Jan Müller (Rentmeister)

Jan Müller (German Johann Müller ; * 1773 in Svinišťany ( pig's skull ), Königgrätzer Kreis ; † September 18, 1861 in Náchod ) worked from 1792 to 1840 in the administrative administration of the East Bohemian rule Nachod . Most recently he held the office of rent master . The memoirs he wrote about his tenure give an insight into the administrative and organizational structures during the reign of Duke Peter von Biron from Courland and his daughter and successor, Duchess Wilhelmine von Sagan .

Life

Jan Müller was the son of an innkeeper from Svinišťany in the Nachod domain. After the death of Count Joseph Adalbert von Desfours , at the age of 19, he was hired on March 1, 1792 by the then administrator and authorized representative Podivin Dreyhausen as a clerk in the administrative administration of the Nachod estate. Since the manor was completely overindebted due to mismanagement and the management was in an anarchic state, there was still a foreclosure auction in 1792. The rich Duke of Courland, Peter von Biron, was chosen from among several applicants . His heiress became his daughter Wilhelmine von Sagan in 1800.

Jan Müller, who performed his duties conscientiously, was promoted to manager of the brewery in Skalitz in 1803 and appointed manager ( purkrabí ) of the Skalitz estate in 1815 . In 1820 he was given the tax office ( berní ). In 1821 he campaigned among the village mayors and the subjects for the construction of paved roads to connect all places of rule. By 1825, 80,000 fathoms of the streets and paths had been completed. For his commitment and the execution of other tasks he received letters of commendation from the then Königgrätzer Governor von Adlerfeld in 1821 and 1825. Under the economic councilor Johann Wenzel Essenther, to whom the Duchess Wilhemine had entrusted this office in 1825, Jan Müller was promoted to rentmaster ( důchodní ) of the entire rule in the same year .

After the death of Duchess Wilhelmine in 1839 her sister Pauline von Sagan succeeded her as heir. However, they sold the property just eight months later. On the occasion of her visit to Nachod in August 1840, Jan Müller applied for retirement. Duchess Pauline approved the request on August 17, 1840 at her Ratibořice Castle and at the same time granted him a handsome lifelong pension. At the same time, she obliged him to continue his service until the handover to the new owner, Karl Octavian von Lippe-Biesterfeld ( Karel Octavius, hrabě z Lippe-Bisterfeld ).

Jan Müller was married to Josephine / Josefa (1787–1870), whose maiden name is not known. The marriage remained childless. The writer Alois Jirásek , who was born in Hronov , created a literary monument to both of them in his four-volume home novel “Ú Nas”. Jan Müller and his wife are represented in the fiction as "důchodní Schmidt" and "Albertine Schmidt". Through his work, Jan Müller was on friendly terms with the Nachoder Schlosskaplan and later pastor of Hronov Josef Regner .

Jan Müller died in Nachod on September 18, 1861. His body was buried in the cemetery of the burial church of John the Baptist in Staré Město .

Chronicle of Jan Müller

It is not known when Jan Müller began to write the handwritten memoirs, which were finished in July 1842. Although he was Czech by nationality, he wrote the chronicle in a safe and well-kept German. The chronicle comprises 169 pages, which are bound to a booklet. Your title is:

MEMORIALS OF THE RULES OF NEIGHBORHOOD AND FATE of
the same administrating officials in the last 5 decades, compiled by the now quiescing rentmaster Johann Müller in July 1842, who was employed on the same rule during the above period.

The Czech translation is:

PAMĚTIHODNOSTI PANSTVÍ NÁCHOD
a osudy úředníků spravujících toto panství v posledních 5 desetíletích.
V červenci 1842 sepsáno penzionovaným důchodním Janem Müllerem, ktery zde byl v tomto obdobi zaměstnán.

Presumably after Jan Müller's death in 1861, the chronicle was given or loaned to Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe , the former owner or major landowner . He noted on the first and last page that the manuscript belonged to the widowed Mrs. Rat Müller. Since this original manuscript was provided with a signature, it remained in the Nachoder Palace Library or in the Palace Archives, which, however, was only sorted under the archivists Arnold von Weyhe-Eimke and Otto Elster . After the Second World War, the manuscript was considered lost. It was not until the late 1970s that the historian and later translator Věra Vlčková discovered the manuscript in the estate of a former employee of the post office or castle administration.

The first translation of the manuscript into Czech took place in 1997 by Věra Vlčková in Stopami Dějin Náchodska. A hardback was published in 2007. The translator provided extensive comments on both publications.

Jan Müller was connected with the fate of the Nachod rule his whole life. As an attentive observer of the events, he followed the many structural and social changes with interest and attentiveness. He writes about himself in the chronicle only in the third person, whereby he does not give any information about his private life, apart from the date of the start of service in the official administration. In assessing his superiors, he is critical but cautious. Obviously, he rejects ascent through protection. He describes the reign of Duke Peter von Biron as the "golden age". He writes with great respect about his daughter Wilhelmine von Sagan, who brought together personalities from political, social and cultural life from all over Europe at her Ratibořice summer palace. He expresses himself with admiration about the Duchess Pauline, to whom he owed a secure retirement.

At the end of his chronicle, Müller recorded the deans , pastors and chaplains who were active in the domain as well as the teachers, according to his memory . Overall, it gives a good insight into the administrative and organizational structures and life on the Nachod estate from 1792 to 1842.

Topography of the Nachod rule

Jan Müller probably wrote a pamphlet with the title during his active professional life

THE RULE OF NEXT DISPLAYED STATISTIC, TOPOGRAPHIC AND HISTORICALLY

In 1842 he dedicated this to Prince Georg Wilhelm zu Schaumburg Lippe , who had acquired the Nachod rule in the same year. It contains information on the number of subjects and their religious affiliation, on the parishes and localities, the schools, etc. This manuscript has been preserved in the Nachoder Schlossarchiv.

The later post or archivist Otto Elster quoted both manuscripts in his handwriting

THE RULES OF NIGHT UNDER THE DUKE PETER OF KURLAND-SEMGALLEN,

which also belongs to the holdings of the Nach or Schlossarchiv.

literature

• Jan Müller: Pamětihodnosti panství Náchod a osudy úředniků spravujících toto panství v posledních 5 desetiletích. V červenci 1842 sepsáno penzionovaným důchodním Janem Müllerem, který zde byl v tomto období zaměstnán. Translated from German into Czech by Věra Vlčková. Nakladatelství Bor, 2007, ISBN 978-80-86807-54-6 . (With 109 notes from p. 67 and a German summary on p. 145f.)
• Lydia Baštecká, Ivana Ebelová: Náchod . Náchod 2004, ISBN 80-7106-674-5 , p. 144
• Aleš Fetters, Eva Koudelková: Zanechali stopu. Osobnosti kultury v Náchodě . Nakladatelství Bor, Liberec 2013, ISBN 978-80-87607-23-7 , p. 119