Isabelle Countess of Loë

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Isabelle Countess von Loë (born February 13, 1903 in Potsdam ; † January 10, 2009 in Kevelaer ) was a Rhine and Wild Countess and lady of the castle of Wissen . She was lady of honor of the Sovereign Knights of Malta and honorary chairwoman of the Catholic women's community St. Marien in Kevelaer. She came from the German noble family Salm-Salm von Anholt .

Life

She was born as Princess Isabelle Maria Rosa Katherina Antonia zu Salm and Salm-Salm as the eldest of five siblings. Her parents were Prince Emanuel von Salm-Salm and Archduchess Maria Christina von Österreich-Teschen . She spent her childhood with her siblings in Potsdam, where her father served in the bodyguard of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia . Her mother was close friends with Crown Princess Cecilie zu Mecklenburg . She had two sisters and two brothers: Rosemarie Friederike Princess zu Salm and Salm-Salm, Prince Nikolaus von Salm-Salm, Princess Cäcilie von Salm-Salm and Prince Franz von Salm-Salm. The youngest brother died of diphtheria at the age of four .

After the death of their father in World War I on the Eastern Front, the family moved to their ancestral home in Anholt Castle in Isselburg . Isabelle spent her youth there and met Count Felix von Loë von Schloss Wissen and fell in love with him. The wedding of the 22-year-old princess with the 29-year-old Count von Loë took place on September 2, 1925 on Anholt. Through her marriage to Felix von Loë, Isabell became Countess of Loë in 1925 and moved into Schloss Wissen. The couple had seven children.

After the wedding, she devoted herself to maintaining and rebuilding Schloss Wissen and the Wissen companies. But in 1939 Felix von Loë was drafted into the Wehrmacht and had to go to the front. Isabelle took care of the property and took over the management of the knowledge companies. She only saw her husband during her brief leave from the front . In 1944 he died at the front in Latvia . In the same year, the eldest son Fritz was drafted into the military and lost an eye due to a shrapnel from a grenade.

Committed to her faith and Christian virtues, she took part in the resistance against National Socialism . She used her contacts to the noble houses and members of the Catholic Action in order to numerous people from concentration camps to preserve and innocent prisoners from the jails to pick up, including a priest from Leipzig , which she at the Gestapo over in the Netherlands smuggled. The actions were not without danger. Many of the Catholic bishops were too willing to compromise with the National Socialist state. Even Cardinal von Galen rejected their support for the persecuted and inconvenient as not befitting. In Emilie von Loë from Budberg (Rheinberg), a close relative, Isabelle found a trustworthy colleague.

When the area on the left Lower Rhine was to be evacuated in the last months of the war, Isabelle von Loë refused to give orders to the SS and, together with her employees and neighbors, founded the Wissener Notgemeinschaft. An infirmary was set up at Wissen Castle, where numerous wounded soldiers were treated, including the VDK founder Siegfried Emmo Eulen . When the German Wehrmacht withdrew, the Niersbrücke at the castle was blown up, which impaired the supply of electricity and drinking water on the estate. The emergency community held out and survived the bombing raids on Weeze, Goch and Kleve in the basement of the outer bailey with numerous refugees . As a thank you for having survived the dark times, the community made a pilgrimage to the Chapel of Grace in Kevelaer. A memorial cross was erected at the entrance to the castle.

After the liberation, British soldiers moved into the castle and in April 1945 set up a prisoner-of-war release camp on a field on the estate . They took no account of the countess's worries that the moated castle could collapse if the moat dried up. Only with the warning of a dangerous mosquito plague could she persuade the occupiers to repair the water pump. This not only saved the castle, but also the drinking water and power supply.

Later she found out about the conditions in the prisoner of war camp from a pastor from Rheinberg and organized food donations together with people from her parish . The packages had to be thrown over the camp fence. In doing so, she ran the risk of being shot by the Americans. Her sister Rosemarie took part in the actions. Only under British military administration could food deliveries be delivered to the supply warehouse without any major risk. The neighboring communities were even obliged to ensure the supply.

The war on the Lower Rhine claimed numerous victims who could only be recovered during the period of reconstruction. For the construction of the war cemetery in Weeze , Isabelle von Loë donated a 2 hectare property on the Sandberg from her property to the Volksbund Deutscher Kriegsgräberfürsorge .

After the death of Felix von Loë, she no longer married. Her main focus was the upbringing of her children and the care for Schloss Wissen and the knowledge companies. The land reform in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1949 put the property in danger, as it only allowed a maximum of 100 hectares of land. As a large landowner, the family faced a bleak future. A good fortune and the negotiating skills of Rentmeister Aloys Kempkes prevented major land losses. When her son Fritz married Countess Inez von Boeselager in 1957, their mother left the castle and administration to them. She moved to Kevelaer and became increasingly involved in the Catholic women's community of St. Marien. There she became chairwoman of the association.

Throughout its life it was shaped by the old aristocratic traditions and the influences of the Catholic Church. Despite severe strokes of fate, the believing woman always kept an eye on the welfare of her family and the people in her neighborhood.

Isabelle von Loë was always welcomed by her large family with many children and was highly regarded. She was able to tell numerous exciting stories to her 23 grandchildren and 65 great-grandchildren. She knew the end of the imperial era , the turmoil of the Weimar Republic and the two world wars, the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany right up to modern times from her long, eventful life. On January 10, 2009, Isabelle von Loë died at the old age of 105 in her home in Kevelaer. The funeral service took place on January 18, 2009 with over 300 people in the Marienbasilika in Kevelaer. She was then buried next to her husband in the Catholic cemetery in Weeze .

genealogy

Great grandparents
 
 Prince
Alfred Konstantin zu Salm-Salm ,
1814–1886
 
 Princess
Auguste von Croÿ ,
1815–1886
 
 Count
Franz Joseph Johann Nepomuk Gottfried von Lützow ,
1814–1897
 
 Henriette von Seymour
1822–1909
 
 Karl Ferdinand of Austria
1818–1874
 
 Archduchess
Elisabeth Franziska Maria of Austria ,
1831–1903
 
 Duke
Rudolf von Croÿ ,
1823–1902
 
 Princess
Natalie von Ligne ,
1835–1863
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Grandparents
 
 
 
 Prince
Alfred zu Salm-Salm ,
1846–1923
 
 
 
 
 
 Countess
Rosa von Lützow ,
1850–1927
 
 
 
 
 
 Duke
Friedrich of Austria-Teschen ,
1856–1936
 
 
 
 
 
 Princess
Isabella von Croÿ-Dülmen ,
1856–1931
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
parents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Prince
Emanuel zu Salm-Salm ,
1871–1916
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Archduchess
Maria Christina of Austria-Teschen ,
1879–1962
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
child
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Princess
Isabelle zu Salm-Salm ,
Countess of Loë
1903–2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

progeny

  • Fritz (* 1926) - Count von Loë, married to Countess Inez, b. Baroness von Boeselager
  • Christine (* 1927) - wife of Prince Johannes von Levenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
  • Wessel (* 1928) - Baron von Loë, married to Baron Sophie, b. Countess of Waldburg-Zeil-Hohenems
  • Elisabeth (* 1930) - Baroness von Loë, married to Freiherr Philipp Wambolt von Umstadt
  • Paula (* 1931; † 1950) - died of polio at the age of 19
  • Franz (* 1936) - Baron von Loë, married to Baron Josepha, b. Countess of Magnis
  • Maria-Rosa (* 1939) - Baroness of Loë

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Note in Josef Nowak's book “Mensch auf dem Acker sät”. There he suggestively describes some liberation actions that he made together with the Countess von Loë before his captivity. Published in 1990 by Niemeyer Verlag Hameln; ISBN 978-3875859058
  2. ↑ See: Blattus Martini / Kevelaerer Encyclopedia: Martin Willing Bloody Winter
  3. ↑ Heike Waldor-Schäfer: The emperor's head and a riddle. In: NRZ. Funke Medien NRW, July 10, 2019, accessed on October 19, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Josef Nowak describes her in his book “Mensch auf dem Acker sät” as “Baroness von L.”. He contacts her through a priest in Rheinberg. Promt she appears with a farmer at the fence and tries to help him with a food donation. Published in 1990 by Niemeyer Verlag Hameln; ISBN 978-3875859058
  5. ↑ Blattus Martini / Kevelaerer Encyclopedia - Martin Willing: Kevelaerer Construction Years (Chapter: 13)
personal data
SURNAME Loë, Isabelle Countess of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Salm-Salm, Isabelle Princess too
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobles
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Potsdam
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 2009
Place of death Kevelaer