Johann Adolf Wolff Metternich to the canal
Johann Adolf Wolff called Metternich zur Gracht (born June 24, 1592 in Cologne ; † November 6, 1669 there ) was an influential court official in the 17th century .
history
The rise or fall of the families of the lower nobility in the time of the Holy Roman Empire was closely linked to the favor of the ruling sovereigns. These were for Johann Adolf Duke Wolfgang Wilhelm von Jülich-Berg , the Cologne Elector Ferdinand of Bavaria and the Bavarian Electors Maximilian and Ferdinand Maria . Through his work at the royal courts, Johann Adolf managed to create the conditions for the later rise of his family. Unlike generals like Wallenstein and Aldringen or politicians like Liechtenstein and Eggenberg , he succeeded in doing this in his capacity as a diplomat, who made himself just as indispensable for his elector, Archbishop Ferdinand of Cologne, as for his brother, Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria.
Life
Youth and Studies
Johann Adolf was born in 1592 as the only child of Hermann Wolff called Metternich and Maria von Hochsteden in the Wolff-Metternich town house in Cologne's Marzellestrasse .
At the age of six he came to the house of his godfather, the cathedral dean Adolph Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht , in Speyer . After the death of Johann Adolf's parents (his father in 1603 and his mother in 1605), he took over the guardianship of the boy. Johann Adolf attended the Speyer Cathedral School until 1609 , where he enjoyed a solid Catholic upbringing , just like in the house of his godfather ; the uncle was one of the main sponsors of the post-Tridentine renewal in the prince-bishopric of Speyer . Another uncle, Father Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (1563–1636), headed the Jesuit College Speyer as rector . After studying rhetoric and philosophy in Bourges , France , the young nobleman embarked on an educational trip that took him to longer stays in England and the Netherlands .
Management of the inheritance
After his introduction to the Bonn court by the Speyer cathedral dean in 1614, Johann Adolf began to wait for his desired profession in court service. In the following years, the Junker developed into a knowledgeable farmer in the administration of his father's property, who had precise records kept of the management of his property. A review of the family archive gave him an overview of real estate and finances.
Starting a family
The marriage sought by Johann Adolf to Maria Catharina von Hall , the heiress of Strauweiler Castle near Odenthal , was approved by both families. In 1615, the marriage contract was signed and sealed before going to public church on the Gymnicher Hof on Cologne's Neumarkt . The wedding ceremony took place there after the church wedding in the collegiate church of St. Aposteln in Cologne .
Court official in various cabinets
Secret council in the cabinet of Duke Wolfgang Wilhelm
In response to Johann Adolf's applications for court service, which he addressed to the courts in Bonn and Düsseldorf in 1622 , he received a positive reply from Düsseldorf. The 31-year-old Johann Adolf, appointed to the Privy Council , worked from 1624 to 1627 as the Bergischer War Commissioner in the Düsseldorf cabinet of Duke Wolfgang Wilhelm of Jülich-Berg . He became the confidante of the often absent duke when he succeeded in mediating between the knighthood and the sovereign by persuading the knighthood to approve the taxes required by the sovereign.
Although Johann Adolf was very favored by the prince, he nevertheless endeavored to be able to leave the court in Düsseldorf in agreement with Wolfgang Wilhelm in order to work for the more important Kurköln . This change, which began another career, came after the Duke released him in October 1627. For his continued solidarity with the duchies as “councilor from home”, the court transferred him 300 Reichstaler annually .
Secret council in the cabinet of the Cologne Elector Ferdinand
From January 1, 1628 to December 1644, Johann Adolf was a privy councilor in the Cologne court service in Bonn. Because of the feared advance of the Swedes between 1631 and 1636, the Bonn court was relocated from Bonn to Cologne and back to Bonn several times, a move that the Wolff Metternich family always loyally followed.
- Metternich's regents and employers
Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg (1578–1653)
Elector Ferdinand of Bavaria (1577–1650)
Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria (1573–1651)
Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (1636–1679)
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Envoy of the Elector
Johann Adolf's negotiating skills prompted the elector to transfer diplomatic tasks to him. For several years Johann Adolf traveled as envoy to meetings of the Catholic princes, to the Electoral Day of the Catholic Electors and as part of Ferdinand's entourage in 1636 to the Reichstag in Regensburg , where the election of Ferdinand III. took place to the Roman king . Johann Adolf's position was further enhanced when he carried the sword in its scabbard instead of the Hereditary Marshal of Reiferscheid at the coronation ceremonies. The Reichstag was also a meeting to debate the events of the war on the Lower Rhine . Before the Elector's Day in Bingen in 1628, Elector Ferdinand sent Johann Adolf zu Tilly , the general of the Catholic League , to inform him of Kurköln's plans to warn Emperor Ferdinand of Wallenstein . Johann Adolf was part of the embassy that the elector sent to Koblenz at the beginning of 1632 to negotiate with the French diplomat Baron Hercule de Charnacé , through whose intermediary the embassy in the charterhouse occupied by the Swedes received an audience with the Swedish chancellor Oxenstierna . Metternich managed to convince Oxenstierna of the neutrality of Kurköln and to persuade the Swedish field marshal Count Gustaf Horn to move up the Rhine. In 1642 he was at the court of Emperor Ferdinand in Vienna for negotiations on behalf of the elector . In personal audiences he obtained the consent of the emperor to the election of the coadjutor Maximilian Heinrich von Bayern for Elector Ferdinand, and a concession of the emperor at the request of the Elector Ferdinand, troops against the Franco-Hessian armies on the Lower Rhine in the battle on the Kempen Heide to send. Through Johann Adolf's mediation, the imperial Bavarian marshal Jan van Werth , who was staying in Vienna after his captivity, received 90,000 guilders from the emperor to set up a new army to be deployed on the Lower Rhine.
Appointment as court marshal
Elector Ferdinand, who had found a loyal and trustworthy court official in Johann Adolf, appointed him court marshal to the Elector of Cologne in 1637 and thus a representative of the frequently absent court master Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg . The endowment was correspondingly high, Johann Adolf received 2344 Reichstaler and, if he was present at court, food for himself and five servants as well as food for eight horses. He was introduced as court marshal in 1636 at the Reichstag in Regensburg.
Bailiff of the Lechenich Office
In addition to his service at the court of the Elector, Johann Adolf also held the position of bailiff of the Electoral Cologne office of Lechenich , which came to him after the death of bailiff Otto von dem Bongard zu Bergerhausen in 1638. This office was already administered by Johann Adolf's father, but after his death it could not be given to his underage son. After the bailiff's death, Johann Adolf's wish was fulfilled to fill the post that, in his opinion, traditionally belonged to the Wolff Metternich family. In his absence, an office administrator appointed by him performed the tasks.
Johann Adolf had already been assigned to Johann Adolf in 1629 the "official position" of the subordinate rule of the St. Mariengraden Monastery in Bliesheim , which his father Hermann and his grandfather Hieronymus had held.
Secret advice in the service of the Bavarian Court
Educator of the princes
Despite the strong ties to Cologne and the surrounding area and the chance to become Wartenberg's successor and first minister in Kurköln, Johann Adolf sought to serve at the Bavarian court in Munich . The negotiations were delayed because of concerns about disappointing Johann Adolf's Elector Ferdinand. He only signed the contract when he had received the elector's approval. Ferdinand even paid him the Cologne council salary of 800 Reichstalers during his time in Munich in the expectation that Johann Adolf would represent the interests of the Electorate of Cologne at the Munich court. There he took over in 1645 as a Privy Councilor in the service of the Bavarian Elector Maximilian, the task of educator of the princes like his godfather Adolf Wolff Metternich had had. He began his work in 1646 in Wasserburg , where the electoral family and in their entourage the Metternich family had fled because of the threat to Munich from French and Swedish troops. According to the instructions of the elector, a preceptor gave the instruction, which was supervised by Johann Adolf. After returning to the Munich residence, Johann Adolf tried to educate both princes, Ferdinand Maria and Maximilian Philipp, but mainly that of the elector Ferdinand Maria. This completed his school education in March 1651 with an "exam". He was then introduced to court life and protocol procedures in order to be prepared for his future tasks.
Chamberlain
At the end of 1654 Johann Adolf took over the post of chief treasurer . The demanding tasks and the strenuous service, the responsibility for the safety of the elector, for the cloakroom, for the staff, for the inventory as well as the constant presence at court on all occasions were one thing for the now 62-year-old Johann Adolf and his poor health Overwhelming. Through the mediation of the court master, Count Maximilian Kurtz von Senftenau , Elector Ferdinand Maria dismissed Johann Adolf from his service in 1656 and instead of the previous salary of 4,000 guilders granted him a pension of 3,000 guilders a year.
Elevation to the baron class
The most important personal rise of Johann Adolf was the elevation to the imperial baron status by Emperor Ferdinand II on January 27, 1637. He received the baron diploma for himself and his heirs.
lifestyle
Johann Adolf loved a splendid appearance. He attached great importance to expensive, elaborately made clothing in order to demonstrate his advancement and to increase his social standing. In his private life he traveled with four horses, which showed his status . As a respected court official, he often dined in small groups with high-ranking personalities. As a generous host, he spared no expense in entertaining his guests at celebrations in his homes. He carefully noted the high costs caused by the extensive inns with several lavish courses and the constant replenishment of his wine stock, but accepted the costs calmly, as they served their purpose. The invitations of high guests, including diplomatic and military celebrities, served the representation and, like the meals in small groups, gave the opportunity to establish or consolidate connections. On the other hand, they managed very sparingly in their own household and kept accurate records.
New citizens in Cologne
Cologne civil rights and duties
The acquisition of Cologne citizenship obliged new citizens to belong to a guild and to stand up for the city in the event of a defense. Johann Adolf, who received citizenship and the right to tap wine in Cologne in 1643, was enrolled in the merchants' Gaffel Windeck. For the duty to defend the city, he paid five Reichstaler for guard duty. He had already enjoyed a high reputation in the city and was a welcome guest at banquets for mayors and other city notables .
- Determination of the burial place
Johann Adolf determined that he and his wife were to be buried in the family grave of the Metternichs with St. Apostles. His grandparents Hieronymus Wolff Metternich and Catharina von Buschfeld as well as his mother-in-law Sofia von Hall, born Waldbott von Bassenheim, who died in February 1644, already rested in the crypt . On the epitaph with the names of the deceased donated by Johann Adolf, the area for his own name and that of his wife had been left free.
Foundations
Johann Adolf's upbringing also shaped his private actions. His thinking and acting based on the Catholic values of the time, as well as the general piety of his time, was evident in daily prayer, attending church services and taking part in processions , pilgrimages and the particularly pronounced veneration of relics in Cologne . The fact that Johann Adolf was connected to the teachings and principles of Ignatius of Loyola was shown by his participation in the retreat organized by Cologne Jesuits , which was followed by a general confession (confessus generaliter tota vita). He was open to the “good works” expected by the Catholic Church. He donated alms , donated masses, arranged donations to orders and foundations in Cologne and the region.
Some of his foundations have been preserved. Such a pulpit for the Franciscan Church Ad Olivas (today in the church in Paffendorf ) and an altarpiece for an altar in honor of Mary for the Church of St. Apostles, a work by the artist Johannes Hülsmann, which is now on permanent loan on the high altar in the church The Assumption of Mary is located on Marzellenstrasse, the former Jesuit church.
Wolff Metternich's residences, goods and properties
In addition to his legacy, the Gracht ancestral home with the two farms “Grachter Ackerbau” and “Spürker Hof”, the noble residences of Haus Forst near Manheim and Haus Raedt near Liedberg as well as a farm in Meller , larger estates and wineries in Sinzig as a Trier fiefdom were family-owned . Through the marriage of Johann Adolf, the family's property increased through the von Hallsche Strauweiler and the associated tower courtyard in Zündorf and other courtyards.
After his parents' town house in Cologne's Marzellenstrasse was inherited by relatives, Johann Adolf acquired a house in 1618 in Vilzengasse (today Richmodstrasse). At that time, he also owned several apartment buildings in Cologne, which brought him a good return .
While he was working in Bonn in 1637, Johann Adolf and his family rented a representative house near the Bonn residence , the "Gudenauer Hof" of the Waldbott von Bassenheim zu Königsfeld.
In 1643 the family moved into the Klever Hof on Johannisstrasse in the Cologne suburb of Niederich , which Johann Adolf had received as a Brandenburg fief for 30 years with the permission of the Elector .
After returning from Munich in 1659 he acquired the "Metternicher Hof auf der Brücken" (Brückenstraße). It consisted of two adjoining houses that Johann Adolf had connected to one another and made it his representative residence through major renovations.
Over the decades Johann Adolf had received a number of fiefs and subordinates :
- 1633 the Electoral Cologne subordinate rule Liblar
- 1634 the Bergische Unterherrschaft Odenthal
- 1637 the Palatinate subordination of Flehingen
- 1635 the Electorate of Cologne fief Langenau an der Lahn
- 1665 the Electorate of Cologne fiefdom Wehrden
- 1658 the Bavarian fief of Oberarnbach, which Johann Adolf had already been promised when he took up his post in Munich.
He also owned a winery in Nierstein , the Metternichhof, which is still named after him today, vineyards in Bornheim , a fiefdom of the Electoral Palatinate in the Wetterau with 160 Malter rye income, the right of patronage in Flehingen from the Kronweißburg monastery and a farm with 100 acres called the "Pfarrwittumsgut" zu Lampertheim , land in Oberschlich near Jüchen as a fiefdom of the princes of Salm-Reiferscheid zu Dyck , the Oberscheider Höfe near Engelskirchen as heir to the "Mön" Maria Quad née Wolff Metternich, as an Electorate of Cologne fiefdom a farm in Linn , the Zündorfer Rheinwerth from the Duke of Jülich-Berg and a share of the income from the Cologne-Deutz Rhine ferry from the Cologne-Deutz Rhine ferry.
- Preservation of the subordinates Liblar and Odenthal for the descendants
Johann Adolf, to whom the Elector had pledged the Liblar Honschaft in 1630 for a total of 4,700 Reichstaler, received it in 1633 for himself and his heirs as subordinate rule. After the death of Elector Ferdinand, he saw their continued existence endangered. Elector Max Heinrich objected to the papal approval of the year 1631 required for ecclesiastical fiefs and refused a further mortgage. A review by a commission commissioned by the papal curia decided in favor of Johann Adolf, so the enfeoffment was continued. When it was enfeoffed with the subordinate Odenthal in 1634, Duke Wolfgang Wilhelm had reserved the right to repay the 6000 Reichstaler Johann Adolf had paid for the lordship later and thus redeem the fief. When Duke Philipp Wilhelm wanted to make the repayment, Johann Adolf delayed the redemption because he did not fear having to give up Odenthal due to the imperial confirmation of the fief in 1636. The lawsuit that Johann Adolf had initiated had not yet been decided upon his death, but twenty years later it fell in favor of his heirs.
Measures to secure the offspring financially
In all diplomatic tasks Johann Adolf never forgot his personal interests. It was customary at the time to combine political tasks and private ambitions. Johann Adolf used the opportunities presented to him to get to know authoritative officials at other courts who could be of personal use to him. At the court of the Electorate of Cologne, he met the chief steward and prince-bishop of Osnabrück, Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg, who became his special patron and an almost personal friend.
He saw one of his most important tasks in the financial security of his descendants. He planned your training and further care with foresight. Of his 16 children, 14 reached adulthood. Of these, 10 children, six sons and four daughters, entered the clergy. One of them became an abbess in St. Maria im Kapitol in Cologne, a son became a Knight of Malta and Commander of the Order of the coming gentlemen's rounds; the son Hermann Werner ruled as Prince-Bishop of Paderborn .
- Acquisition of prebends
Johann Adolf knew the importance of the prebends in caring for his spiritual sons. Through his service at the royal courts, he had contacts with high clerical dignitaries, from whom he was not only informed about prebends who became vacant, but who also acted as his advocates and mediators in the acquisition of prebenders for his spiritual sons. In the course of time he was able to win numerous prebends for his sons, for example in Worms , Hildesheim , Mainz , Münster , Speyer, Bruchsal and Paderborn, who then made good income. Thanks to his good relations with the imperial chancellery and the Roman curia, the prebends had been approved.
- Testament as entails
Between 1650 and 1656 Johann Adolf had received permission from all feudal lords to freely dispose of his fiefs. This confirmed the entails , with which the spouses Wolff Metternich determined the inheritance in their will in 1662 . The first-born male descendant was to manage the property and “keep property by tribe and name”. The fiefs were reserved for the non-spiritual sons. However, the sons in the clergy had usage rights to the allodial goods . The daughters were granted an annual cash payment regardless of their status. The eldest son Degenhard Adolf, to whom Johann Adolf had transferred the ancestral castle Gracht, became the manager of the family property, a task that fell to his brother Hieronymus after his death in 1668.
Retired
After Johann Adolf's return in May 1656, his advice at the Bonn court was no longer in demand. The brothers Franz Egon von Fürstenberg and Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg had filled the positions he had previously held. He withdrew into private life and devoted himself to his goods and financial affairs. Before expanding his country houses, he began to rebuild the Zündorf tower courtyard , which belonged to Strauweiler Castle. Then he had extensive renovations carried out in Strauweiler, his wife's ancestral castle.
Expansion of Gracht Castle
At Burg Gracht, the headquarters of Wolff Metternich, the baron was always happy to return, even if only for a short time. However, the extensive restoration work on the manor house, completed in 1636, did not meet his requirements. In November 1658 he began building the castle in Gracht, which had been planned for 30 years and took place in several construction phases. He himself supervised the construction of the new castle, which he described as the most beautiful of his “country estates”. The palace garden was also expanded to include a zoo. In order to enlarge the palace gardens, he bought all the neighboring houses and in 1637, with the permission of Elector Ferdinand, relocated the electoral Cologne road, which ran from Aachen via Lechenich - Liblar - Brühl to Bonn and was called "Brölische Strasse" in Liblar, "further into the village" to let.
The last years of life
Johann Adolf spent most of the last years of his life in Cologne at the "Metternicher Hof auf der Brücken". The appointment as "imperial councilor from home" in 1660 by Emperor Leopold , a repetition of the appointment by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1637, was an honor that pleased the old man, as was the appointment of "Landhofmeister" by the elector in 1663 Maximilian Heinrich, but these titles were without any influence. He did not live to see the execution of his last plan, the construction of a new church in Liblar, which he had commissioned his son Hieronymus to build in 1668. He died in his house "on the bridges" on November 6, 1669, as his son noted in a prayer book. Like his wife, who died in 1663, Johann Adolf was buried in the family crypt in the church of St. Aposteln in Cologne.
progeny
Johann Adolf Wolff Metternich had 16 children with his wife Maria Catharina von Hall. These were:
- Degenhard Adolf (1616–1668), bailiff of Lechenich, owner of the Gracht family castle
- Adolf (1618–1641), Canon of Münster and Knight of Malta
- Sophia Maria (1619–1625), Augustinian choirwoman in the Schillingscapellen monastery
- Anna Adriana (1621–1698), canons, abbess of St. Maria im Kapitol , Cologne
- Hieronymus (1623–1680), Canon in Worms, Knight of Malta, bailiff of Lechenich
- Johann Wilhelm (1624–1694), dean of the cathedral in Mainz, provost of the cathedral in Mainz, Paderborn and Münster
- Hermann Werner (1625–1704), Prince-Bishop of Paderborn
- Sophia Margaretha (1627–1667), ⚭ 1644 with Adolf von Gymnich
- Ignatius (1630–1688), dean of the cathedral in Speyer
- Maria Catharina Franziska (1631–1669), Augustinian choirwoman in the Schillingscapellen monastery
- Anselm Ferdinand (1633–1634)
- Lucia (1634–1691), ⚭ Dietrich Adolf von Metternich zu Winnenburg
- Franz Wilhelm (1636–1654), soldier, died in Crete, fighting the Turks
- Maria Agnes Theresia (1637–1701), nun in the Hoven monastery , later in Nonnenwerth
- Gutta Maria (1639–1692), Augustinian choirwoman in the Schillingscapellen monastery
- Ferdinand Ernst (1642–1680), dean of the cathedral in Osnabrück
Establishment of a family archive
In the family archive set up by Johann Adolf in Cologne, both his documents and files as well as those of his father and grandfather were kept. He had the most important documents that a clerk commissioned by him copied subsequently authenticated. The four new cube-like cabinet parts made in 1634, which were stacked on top of each other, had two lockable doors, behind each of which there were six drawers. The cabinet elements were easy to transport thanks to the massive handles on the sides. In 1650 Johann Adolf introduced a new filing system, with which the archives of the family archive were systematically divided into the four cupboard elements (which were also referred to as "boxes"). The subdivision of the documents was divided into the following areas: documents relating to the sovereign service, family documents, documents relating to one's own property, files on asset management, as well as everyday matters, including correspondence and other documents relating to his children.
The family's extensive archives were subsequently supplemented by the descendants of Johann Adolf. In the course of time they came from Cologne to Schloss Gracht and stayed there until the castle was sold in 1957. Today, most of the archive, comprising around 800 files and almost 1000 documents, is stored in the archive magazine of the united aristocratic archives in Rhineland e . V. kept at Ehreshoven Castle, a small part relating to Strauweiler and Odenthal is in the archive of Strauweiler Castle. In 1997, when the archives were revised, the documents and files recorded between 1922 and 1925 were counted again.
An important biographical source are the diary entries that Johann Adolf kept for over 45 years, which he made in so-called “writing calendars”. They are annual calendars in book form, which were provided with the date of the day and the feasts of saints and provided space for your own notes. They give a precise picture of his professional advancement, but also informative information about the lifestyle of the upper class at the time. They report on the royal courts in the royal cities and on life in Cologne in the 17th century and life on Burg Gracht. The organization of the Metternich household is described in the records of Maria Catharina von Hall in the household books she kept. The copies document the family history and the possessions at the time of Johann Adolf. An important source of time for research into the Thirty Years' War is the preserved correspondence between Johann Adolf and the House of Wittelsbach, the Cologne elector, with generals and high clerical dignitaries such as Franz von Wartenberg. Mainly the files from the subordinate Liblar, from Bliesheim and above all the important documents from the Lechenich district such as the mayor's accounts of the former city of Lechenich and the accounts of the honors of the office are for today's research in the local area. and regional area of the city of Erftstadt of inestimable value.
literature
- Karl Stommel : Johann Adolf Freiherr Wolff called Metternich zur Gracht From Landritter to Landhofmeister A career in the 17th century. Cologne 1986. ISBN 3-7927-0919-8
- Gudrun Gersmann and Hans-Werner Langbrandner Ed .: Noble worlds in the Rhineland. Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2009. ISBN 978-3-412-20251-4
- History Association Nierstein (Ed.): I enjoy the vine in abundance. The Metternichhof - Nierstein's oldest noble court. Nierstein 2019. ISBN 978-3-9817898-4-3
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Karl Stommel: Johann Adolf Wolff called Metternich zur Gracht. Cologne 1986
- ↑ Ludwig Stamer , "Church History of the Palatinate" , Volume III / 1, pages 132-133; Excerpt from the source
- ↑ Archive Gracht Certificate 617
- ↑ Archive Gracht document 684
- ↑ Archive Gracht document 685
- ↑ Archive Gracht Certificate 686
- ↑ Archive Gracht document 887
- ^ Archive Gracht files No. 510 and No. 556
- ↑ History Association Nierstein : I enjoy the vine in abundance. The Metternichhof - Nierstein's oldest noble court. Nierstein 2019
- ↑ Archive Gracht Certificate 47
- ↑ Archive Gracht Certificate 87
- ↑ Nadja Schmitz, Monika Gussone. In: Noble life worlds of the early modern period , pp. 227–223
- ↑ Thomas Stratmann, Hans-Werner Langbrandner. In: Adlige Lebenswelten of the early modern times , pp. 206–211
- ↑ Archive Gracht files No. 653
- ^ Hanna Stommel: Short biography of Johann Adolf Wolff Metternich zur Gracht. (PDF) p. 14
- ^ Johann Seifert: The Transparent Houses in Europe , main volume 1. Regensburg, 1725, p. 901 u. 901; books.google.de
- ↑ Maria Rößner-Richarz, Monika Gussone. In: Adlige Lebenswelten of the early modern period , pp. 221–225
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wolff Metternich to the canal, Johann Adolf |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wolff, Johann Adolf; Wolff called Metternich zur Gracht, Johann Adolf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German court official, Privy Councilor, active in diplomatic missions for various electors |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 24, 1592 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cologne |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 6, 1669 |
| Place of death | Cologne |