Johann Dietrich von Gemmingen (1676–1757)

Johann Dietrich von Gemmingen (born January 19, 1676 at Guttenberg Castle ; † September 26, 1757 in Fürfeld ) was an imperial knight and from 1725 until his death director of the knightly canton of Kraichgau . He was the landlord in Fürfeld and had numerous other properties in other places. With him began a mismanagement within the Fürfeld branch of the barons of Gemmingen , which resulted in the ruin of the Fürfeld house and the sale of most of its goods to other branches of the family.

Life

He was the son of Otto Dietrich von Gemmingen (1647–1695) and his first wife Anna Rosina von Ellrichshausen (1638–1676). He owned the castle and place Fürfeld as well as half of the castle Guttenberg , Neckarmühlbach , Hüffenhardt and Kälbertshausen , was Ganerbe in Bönnigheim and Erligheim and had rights in Adelshofen and Großgartach . In Fürfeld, where the Fürfeld Castle was destroyed by a French invasion in the Palatinate War of Succession in 1693, he began to rebuild from 1706. In matters of faith, Johann Dietrich was considered mild and gracious, nevertheless he led a witch trial in 1716 against Anna Maria Wagemann, who was burned at the stake in Fürfeld the following year .

In 1704 he became a member of the knights' committee, in 1712 he was a councilor and on February 6, 1725 the knight canton of Kraichgau elected him director. He headed the knight canton for 32 years until his death. In 1742 he hosted Charles VII on his way to Frankfurt to be elected emperor.

In spite of his extensive possessions, Johann Dietrich repeatedly had financial bottlenecks even in middle age. Already in 1707 he pledged the dam Höfer Valid to Bonfeld and Fruchtgült to Wagenbach (today Obergimpern ) to Helena von Gemmingen to Bonfeld to 500 guilders. In the same year he also leased the Fürfelder Landacht. In 1712, the pledge for the Dammhöfer VAL and the Fürfelder Landacht was renewed for around 1,500 guilders each. In 1729 Johann Dietrich pledged all rights to Helena in Stetten am Heuchelberg .

From his childless cousin Johann Adam von Gemmingen (1686–1742) he inherited a third of his property in 1745. The value of the hereditary estate amounted to around 90,000 guilders. However, Johann Dietrich was so indebted that the entire inheritance was sold to Pleikard von Gemmingen for around 27,000 guilders between 1746 and 1752. There was no repurchase. In 1832 Johann Dietrich's heirs tried, through the bailiff Hölder, to regain these goods and the rights that had already been pledged. However, their claim was now time barred.

In 1750 Johann Dietrich also assigned a share of the lower castle for 6000 guilders to Pleikard Dietrich von Gemmingen and sold the validity in Großgartach that his mother had given him for 1400 guilders to Count FW von Graevenitz.

Johann Dietrich's second wife Rosine Juliane Greck von Kochendorf (1679–1762) is said to have contributed to the debts of the Fürfeld house of the barons of Gemmingen, who spent the impressive sum of 734 guilders for Johann Dietrich's burial in the Fürfeld church alone. This mismanagement continued among his descendants, who were unable to pay the debts of the house. Johann Dietrich's sons died before him, and the grandchildren were under guardianship. The guardians complained of a bad bailiff, lousy foresters, incompetent officials, greedy servants and bacon maids . Over time, the house's debt totaled over 100,000 guilders.

In 1762, the Fürfeld house had to sell the Fürfeld half to Guttenberg, Mühlbach and belonging for 40,000 guilders and take out a loan of 20,000 guilders on Hüffenhardt. In 1768 they also sold the Fürfeld half to Hüffenhardt, a quarter of Kälbertshausen and hunting rights in Siegelsbach and Bargen for a further 21,000 guilders. Since the house was still in debt, the knightly canton of Kraichgau stepped in and finally contributed 36,000 guilders to the repayment of the debt by taking possession of Fürfeld.

family

His first marriage was from 1698 to Christine Juliane Albertine Hofer von Lobenstein (1675-1718), from 1720 to Rosine Juliane Greck von Kochendorf (1679–1762). The first marriage came from the two sons Philipp Friedrich († 1751) and Burkhard Dietrich (1703–1749), both of whom died before their father. The possession of Johann Dietrich von Gemmingen therefore fell to his grandson Johann Philipp Dietrich von Gemmingen (1729–1785), son of Burkhard Dietrich, who continued the Guttenberg-Fürfeld branch of the Barons of Gemmingen .

Progeny:

• Christina Karoline (* / † 1699)
• Philipp Friedrich (1700–1751) ∞ Leopoldine Ernestine Zobel von Giebelstadt
• Juliana Sophia (1701-1707)
• Burkhard Dietrich (1703–1749) ∞ Charlotte Katharina Senft von Sulburg (1704–1749)
• Helena Maria Christina (1705–1737) ∞ Philipp Adam von Gemmingen-Widdern
• Dorothea Friederike (1711–1724)
• Johann Dietrich (1713-1716)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Date of birth according to Heimatbuch Fürfeld (2001) p. 91. Stocker and Hueck designate his date of birth as October 10, 1675.

literature

• Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig Stocker : Family Chronicle of the Barons of Gemmingen , Heidelberg 1895, p. 132-135.
• Walter von Hueck: lineage of the family of the barons of Gemmingen. Reprint from the Genealogical Handbook of the Adels Volume 37 (Freiherrliche Häuser A, Volume VI), CA Starke Verlag, Limburg an der Lahn 1966
• Fürfeld - from the past and present of the former imperial knighthood town . City of Bad Rappenau, Bad Rappenau 2001, ISBN 3-929295-77-6