12, 1667)
- Henriette (born April 22, 1669)
- Otto Wilhelm (September 11, 1670 - September 24, 1670)
- Magdalena Louise (March 3, 1672 - March 3, 1705)
- Moritz (November 16, 1674 - August 14, 1676)
- Leopold (June 30, 1676 - August 30, 1676)
- Ferdinand (June 30, 1676 - September 6, 1676)
In 1698, Count Gustav ceded the affairs of government to his eldest son Henrich Albrecht via the southern county of Wittgenstein and to his son August via Hohenstein.
He lived for three years with his wife and four unmarried daughters in Marburg, where he died on November 22, 1701 at the age of 68.
His burial took place in the family crypt of the Evangelical Church in Laasphe .
literature
- Ulf Lückel, Andreas Kroh: The Princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. Börde publishing house. Werl 2004.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Goebel : Historical fragments from the life of the ruling counts and princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. Victories 1858.
- Ulf Lückel: nobility and piety. The Berleburg Counts and Pietism in their territories. Vorländer Verlag, Siegen 2016.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Des Roman Empire Uhralter Graffen Saal , 1702, p. 291.
- ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Goebel: Historical fragments from the life of the ruling counts and princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. Siegen 1858, p. 32.
- ^ Genealogical description of all graffen und Herren des HR Reichs now living , 1722, p. 67.
- ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Goebel: Historical fragments from the life of the ruling counts and princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. Siegen 1858, p. 33.
- ↑ Ulf Lückel, Andreas Kroh: The Princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. In: German Princely Houses, No. 11 . Börde-Verlag, Werl 2004, p. 12 .
- ↑ Philipp Dickel: Family table of the mediatized house Sayn and Wittgenstein, 1907. Unchanged reprint in Heimat-Verlag and Antiquariat Angelika Wied, Bad Laasphe 2009, (9/100), plate 10.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, Gustav zu |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, Gustav Otto zu |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German count from the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1633 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Frankfurt |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 15, 1701 |
| Place of death | Marburg |