Johann Friedrich I. von Degenfeld

Johann Friedrich I von Degenfeld (* December 21, 1683 in Neuhaus ; † September 26, 1760 there ) was the landlord of Neuhaus, in the Württemberg half of Ehrstädt and in the Eulenhof . He was a Chamberlain in Württemberg , a member of the Electoral Palatinate government and the oldest knight's councilor in the Kraichgau knight canton .

Life

He was the eldest son of Christoph Friedrich I von Degenfeld († 1705). After the death of the father, his brother Ferdinand Friedrich I. von Degenfeld negotiated a division of the estate between Christoph Friedrich and his brothers August Maximilian and Johann Albrecht. As the oldest brother, Johann Friedrich received Neuhaus Castle, the second oldest brother August Maximilian received the Württemberg half of Ehrstädt and the youngest brother Johann Albrecht received the Eulenhof, which Johann Friedrich managed until Johann Albrecht came of age in 1713. Johann Albrecht later temporarily renamed the Eulenhof to Albrechtsburg .

After the wars of the 17th century, the financial situation and the condition of the brothers' goods, which were already small due to the inheritance, were in poor shape. For a few years her uncle Ferdinand Friedrich I was able to maintain cohesion as the senior of the family, but soon there was a dispute between the brothers and their uncle over financial issues, including the construction work on the Ehrstadt church . Johann Friedrich in particular seems to have had great debts, which were not alleviated by his marriage to Maria Friederica Felicitas Göler von Ravensburg in 1714. The uncle refused financial demands made on him, while the brothers now also claimed the patronage rights and the rectory in Ehrstädt and excluded the uncle from the hereditary burial in the castle chapel in Neuhaus. The dispute was not settled for the time being, as Ferdinand Friedrich died in 1717 and then a dispute about the inheritance broke out among his sons. With Ferdinand Friedrich's death in 1717, Johann Friedrich I became a senior of the family at the age of only 34. As such, he also made claims to his uncle's inheritance from his cousins, but these were rejected.

At that time, several epidemics struck the Kraichgau. Johann Friedrich's brother August Maximilian died unmarried in 1718 or 1719. The second brother Johann Albrecht also died at a young age in 1723, leaving behind only one daughter. As a result, their goods fell back on Johann Friedrich. However, from 1723 to 1725 he also had to mourn the early death of two children. Almost ten years later, the family fled an epidemic to Wimpfen in 1734 , where another three children died in childhood. His only son Christoph Ferdinand II. Died in 1742 at the age of only 26 years without male descendants. His wife gave birth to a daughter after his death, who died a little later, and became mentally ill. Johann Friedrich then had to look after his wife, the six living daughters and the widow of his son.

He was considered a clever calculator and was appointed to numerous committees. He was imperial counselor and real counsel to his royal highness in Cologne, chamberlain to the Duke of Württemberg, member of the Electoral Palatinate government from 1537, he was also a knight of the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle and the oldest councilor in the knightly canton of Kraichgau .

Because of the death of all male descendants, his heir would become his cousin Christoph Ferdinand I , with whom the relationship between the previous disputes was broken, so that there was little hope that after Johann Friedrich's death he would take care of the surviving dependents would. Since Johann Friedrich was still plagued by financial worries, he tried to marry off his daughters as cheaply as possible and to get as much capital as possible from his property. Among other things, he had more wood cut in the forests than he was entitled to. He also tried to bill the agnate Christoph Ferdinand I for all possible maintenance obligations and compensation payments for improvements to the property to be inherited. Lengthy legal disputes up to the death of Johann Friedrich were the result. The disputes with Christoph Ferdinand I even overshadowed Johann Friedrich's funeral in 1770, since the ringing of the funeral in the Ehrstädt church had to be enforced by force by his relatives against the will of his cousin.

As expected, Christoph Ferdinand I took over his inheritance and reunited the entire Degenfeld-Neuhaus property 78 years after the division of the estate between his father and his uncle in 1682 and 55 years after the division between his cousins ​​in 1705.

family

On July 27, 1714, he married Maria Friederica Felicitas Göler von Ravensburg, daughter of the Württemberg Chamberlain Ludwig Ferdinand Göler von Ravensburg (1664–1722). The marriage had three sons and nine daughters, of whom only one son and six daughters came to years.

• Maria Bernhardina Friederica (1715–1762) ⚭ Johann Bernhardt Göler of Ravensburg
• Christoph Ferdinand II. (1716–1742) ⚭ Maria Elisabeth von Gemmingen-Hornberg (1719–1783)
• Charlotte Ernestine (1718–1793) ⚭ Ludwig Gottfried Rüdt von Collenberg
• Sophia Wilhelmine (* 1721), lady-in-waiting in Neuenstadt
• Luisa Magdalena (* 1723)
• Christoph Friedrich II. (* / † 1725)
• Auguste Eberhardine Christiane (* 1727) ⚭ NN von Kühlau
• Juliane Sabine (1728-1812)
• Ferdinand August Friedrich (1730–1734)
• Ludwica Ernestina (1732–1734)
• Constantia Elisabeth Juliana (* / † 1734)
• Carolina Maria (* 1735) ⚭ Rudolf von Neubronn , Johann Ferdinand von Adelsheim

literature

• Friedrich Hub : Genealogy of the von Degenfeld family at Schloss Neuhaus, Ehrstädt, Waibstadt and Wagenbach. In: ders .: Ehrstädt and Neuhaus Castle. Ehrstädt 1967, pp. 420-438