Johann Adolph von Kielmansegg (1668–1717)

Johann Adolph Freiherr von Kielmansegg (born September 30, 1668 presumably in Schleswig , † November 25, 1717 in London ) was a German court official.

Childhood and youth

Johann Adolph von Kielmansegg was a son of Friedrich Christian von Kielmansegg and his wife Maria Elisabeth, née von Ahlefeldt. His place of birth was probably Schleswig, where there is evidence that several of his brothers were born. He spent his childhood in his parents' house, which was probably initially in Schleswig and on Kohöved . In 1675 his father, his brothers and his grandfather, the Gottorf chancellor Johann Adolph Kielmann von Kielmannsegg , were imprisoned in Copenhagen. His grandfather died in captivity, his sons were released, but a little later fell out of favor with Duke Christian Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf . They left Schleswig-Holstein and initially settled in Hamburg . Johann Adolph's father soon entered service in Denmark. He was raised to the status of imperial baron in 1679 and appointed to the imperial council. In the same year the family moved into the Wandsbeker Castle .

Together with his older brother Christian August and the next younger Nikolaus Friedrich, Johann Adolph embarked on the usual educational journey for young aristocrats in September 1684 , which initially led via Berlin and Dresden to Leipzig. Hofmeister Johann Friedrich Meley took over the tour guide . The father gave them extensive instructions and a list of Latin, French, Italian and Spanish titles that were worth reading. The brothers studied law in Tübingen and visited the Collegium illustre , where they were supposed to learn about courtly life. In 1687 they lived in Paris for about half a year. From there they traveled to Venice, Rome and Naples. The return journey took place via Marseille, Montpellier and The Hague. In November 1688 they reached Wandsbek again. Von Kielmansegg lived here for several years. What he did during this time is unknown.

At the court in Hanover

Around 1692 von Kielmansegg placed himself in the service of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , based in Hanover . One of the reasons for this may have been that Duke Ernst August von Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Calenberg became elector that year and thus enlarged both his court and his administration. Ernst August now also assumed a prominent position in coalitions and conflicts with Louis XIV . Von Kielmansegg therefore found better conditions for his professional career here than at the courts of Schleswig-Holstein in Gottorf or Copenhagen. Due to the history of his family, a career with the local sovereigns would probably not have been possible for him anyway. At the Hannoversche Hof, von Kielmansegg quickly became a Kurjunker. Thanks to a special promotion by Elector Georg Ludwig (1660-1727), he was in 1696 chamberlain , after his accession to the throne in 1698 Chamberlain .

The most influential person during this time was Franz Ernst von Platen . He was married to the beautiful and ambitious Clara Elisabeth , the long-time mistress of Duke Ernst August and mother of his illegitimate daughter Sophie Charlotte . In the family, the girl was considered a legitimate half-sister even without official recognition by von Platen. 1698 traveled from Kielmansegg to London as a diplomat. Several of his letters to Platen from this time show that he trusted him. This is why von Kielmansegg wrote in a relaxed tone with a familiar touch. At the end of 1698 von Kielmansegg got engaged to Sophie Charlotte von Platen, who was expecting a child from him. Franz Ernst von Platen actually refused the engagement, as the stepdaughter did not marry appropriately, but agreed because of the pregnancy. However, a birth in the following months is not documented. The couple moved into a house belonging to von Platen near the elector's castle, which von Kielmansegg later inherited. Later, the couple had the pleasure palace "Fantaisie" built in front of the city. Here they lived in lively company from 1709. The good relationship between his wife and her half-brother Georg Ludwig was also beneficial to Kielmansegg's career.

Takeover of the father's official duties

Von Kielmansegg's father brought the family to trial against the heirs of Aegidius Hennings from Hamburg. This involved a large amount that the grandfather Johann Adolph Kielmann von Kielmannsegg had entrusted to him as a commercial agent. Around 1703 Johann Adolph von Kielmansegg continued the legal battle. In 1711 he achieved a partial success: the Imperial Court of Justice ruled that Hennings' son-in-law Paul Kohlblatt had to hand over the Schrevenborn estate in Heikendorf to the von Kielmanseggs. From this point on, von Kielmansegg referred to himself as the "heir on Schrevenborn". Since Kohlblatt successfully appealed to the Reichshofrat , von Kielmansegg never got the estate. Instead, in 1717, his son received a sum of money as compensation for the estate.

In 1703, Elector Georg Ludwig promoted von Kielmansegg to the position of vice-chief stable master. Queen Sophie Charlotte of Prussia , who was a sister of Georg Ludwig, invited the couple in 1704 to spend the summer as guests at Lietzenburg Castle . In 1706 Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm I came to Herrenhausen to be engaged to Georg Ludwig's daughter Sophie Dorothea . Von Kielmansegg served as his companion. In the summer and autumn of 1708 and 1709, Elector Georg Ludwig traveled from Kielmansegg to the Rhine. Here the elector commanded two campaigns by the Imperial Army against French troops. In addition, he and his wife were on friendly terms with Prince Ernst August , who was Georg Ludwig's youngest brother.

Due to a sore throat, von Kielmansegg traveled to Venice with the prince in the winter of 1709/10 . Here they met the young George Frideric Handel , who celebrated great success with his opera Agrippina . Handel's biographer John Mainwaring wrote about this, presumably informed directly by Handel, that von Kielmansegg had been decisive in bringing Handel to the Hanover court. In the early summer of 1710, Handel went to Hanover as court conductor. The court there had no opera, but only offered chamber music. During this time, however, Handel dealt exclusively with opera. This could have been one reason why he arranged a longer vacation before starting work. Von Kielmansegg acted as mediator during these arrangements. Handel then traveled to London in the late summer of 1710 , where he was immediately successful. In the summer of 1711 he came back to Hanover and in 1712 was given another long vacation from which he never returned. Von Kielmannsegg brought him the resignation of the elector in early summer 1713. The elector probably did not resign Handel primarily because of his arbitrarily extended stay at the English court. Rather, he must have been annoyed that Handel wrote a Te Deum for the English Queen Anne or in her homage . This should be heard in 1713 at the celebration of the Peace of Utrecht . Georg Ludwig saw his own politics endangered by this break between the British and the coalition with the Netherlands and the Kaiser. He also feared that his position could be weakened in the conflicts between the European rulers. The elector's resident in the English capital succeeded in preventing Handel's resignation from being interpreted as an act of injustice. It seems that von Kielmansegg acted as intermediary.

At court in London

The British Queen Anne died in August 1714 without leaving any children. Due to the inheritance, it was followed by Elector Georg I. Von Kielmansegg traveled with him to the British capital in October. During the coronation ceremony he took over the post of head stable master ("Master of the Horse"). The family moved a little later. In the summer of 1715 he traveled from Kielmansegg to Hamburg, where his late father's inheritance was shared. Apparently he did not come back to northern Germany after that.

In politics von Kielmansegg no longer achieved any important positions. He belonged to a small committee of officials from the Hanoverian court who worked in the direct vicinity of the king. Presumably because the government had a say, Georg I von Kielmansegg did not permanently appoint Master of the Horse. Out of consideration for his brother-in-law, however, he did not appoint another head stable master. Officially, von Kielmansegg acted as vice-head stableman and official of the Brunswick-Lüneburg court. Since he maintained a close relationship of trust with the king, however, he was regarded in the British capital as the royal stable master.

At the request of the king, von Kielmansegg organized a festive concert in July 1717. He paid for the costs himself. For the occasion, Handel composed the water music that was performed on the Thames . Mainwaring wrote that von Kielmansegg had thereby improved the disturbed relationship between the king and the composer, but this was not true. In fact, their relationship in London was good from the start. Von Kielmansegg died a few months after this concert. The fact that von Kielmansegg refused to visit a clergyman shortly before his death suggests that the social life was in part related to free-thinking.

family

Von Kielmansegg had two daughters and four sons. Among them was the general and landowner Georg Ludwig von Kielmansegg .

literature

• Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmannsegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, pp. 262–265.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, pp. 262–263.
2. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, p. 263.
3. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, pp. 263–264.
4. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, p. 264.
5. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, p. 264.
6. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, p. 265.
7. ^ Dieter Lohmeier: Kielmansegg, Johann Adolph Freiherr von . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 13. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2011, p. 263.