Hans Wilhelm Vitzthum von Eckstädt

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Hans Wilhelm Vitzthum of Eckstädt (* 22. April 1604 in Rudolstadt , † 5. February 1660 in Oldenburg (Oldb) ) was a German court official, Councilor , Hofmeister and last country drost the county Oldenburg .

Life

Hans Wilhelm Vitzthum von Eckstädt came from the counts of the Thuringian noble family Vitzthum . The ancestors of his line entered the service of the Counts of Schwarzburg at the beginning of the 15th century . He was the eldest son of Georg Eberhard von Vitzthum († around 1638), who was wealthy near Rudolstadt, and his second wife, Elisabeth born. von Arnstadt (1575–1614). He was first taught by private tutors and then received the usual education to be a page at the court of the Halberstadt diocese . He then continued his education with Count Ludwig Friedrich von Reuss-Lobenstein . Vitzthum's family was in close contact with the Reuss-Lobenstein family through various pledge transactions .

In 1621 Vitzthum took part in the Bohemian-Palatinate War as a flag junior with the troops of Count von Hohenlohe and fought, among other things, in the Battle of Wimpfen in 1622 . In 1625 he returned to his homeland and married for the first time, but his wife died giving birth to a son in August 1628. In the same year he was recruited by the imperial troops , whose officer positions were also open to Protestants . In 1629 he served as Jägermeister in the regiment set up by Count Philip Moritz von Hanau . As a result, Vitzthum became an officer again, but only achieved the modest rank of captain and cavalry master , as he lacked the funds to set up his own regiment for further advancement. In 1634 he gave up the service, married a second time and returned to the Schaala estate near Rudolstadt, which he had inherited in the meantime. In the following year Vitzthum entered the service of the Count House of Oldenburg. Contact there came about through family relationships between the Oldenburg and Schwarzburg count houses, as the Oldenburgs had systematically displaced the local nobility and resorted to foreign nobles when filling court and state offices. In 1635 Count Anton appointed Günther Vitzthum as court master, with the court administration and the goods directly serving the supply of the court under his control. He was also drawn to several diplomatic missions and internal administration activities in the county. In 1658 Vitzthum took over the office of Landdrosten von Oldenburg and was thus the highest official of the county, whose position equated to that of a leading minister later. After his death in 1660, Sebastian Friedrich von Kötteritz was his successor in office.

family

Vitzthum was married three times. On March 25, 1625 he married Johanne Adelheid von und zu Rückingen (1598–1628). After her untimely death in childbed, he married Anna Sibylle nee on February 25, 1634. von Marschalck (1595–1638), who was first married to Sigmund von Berga . On July 19, 1640, Vitzthum married Clara Catharina von Zetteritz (1608–1658), daughter of the royal Brunswick court master Johann Georg von Zetteritz, the Oldenburg chamber maid . He had a total of six children, including Heinrich Ernst (approx. 1635–1688), a Brunswick-Lüneburg lieutenant colonel and commander of Hann. Münden was. Through his marriage to Catharina von Wolhaben, Matthias von Wolzo , the director of the Oldenburg Secret Council, became his father-in-law.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Vitzthum von Eckstädt, Hans Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Chamber Councilor, Hofmeister and Drost of the County of Oldenburg
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1604
PLACE OF BIRTH Rudolstadt
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1660
Place of death Oldenburg (Oldb)