Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal

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Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal (from 1646 Freiherr von Blumenthal ) (born May 24, 1607 in Berlin , † July 7, 1657 in Halberstadt ) was a statesman in Brandenburg and then in imperial service. After his return to the Brandenburg service, he temporarily held a leading political role as a champion of Brandenburg-Imperial cooperation before he was overthrown.

family

He came from the noble family Blumenthal . The father was Christoph I. von Blumenthal, the mother was Dorothea (née von Hacke). He himself married Catherine von Klitzing in 1635 and Elisabeth von Holtzendorff in his second marriage . The son Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal emerged from the first marriage . The second marriage resulted in three more sons and 5 daughters. The daughter Elisabeth married Field Marshal Johann Heinrich von Dünewald .

Life

He completed a degree in Frankfurt an der Oder, among other places, and then went on a cavalier tour . He then entered the Brandenburg court and state service as a chamberlain . As a supporter of Minister Adam von Schwarzenberg , he rose quickly. In 1635 he was director of the council of war. In 1638 he was involved in building up the first Brandenburg army. As general commissioner of the Brandenburg troops, he went to Kleve . In the same year he was envoy to the Electoral Congress in Regensburg . Like von Schwarzenberg, he advocated close adherence to Habsburg. After Schwarzenberg's death and Friedrich Wilhelm's accession to the throne , the political situation began to change and Blumenthal resigned from his Brandenburg service.

From 1646 he was Imperial Councilor and Supreme War Commissary. In 1646 he was raised to the baron status. From 1647 he was General War Commissioner for the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Empire . Because of his resistance to the Armistice in Ulm, he was dismissed at the urging of Kurköln and became General War Commissioner of the Imperial Army against the will of determined Catholics. He became Reichshofrat in 1649. In the same year he was the emperor's envoy on the execution day in Nuremberg . However, he remained in close contact with the Brandenburg court and could be useful to the elector with his connections.

In 1649 he returned to the Brandenburg service and became governor of the newly acquired principality of Halberstadt . From 1651 he was a State Chamber Councilor. As a finance and administration specialist, he contributed to the reconstruction of the country after the devastation of the Thirty Years' War. He continued to campaign for cooperation with the imperial court in the electoral council. As a result, von Blumenthal was one of the most influential advisors in the environment of the Great Elector. From 1652 he was director of the Privy Council. In particular, relations with the emperor and empire were under his direction. When in 1651 the elector waged a war against the Count Palatine von Neuburg for the possession of the Duchy of Kleve , von Blumenthal had to represent the Brandenburg cause at the imperial court. This was only partially successful, but relations with Vienna remained good overall.

Detail of the epitaph of Baron von Blumenthal in Halberstadt Cathedral

In 1653 Blumenthal was sent to Regensburg as head of the Brandenburg embassy to the Reichstag. He did not succeed there in getting various Brandenburg demands through, and imperial politics began to change. As a result, the anti-Habsburg forces, represented in particular by Georg Friedrich von Waldeck , gained influence at the electoral court. This ousted von Blumenthal from the position of the most influential minister. Although he remained electoral councilor, he devoted himself primarily to his duties as governor of Halberstadt.

After his death he was buried in the collegiate church of Halberstadt . Its epitaph was placed high up on the north-western crossing pillar of the cathedral. It is an oval wooden plaque adorned with numerous coats of arms and flowers. The writing cartridge is still legible, much of the decoration has been lost. Today the epitaph is on the north transept gallery.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Evangelical Cathedral of Saint Stephen and Sixtus | Halberstadt, Domplatz 16a | Image index of art & architecture - Image index of art & architecture - Homepage Image index. Retrieved September 18, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Blumenthal, Joachim Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brandenburg and imperial statesman
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1607
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1657
Place of death Halberstadt