Hattstein (noble family)

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Coat of arms of Marquart von Hattstein in the Salbuch of the Naumburg monastery

The Lords of Hattstein (initially Hazechenstein ) were a noble family that named themselves after Hattstein Castle . Their property was mainly in the Taunus and southern Wetterau .

history

origin

The family is first mentioned in 1156 with Guntram von Hattstein . It cannot be said whether they belong to the class of the noble free or the ministeriality . Judging by their coat of arms, they belong to a family association from the Limburg area, which also included the Lords of Reifenberg , with whom they were closely related. A descent from the Counts of Wied or the Lords of Kempenich is still assumed .

The fact that Guntram is named in the list of witnesses in the certificate in second place behind Emicho von Leiningen , the city lord of Limburg, would speak for a noble origin . From this it can be deduced that the family association settled the Taunus and founded castles in the time of the first mention of the Limburg area , while another settlement advance with the Counts of Diez and later Counts of Weilnau and the Lords of Kransberg had already been initiated from the Wetterau Usinger basin was done. Thereupon it seems to have come about by marriage, later the Hattsteiners were employed by the Count von Diez, several Hattsteiners are occupied as castle men in Neuweilnau .

High Middle Ages

In addition to the numerous services of the Counts of Diez and later Weilnau, castle fiefs from the Lords of Falkenstein-Münzenberg were held , probably in Neu-Falkenstein or Königstein , and later also in Butzbach . In the course of the 14th century, two main lines developed, of which the older line from Hattstein-Hattstein initially remained with the old employment relationships, while a Hattstein-Falkensteiner line oriented itself with the Lords of Falkenstein in the Wetterau .

With the dispute over the Munzenberg inheritance and the subsequent feud of Ulrich III. von Hanau , bailiff of the Wetterau, against Philip the Elder von Falkenstein 1364-1366 ( Falkensteiner feud ) the descent of the Falkensteiner began. The Falkensteiner line of the Hattsteiners as feudal people was also affected by the defeat. In 1365 the brothers Henne, Markolf, Dietrich called Rose and Wolf von Hattstein were appointed Burgmannen in Butzbach. As a result, the Falkensteiner line was based on the Lords and Counts of Hanau and received castle fiefs in Windecken and Hanau .

The Hattstein-Hattsteiner line is now to be found more frequently as a lieutenant for the Counts of Katzenelnbogen , and occasionally also for the Lords of Eppstein . In 1423 the Counts of Nassau secured their services by awarding a larger castle loan in Usingen . This led to the formation of a Hattstein-Usinger branch line, which existed until 1655. Konrad von Hattstein was the first of the family to join the Friedberger Burgmannschaft in 1400 . Although ten other family members found acceptance into the prestigious community in the course of time, the role of the Hattsteiners is not too important, as they did not provide any burgraves, builders or regimental castle men.

Hattstein Castle

As followers of the Falkensteiners, the Hattsteiners also inherited their contrast to the imperial cities of the Wetterau. Members of the same sex also took part in attacks (so-called robber barons ). Various coalitions of cities and local princes therefore tried to take possession of Hattstein Castle . For the first time in 1379, a state peace contingent of the cities of Frankfurt , Friedberg , Gelnhausen , Limburg , Kurtrier , Kurpfalz and some others captured the castle. The gentlemen von Hattstein had to give the winners the right to open . When further raids started out from the castle, there were new sieges in 1393 and 1428, but they failed due to disagreement among the besiegers. In 1432 a surprise attack by a peace alliance led to success. The castle was henceforth managed as an inheritance with Frankfurt and Mainz participation, but returned to the Hattsteiners in 1468. In the following time it was less and less maintained and gradually deteriorated. Philipp Georg von Hattstein finally sold the castle to Johann Heinrich von Reifenberg in 1614 .

Hattsteiner Hof in Munzenberg

Modern times

With the transition from the natural economy to the money economy, a decline of some lines can be ascertained, which could only be stopped in the course of modern times. This was achieved on the one hand through lucrative services with clergy princes, mainly on the Rhine, or in the army. On the other hand, ownership shifted to the fertile soils of the Wetterau, where it was mainly concentrated in the area of Munzenberg and the local Hattsteiner Hof . Although they saw themselves primarily as large landowners, capital transactions formed an essential pillar since the end of the 16th century. Another focus was an inheritance from the Lords of Stockheim on the valley of the Nidder with the upper castle Heldenbergen and the castle Höchst ad Nidder . In numerous places, mainly in the Taunus and the southern Wetterau, the Hattsteiner owned land, mostly as fiefs of larger territorial lords.

Decline and extinction

After initial difficulties, the family was able to recover from the decline of the large property during the Thirty Years' War , which affected many of the lower nobility in the Wetterau. However, the considerable prosperity was then gradually squandered again through inheritance divisions and an inappropriate way of life. Konstantin Philipp von Hattstein was once again able to unite all Hattsteiner possessions in his hand. However, by the middle of the 18th century, the income from this was no longer enough to pay for his sisters' weddings. His final years were marked by indebtedness and lawsuits. With his death in 1767 the family died out.

coat of arms

The Hattsteiner coat of arms is divided diagonally right five times by red and silver (sometimes also three diagonal red bars on a silver background). On the helmet with red and silver covers, a closed flight marked like the shield .

Name bearer

The Mainz Canon Johann von Hattstein († 1518)
Bishop Marquard von Hattstein

literature

  • Jost Kloft: Territorial history of the district Usingen. Elwert, Marburg 1971 ( Writings of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies 32 ), pp. 113–126.
  • Angela Metzner: Reichslandpolitik, aristocracy and castles - studies on the Wetterau in the Staufer period. Büdingen 2008/2009 , ISBN 978-3-00-026770-3 , pp. 165-168 ( Büdinger Geschichtsblätter 21 ).
  • Heinz-Peter Mielke: The lower nobility of Hattstein, their political role and social position. On the history of a family of the Middle Rhine Imperial Knighthood from their beginnings to the end of the Thirty Years War with an outlook to the year 1767. Historical commission for Nassau  : Wiesbaden 1977. ISBN 978-3-922244-29-5 .
  • Heinz-Peter Mielke: The gentlemen of Hattstein, Munzenberg and the Hattsteiner Hof. With an edition of the family chronicle. In: Wetterauer Geschichtsblätter 27, 1978, pp. 29-62.
  • Ernst Heinrich Kneschke : New general German nobility Lexicon , Volume 4, 1863; Reprint 1996, ISBN 3-89557-016-8 , p. 235.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolf-Heino Struck : Sources on the history of the monasteries and monasteries in the area of ​​the middle Lahn up to the end of the Middle Ages IV: The Johanniterhaus Pfannstiel and the monasteries Seligenstatt and Walsdorf. Regest 1156-1634. Wiesbaden 1962 ( Publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau 12 ), No. 1638.
  2. ↑ Heinz-Peter Mielke: The lower nobles of Hattstein, their political role and social position. Wiesbaden 1977, pp. 25-27.
  3. ↑ Heinz-Peter Mielke: The lower nobles of Hattstein, their political role and social position. Wiesbaden 1977, p. 21f.
  4. ↑ Heinz-Peter Mielke: The lower nobles of Hattstein, their political role and social position. Wiesbaden 1977, pp. 36-43.
  5. ↑ Heinz-Peter Mielke: The lower nobles of Hattstein, their political role and social position. Wiesbaden 1977, p. 78f .; the same: the gentlemen of Hattstein, Munzenberg and the Hattsteiner Hof. With an edition of the family chronicle. In: Wetterauer Geschichtsblätter 27, 1978, p. 29.
  6. ↑ Heinz-Peter Mielke: The lower nobles of Hattstein, their political role and social position. Wiesbaden 1977, p. 25.