Johann Kasimir Kolb von Wartenberg

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Johann Kasimir Kolb Count von Wartenberg
Signature Johann Kasimir Kolb von Wartenberg.PNG
Johann Kasimir Kolb Graf von Wartenberg on horseback, oil painting by Johann Christof Merck , 1702.

Johann Kasimir Kolb (e) von Wartenberg , baron since 1695 , count from 1699 (born February 6, 1643 in Metz , † July 4, 1712 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a Prussian prime minister and leading head of the three counts cabinet .

biography

Johann Casimir Kolb von Wartenberg was a scion of the old Palatine lower nobility family Kolb von Wartenberg , whose ancestral seat is Wartenberg Castle north of Kaiserslautern, built in the 12th century and completely destroyed in 1522. The Wartenbergers mainly served in the Palatinate administration and in the military.

Johann Casimir I. Kolb von Wartenberg (1584–1661), Palatinate-Simmerian Privy Councilor and governor, father a. a. of Count Johann Casimir II. Kolb von Wartenberg and Maria Ursula Kolb von Wartenberg

Johann Casimir II. Kolb von Wartenberg the Younger, like his father Johann Casimir I. Kolb von Wartenberg (the elder; 1584–1661), who held the highest offices in the Electorate of the Palatinate, entered the Palatinate at an early age, namely in that of the Palatinate-Simmern line of the Wittelsbach family. For Marie von Oranien-Nassau (1642–1688), sister-in-law of the Great Elector and wife of Count Palatine Ludwig Heinrich von Simmern (1640–1674), Kolb became the most important advisor and confidante. According to the testimony of Elisabeth Charlotte von Orléans ( Liselotte von der Pfalz ), who was raised by his older half-sister Maria Ursula Kolb von Wartenberg , the two had a love affair for many years.

After Marie von Orange's death, Kolb entered the service of Elector Friedrich III in 1688 . of Brandenburg . There he rose quickly: in 1690 he was captain of Oranienburg , in 1691 captain of the palace of Berlin and in 1694 captain of the cathedral propstei Havelberg , in 1696 chief stable master and lord of the chamberlain. Other high offices followed.

In 1697 a heterogeneous group of courtiers, including Kolb, overthrew the then First Minister Eberhard von Danckelman in an intrigue . In the years that followed, Kolb proved to be an extremely skilful player in the game of the frequently changing intriguing groups of people in courtly Berlin society for power and influence, who was popular and well-liked everywhere because of his friendliness and willing courtesy. "At court he always remained extremely cautious and cautious in word and gesture. He avoided clear positions, knowing full well that in the constantly changing court society, today's friends could be tomorrow's enemies." At the latest with the coronation of Frederick III. as the Prussian king in 1701, Wartenberg, who had previously gradually eliminated his opponents, including Hans Albrecht von Barfus and Paul von Fuchs , and made himself indispensable as an advisor and leisure designer, became the king's almost unassailable favorite.

As in the services of Palatinate-Simmer, Kolbe also used his position at court in Berlin for his personal advantage: after receiving the baron diploma in 1695, he advanced to the rank of imperial count with great skill and foresight. At the instigation of the Brandenburg Elector, the Emperor in Vienna awarded him the Count's diploma in 1699. But with that he still had no imperial direct goods, no imperial county. A few years later, he took advantage of the disputes over the re-Catholicization of the Electoral Palatinate between the Heidelberg Elector and the Protestant imperial estates led by Brandenburg-Prussia to - probably in return for the favorable compromise in the Declaration of Religion of 1705 - to gain imperial territories in the Northern Palatinate acquire. In December 1707, Emperor Leopold I raised the Wartenberg possessions of the Kolb von Wartenberg to an imperial county with a seat and vote in the Reichstag. This legal status turned out to be a stroke of luck for Kolb's descendants around 100 years later in connection with the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, as they were compensated for the loss of their imperial immediacy in 1802 with the Reichsabbey Rot an der Rot .

Wartenberg-Palais 1702–1889 in Nikolaiviertel , Spree side, corner of today's Rathausstrasse .

During the years at the Berlin court, Kolb accumulated an abundance of court offices in whose fields of activity he was not really interested, but for which he had no time at all if he wanted to maintain his position at court, which required his constant closeness to the king . As a result, he filled the most important court positions with people he trusted, whose suitability for the office was less important than their loyalty to Kolbe and whose task above all else was to raise money for the costly whims of Frederick I / III. to generate. In addition to capable officials, such as B. Heinrich Rüdiger von Ilgen (1654–1728), because they seemed loyal and compliant to him, also placed incompetent and unscrupulous people in office and dignity. Above all, Oberhofmarschall Graf August von Wittgenstein (1663–1735) should be mentioned here. In contrast, Field Marshal Count Alexander Hermann von Wartensleben (1650–1734) proved to be up to his tasks.

In the intrigues of the Berlin court, the corrupt and incompetent “triple woe” was mocked, as Wartenberg, Wartensleben and Wittgenstein had increased taxes to an unprecedented extent (today's value added taxes) and wasted state money. This judgment was adopted from Prussian historiography, “ which could not leave Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg and his wife good because they were a pronounced part of the allegedly outdated, corrupt system under Friedrich III./I. that had to be overthrown by the new forces under Friedrich Wilhelm I, teleologically driving the Prussian vocation ” . The judgment is carried through to more recent historical research and is illustrated in the novel “The Father” by Jochen Klepper (1937).

However, this verdict does not stand up to a differentiated scientific examination: “ Casimir Kolbe von Wartenberg is in many ways the typical baroque court nobleman. He is no more honorable, but also no more nefarious, than his rivals for power and proximity to the prince. He's just a lot smarter! Equipped with the best courtly manners, he was an excellent judge of people, a clever man who was well-versed in the world and who knew how to move around the smooth court floor. People liked him because he was very entertaining as a pleasant conversationalist and because he could organize entertainment and pastime. One of his many talents that cannot be assessed highly enough can be seen in the fact that he was able to have a balancing effect. Incidentally, even his enemies testify to this in courtly intrigues. And if Johann Casimir Kolbe von Wartenberg had been able to tame his wife, who was steadily increasing the number of his enemies, or at least to keep her in check, he would have remained the right hand of the king until the end of his days. " (Heinz Kolbe)

Johann Casimir Kolb von Wartenberg was married to Catharina Rickers (not Rickert), who came from a respected middle-class family, and was the daughter of the Brandenburg civil servant Christoffel Rickers. He administered the Klevian customs, an important and thoroughly lucrative office. Catharina was born on January 12, 1670 in Lobith, not far from the Dutch border . The claim, which can also be read in more recent representations, that the Countess Wartenberg was the daughter of an Emmerich innkeeper and made the guests happy with her love services in the inn, is demonstrably false and can be ascribed to hostile people at the Berlin court. In 1690 Catharina Rickers married the Elector's secret chamber secretary, Peter Biedecapp (Biedekap), who died after three years of marriage. In March 1696 she married the aspiring Kolb von Wartenberg, with whom she had been in love for a long time. Whether Catharina had already maintained her relationship with Kolb during the lifetime of her first husband cannot be said with any certainty, despite the rumors circulating. Catharina had a quick-tempered and uncontrollable character, always wanted to be the center of attention, so that she made many enemies at court. As for the male court society, it must have exerted a great attraction on them, for Biedekap and Wartenberg were not the only ones who felt drawn to them; “ And Johann Casimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, the second most powerful man in the Kingdom of Prussia, well experienced in dealing with women, the 27-year-old seems to have fallen for it. There is numerous evidence from contemporary witnesses that Kolbe was unable to stand up against the will of his young wife, that he could not refuse anything, and that even nonsensical or even endangering demands for Kolbe's position at court. ” However, the claim that Friedrich I. / III. I raised her to "mistress par Etiquette" or "mistress en titre" or he was her lover, therefore rather unlikely. But since she had complete control over her husband, she had political influence over him, which increased Wartenberg's enemies.

For many years they tried in vain to overthrow it and without the weather-related famine and epidemic years 1708-10 they would probably never have succeeded. But they took advantage of the moment when extreme cold and crop failures in connection with the red dysentery and typhoid famine resulted in a catastrophic situation in the eastern provinces. In the end around a third of the population was dead. Since the king's exorbitant capital requirements had made no provision for such emergencies and the state treasury was empty, the hunger and health crisis could not be fought effectively. The enemies of Wartenberg at court took advantage of this. They pulled the crown prince on their side, so that ultimately Wartenberg's fall succeeded by means of an ingenious game of intrigue. On December 31, 1709 Wartenberg had to resign. After a tearful farewell to his king, who at least still offered him a high annual pension, Count and Countess Wartenberg moved to Frankfurt am Main in January 1710. M. There, Johann Casmir Kolbe von Wartenberg, who had been ailing for a long time, died on the evening of July 4, 1712 at 6 p.m. at the age of 69. His body was transferred to Berlin and - as he had wished - buried in the Reformed Parochial Church with the approval of the king .

family

Johann Kasimir married the widowed Anna Katharina Rickers (not Rickert) (* January 12, 1670 - March 19, 1734) on March 22, 1696. The couple had six children, two of whom died soon after their birth:

  • Friedrich Kasimir (born January 9, 1697 - † October 19, 1719)
  • Elisabetha (* March 21, 1698; † 1698)
  • Kasimir (* May 6, 1699; † October 2, 1772) ∞ Marie Sophie Wilhelmine Eleonore zu Solms-Rödelheim and Assenheim (* July 4, 1698; † October 1, 1766)
  • Friedrich Karl (born July 29, 1704; † September 20, 1757) ∞ Anna Regina (Wagner) von Treuenfels (born September 25, 1711; † September 2, 1782)
  • Wilhelm Anton (born August 31, 1705 - † September 6, 1778)
  • Sophie Dorothea (February 10, 1707; † 1707)

Full-page prints of oil paintings of the Countess and her 4 children (3 of them in color) at Hubbertz.

The countess had already given birth to a son and a daughter from her first marriage with the valet Biedekap, who were named "Bidekap von Aßbach" (or "Aschbach") at Kolbe von Wartenberg's instigation (after the Kolb property of Aschbacherhof near Kaiserslautern in the Palatinate) ) were ennobled. (Imperial nobility in Vienna on July 27, 1699 for Friedrich Eberhard Christoph and Helene Sophie Eleonore Bidekap, children of the Brandenburg secret chamberlain and secretary Peter Bidekap and Anna Catharina Rickers, re-wed Countess Kolb v. Wartenberg, with the predicate "von Aschenbach" and Kurbrandenburg Confirmation of nobility on March 28, 1700 under the name "Bidekap von Aschbach". The coat of arms awarded in 1699 is similar to that of the extinct lords of Randeck, who were related to the Kolb v. Wartenberg .) Baroness Helene Sophie Eleonore Bidekap von Aßbach († 1775 in Königsberg ) married on February 24, 1706 at the age of thirteen Count Ernst Sigismund von Schlieben , ten years his senior , who later became the Royal Prussian Chamber President.

literature

  • Siegfried Isaacsohn:  Kolbe von Wartenberg, Johann Casimir Graf . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, pp. 463-466.
  • Johann Kasimir Kolb von Wartenberg . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 16, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 403.
  • Uwe Kieling, Johannes Althoff: The Nikolaiviertel, traces of history in the oldest Berlin . Berlin-Edition, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-8148-0080-X , p. 74-78 .
  • Friedrich W. Weber: The noble family of the Kolbe von Wartenberg in the post-medieval period, Kaiserslautern 1955 .
  • Joachim P. Heinz: rise and fall of Johann Casimir Kolbe von Wartenberg - Prime Minister at the court of the first Prussian king . In: Communications of the Historical Association of the Palatinate . tape 112 . Speyer 2014, p. 97-171 .
  • Erich Hubbertz: Catharina Countess von Wartenberg . In: Emmerich research . tape 8 . Emmerich, 1986.

Web links

Commons : Johann Kasimir Kolb von Wartenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A tabular overview can be found in Joachim P. Heinz, Aufstieg und Fall des Johann Casimir Kolbe von Wartenberg - Prime Minister at the court of the first Prussian king , in: Mitteilungen des Historisches Verein der Pfalz , Vol. 112, Speyer 2014, p. 97– 171, here: Table 1, p. 120.
  2. ↑ Heinz, Kolbe, p. 125.
  3. ↑ On this Friedrich W. Weber, The noble family of the Kolbe von Wartenberg in the post-medieval period, Kaiserslautern 1955, p. 28 and Heinz, Kolbe, p. 106-108.
  4. ↑ See Joachim P. Heinz, Der Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (1803) and the dissolution of the Palatinate counties of Wartenberg, Sickingen and von der Leyen, in: Mitteilungen des Historisches Verein der Pfalz Vol. 111 (2013), pp. 185–265.
  5. ↑ The history of Berlin: Spreeufer in Nikolaiviertel (Burgstrasse)
  6. ↑ Heinz, Kolbe, p. 139
  7. ↑ Heinz, Kolbe, p. 170.
  8. ↑ Erich Hubbertz, Catharina Gräfin von Wartenberg, (= Emmericher Forschungen, Vol. 8), Emmerich 1986 and Heinz, pp. 138–148.
  9. ↑ Heinz, Kolbe, p. 141.
  10. ↑ A family table of the Counts of Wartenberb at Heinz, Kolbe, s. 171; The relevant sources are: European family tables, family tables on the history of European states, founded by Wilhelm Karl Prinz zu Isenburg, continued by Frank Baron Freytag von Loringhoven, New Series, published by Detlev Schwennicke, vol. XI: Families from the Middle and Upper Rhine and from Burgundy, Marburg 1986, plates 69–70; Improvement of Friedrich Carl's date of birth to June 29, 1704 according to Hubbertz, pp. 72 and 158. See also Weber, p. 11
  11. ↑ Hubbertz, p. 7 and pp. 62–75
  12. ↑ Hubbertz, pp. 55f.
  13. ^ GHdA , Adelslexikon Volume I, Volume 53 of the complete series, Limburg an der Lahn 1972, p. 386
  14. ↑ Helene Sophie Bidekap of Asbach
  15. ↑ Ernst Sigismund von Schlieben
  16. ↑ Martin Ernst von Schlieffen, Message from some houses of the von Schlieffen family (1784), p. 390 f.
  17. ↑ Karl von Ledebur, King Friedrich I of Prussia , p. 325 f.
personal data
SURNAME Kolb von Wartenberg, Johann Kasimir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kolb Graf von Wartenberg, Johann Kasimir (full name); Kolbe von Wartenberg, Johann Kasimir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Minister
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1643
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz near Munzenberg , ( Wetterau )
DATE OF DEATH July 4, 1712
Place of death Frankfurt am Main