Jakob Löffler

Jakob Löffler (born July 25, 1582 in Löchgau ; † April 30, 1638 in Basel ) was a Swabian legal scholar, Württemberg chancellor and Swedish vice chancellor during the Thirty Years' War .

Epitaph in Basel Minster

Jakob Löffler was born in 1582 on the day of the Apostle Jakobus as the son of Marx Löffler and his wife Magdalene. Burger born in Löchgau. The family had moved to Löchgau in 1580 from Kornwestheim, where the father was a monastery conductor from Speyer.

In 1592 the excellent pupil switched to the education department affiliated with the University of Tübingen and began studying art and law in 1596 at the age of fourteen . He completed his studies in Tübingen in 1602 with a bachelor's degree . Since that time he has called himself Johann Jakob Löffler.

After studying in Tübingen, he went on educational trips through Europe as a court master accompanied by young noblemen, which enabled Löffler to acquire perfect French, good English, Italian and Spanish language skills. Back in Tübingen he worked at the university and as a lawyer at the court. After Löffler briefly acted as trustee at the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer , he completed his training in Tübingen on February 13, 1609 with a doctorate in both rights (secular and ecclesiastical law).

Duke Johann Friedrich von Württemberg sent him in 1611 to the county of Mömpelgard , which at that time belonged to Württemberg, to solve the debt problems there. In 1615 he was appointed chancellor as the successor to his father-in-law, the local chancellor Johann Christoph Zenger.

In 1625 Löffler was appointed Vice Chancellor of Württemberg by the Duke. In this capacity he went to King Gustav Adolf in 1631 to ask for help from Sweden. Since the Swedes recognized Löffler's talents, he entered Swedish service with the permission of the Duke of Württemberg, but at the same time remained in the service of Württemberg.

On November 6, 1632, King Gustav Adolf was killed in the Battle of Lützen . In the same month Löffler became the Swedish Vice Chancellor for negotiations and from the now incumbent Duke Eberhard III. appointed by Württemberg as the Württemberg Chancellor. He received the Neidlingen manor as befitting the status of this office.

The ruling Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna negotiated in Heilbronn in March and April 1633 with the Protestant German estates and concluded an alliance with them, the so-called Heilbronner Bund . During these negotiations, Löffler was a member of the Consilium formatum , a 10-member advisory body. As a member of this body he was sent by Oxenstierna to the French court in Paris to persuade Richelieu to join this Heilbronn League against the German Emperor Ferdinand II .

After the battle of Nördlingen , which was catastrophically lost for Württemberg in August 1634, the Consilium formatum went to Frankfurt. From there Löffler was sent to Paris a second time. This second trip was finally successful to the extent that in November 1634 he reached an alliance between Sweden and France. However, this mission also led to his dismissal from the Swedish service, mainly because of the consideration he had promised to France, in particular the cession of the Alsatian city ​​of Benfeld to the French without compensation .

Now Löffler tried to reinstate Duke Eberhard III, who had fled the country. of Württemberg. Since Emperor Ferdinand II believed he saw an opponent in Löffler after his successful work for the war opponent, he had Löffler's goods confiscated. In addition, he demanded that Frankfurt, the hometown of Löffler's second wife, extradite him.

Löffler fled to Hamburg and since Sweden refused to admit him despite years of loyal service, he was only able to flee to Switzerland, also for health reasons.

He found asylum in Basel until his death. His epitaph is in the cloister of the Basel Minster .

The elementary and technical secondary school in Löchgau is named after him: Jakob-Löffler-Schule.

literature

• from Alberti:  Löffler, Jacob . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, p. 105 f.
• Thomas Schulz (Ed.): Löchgau - Contributions to local history . Ludwigsburg 2004, page 125 ff.
• Otto Haeberlein: Jakob Löffler. In: Hie gut Württemberg , Ludwigsburg 1996, Volume 47, No. 3.