Johannes von Arnoldi

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Johannes von Arnoldi (born December 30, 1751 in Herborn , † November 2, 1827 in Dillenburg ) was a German lawyer , statesman and historian .

Life

Lineage and Early Life

Johannes von Arnoldi was the youngest son of the senior consistorial councilor and theology professor Valentin Arnoldi (1712–1793) and von Adelgunde, born in Herborn . Schultens (1717–1755), daughter of the orientalist Albert Schultens von Leiden . He lost his mother when he was three years old and, like his two older siblings, was brought up by a supervisor, daughter of the former princely personal cook Vogt in Dillenburg. Arnoldi attributed his early inclination to history to the impressions that her stories from history books and events at the court of the extinct Dillenburg princes made on him as a child. His father, who had a thorough knowledge of history, also encouraged Arnoldi's interest in history.

At first, however, when Arnoldi was still a child, he felt the desire to pursue a military career, in which he was encouraged by an old uncle in Dutch military service. The presence of foreign military personnel in Herborn for months during the Seven Years' War also encouraged his inclination to become a soldier. He admired Frederick the Great , in whose army he wanted to serve. But when peace came, his interest in a military career died and he turned to studying books instead.

Arnoldi received his first lessons from a private tutor. Then he attended the top class of the grammar school in Herborn for a year and from autumn 1766 the academy in his hometown , where he studied law and mostly attended the lectures of W. Burchardi. In addition, he pursued his polyhistorical interests and acquired knowledge of various old and new languages, philosophy and other specialist areas. His teachers here included Hegmann, who was married to his only sister. He was also able to use the well-stocked libraries of his professors to get acquainted with newer literature. In autumn 1770 Arnoldi went to Göttingen and continued his law studies there with Professors Böhmer , Meister, von Selchow and Claproth . He also attended lectures in other disciplines, including those of Gatterer , through whom he was introduced to the teaching of diplomacy and who also encouraged his penchant for historical studies.

Service for the Dillenburg regional administration

Arnoldi returned to Herborn at Easter 1773 and initially worked there as a lawyer without developing any particular interest in this profession. In 1777 he joined the Nassau state administration with the rank of secretary and was employed by the state archive in Dillenburg, where he had access to the sources on local history and to the library associated with the archive, which was richly stocked with historical and diplomatic specialist books. Soon he also had to take on a secretary's position at the Rentkammer and, in 1781, a secretariat for the state government. On May 2, 1784 he married Sophie, born in Dillenburg. von Diepenbroick (1763–1784), daughter of Oberforstmeister Friedrich Albrecht von Diepenbroick, who had previously been a colonel in the Dutch service. After the early death of his wife, who died on December 26, 1784 in second childbed, Arnoldi married her older sister Elisabeth Constantie Henriette, née on June 24, 1785. von Diepenbroick (1758–1829).

In 1784 Arnoldi Rat became a member of the Chamber of Accounts and in 1792 an official member of the state government. The First Revolutionary War , which broke out in 1792 , marked a deep turning point in his life, which had hitherto been primarily focused on scientific activities. He was entrusted with the management of the country's war affairs. As a result, he had to undertake many journeys within and outside the country, often with long stays in military headquarters. So he often had to accept inconveniences, but was also able to make acquaintances with important personalities and, through these contacts and through his travel activities, render important services to his fatherland, such as alleviating the burdens of the protracted war and negotiating compensation. On a commission trip he was able to save the life of the judicial councilor and well-known writer Böttcher, who had been arrested by Austrian troops as a spy and was to be hanged on the gallows.

Service to the House of Orange

Arnoldi was appointed director of the Dillenburg State Archives in 1796. As a result of the Dutch Revolution that took place the previous year, the inheritance holder William V of Orange had lost his domains in the Netherlands and in the Burgundian region; and Arnoldi was commissioned in 1797 to draft the House of Orange's request for compensation to be presented to the Rastatt Congress . However, the congress dissolved in 1799 without result. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Lunéville (February 9, 1801), Arnoldi stayed in Berlin as a secret legation counselor for a year in order to advance the Orange claims for compensation. He also had enough leisure to visit sights in Berlin, Potsdam and their surroundings, to write reviews for the General German Library in the subject of history and document studies and to maintain contact with several scholars living in Berlin at the time, namely Friedrich Nicolai .

In the meantime, the German compensation issues were negotiated in Paris , and a provisional convention for the Orange claims was agreed there in May 1802. Arnoldi had left Berlin in February 1802 and returned to his family. In July and August 1802 he stayed in Fulda , Corvey and Dortmund to find out about these new properties, which were intended as compensation for Orange and which his father had given to Prince Wilhelm Friedrich . In September 1802 he traveled as a delegate of Wilhelm V to the congress in Regensburg , where peace was to be established and the German Reich reorganized. He got rid of this mission to the satisfaction of his client, went home at the end of 1802 and met Wilhelm Friedrich, who was now Prince of Nassau-Orange-Fulda, in Fulda. At his request, he entered his full service at the beginning of 1803.

Arnoldi was accepted into Wilhelm Friedrich's cabinet, but first had to get used to his new tasks. Among other things, he received a salary of 3000 guilders, which was soon increased by 600 guilders, and the emperor raised him to the nobility in June 1803 at the instigation of Wilhelm Friedrich. In the summer of 1803 Arnoldi accompanied the Orange prince and his wife on a trip to the Weser region, through the Bergisch region, part of the Rhine region and then through all of Switzerland . In 1804 he was able to enjoy similar recreations on several broadcasts to the court in Kassel . He led the administration of the Principality of Fulda for Wilhelm Friedrich and in 1805 became a member of the newly established Privy Council College.

After the battle of Jena and Auerstedt (October 14, 1806), which ended with a French victory , Arnoldi, who was then in Fulda, was in the dark about the whereabouts of Wilhelm Friedrich, who had taken part in the battle mentioned. Despite the danger of traveling through French army detachments, he went in search of his prince, but did not find him in Erfurt because the prince had already left this city. Arnoldi traveled to Kassel via Gotha to apply for a passport at the French embassy there. There he learned that Marshal Mortier had occupied Fulda for Napoleon . He returned to Fulda, refused to participate in the government of the country for France and brought the most important cabinet papers to safety. On November 6th he left Fulda again, turned to Frankfurt am Main and from there sent his dismissal to the Fulda government. He then resided in Marburg , where his family from Fulda followed him in December 1806.

In Marburg Arnoldi received a letter from Wilhelm Friedrich calling him to Berlin. Arnoldi arrived there at the end of 1806, but his prince had already left and followed the Prussian army. After a long time he received permission to embark on the dangerous journey to Danzig , the prince's residence at the time, but had to interrupt his land trip in Kolobrzeg and take the sea route on the way there . After an arduous 18-day journey, he reached Danzig on March 15, 1807, but his prince had already left again, this time for Memel . Arnoldi was able to catch up with him on the way in Pillau and was warmly received by him.

After the conclusion of the Tilsit Peace, which was very detrimental to the House of Orange (July 1807), Arnoldi was able to perform more useful services in Germany. He received the promise that he would continue to receive his previous salary in full, then embarked for Copenhagen and traveled via Schleswig to Berlin. There he distributed large sums of gold, which had been entrusted to him from the royal treasure in Memel, at the court and in other noble houses. Then he temporarily returned to his family in Marburg, but was soon again frequently on business for his prince.

The war that broke out again between France and Austria in 1809 gave the opportunity to spark rebellions against French rule in several German countries, especially in the Kingdom of Westphalia , and Arnoldi was to be one of their organizers. He received written power of attorney and instructions from a confidante of the Prince of Orange to lead the revolution and the arming of the people with an appointed leader, Major von Diepenbroick in Dillenburg, along with instructions to a Frankfurt banker, where he received the necessary funds for armaments and other costs could relate. Arnoldi remained undiscovered, but the French troops quickly put an end to the haphazard uprising.

Later years of life and death

In November 1813, Arnoldi accompanied the advancing allies and entered Herborn with Russian troops and then Dillenburg. All civil servants and residents of the then Département Sieg were referred to him for the time being by a notice from the general. At the beginning of 1814 he became a real member of the privy council, in 1815 he became president of the highest state office and reorganized the administration of the Nassau-Orange home countries in Dillenburg.

When Prince Wilhelm Friedrich of Orange, who in the meantime had become King of the Netherlands as Wilhelm I , lost his hereditary lands in Germany in 1815 as a result of the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna , which were transferred to Prussia and then largely to the newly established Duchy of Nassau , the requested and received Arnoldi embittered his departure over the fate of the Orange dynasty. In the meantime, he remained a real privy councilor with his previous full salary in the service of King Wilhelm I, who thus rewarded his longstanding commitment. Arnoldi was now able to devote himself entirely to his literary work and historical studies in Dillenburg. At the Foundation of the Dutch Order of the Lions , King William appointed him a knight and later a commander. Marking Reformation Festival on October 31, 1817, awarded him the University of Marburg , the honorary doctorate of philosophy.

Arnoldi died on November 2, 1827 at the age of almost 76 in Dillenburg. From his first marriage he had the daughter Marianna Adelgunde (1783-1804) and a son who died early, as well as ten more children from his second marriage, the majority of whom also suffered an early death.

Works (selection)

  • Miscellanous from diplomacy and history , Marburg 1798
  • History of the Orange-Nassau countries and their rulers , 3 vols., Hadamar 1799–1816
  • Wilhelm I, King of the Netherlands , Leipzig 1817
  • Historical memorabilia , Leipzig 1817

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 8.
  2. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 9.
  3. ↑ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , born in 1828, p. 9 f.
  4. ↑ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , born in 1828, p. 10 f.
  5. ^ A b Arnoldi, Johannes von. Hessian biography. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  6. ↑ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , born in 1828, p. 11 f.
  7. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 12.
  8. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , year 1828, p. 12 ff.
  9. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 14.
  10. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 15.
  11. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , born in 1828, p. 15 f.
  12. ↑ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , born in 1828, p. 16 f.
  13. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 17.
  14. ↑ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , born in 1828, p. 17 f.
  15. ^ Johannes von Arnoldi , in: New Nekrolog der Deutschen , Born 1828, p. 18.
personal data
SURNAME Arnoldi, Johannes von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arnoldi, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer, statesman and historian
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Herborn
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 1827
Place of death Dillenburg