Joseph Theodor zu Stolberg-Stolberg

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Joseph Theodor Graf zu Stolberg

Joseph Theodor Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg also Joseph Theodor Graf zu Stolberg-Westheim (born August 12, 1804 at Haus Lütkenbeck ; † April 5, 1859 in Rumillies near Tournai , Belgium ) was a landowner and politician.

family

Joseph Theodor came from the noble family of the Counts of Stolberg . His father was the converted to Catholic lawyer and poet Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg , his mother was his second wife Sophie Charlotte Eleonore Countess von Redern, the daughter of the high Prussian court official Sigismund Ehrenreich von Redern (1719–1789). Josef Theodor was born the 15th of 18 children. His brother Christian Ernst (1783–1846) was an Austrian k.uk Lieutenant Field Marshal . The brother Johann Peter Cajus (1797–1874) was the owner of the manor and a member of the Reichstag . The brother Leopold Friedrich (1799-1840) was District Chief of the Salzburg district of the country Austria above the Enns (now Upper Austria ).

Live and act

Josef zu Stolberg-Stolberg passed his Abitur in Münster , where he also attended the academy and mainly listened to philosophical lectures. In 1823 moved to Stolberg-Stolberg at the University of Bonn and studied law . In 1824 he entered the Jesuit order as a novice in Brig , Switzerland . Between 1824 and 1832 he studied theology with the Jesuits in Switzerland in Brig and Freiburg in Switzerland, and also in Rome . In 1834 he left the order at his own request because of doubts about his spiritual vocation.

In 1834 came Stolberg-Stolberg in the Austrian imperial army and brought it to the lieutenant. The entry into the Austrian military happened through the mediation of his eldest brother Christian Ernst, who was an Austrian major general . In 1837 he returned to Prussia . In 1840 he acquired the Westheim estate , which at that time was still in the Büren district. In 1843 he was selected from three candidates as district administrator by the state estates of the Büren district. At that time, Prussian district administrators could only become those who owned real estate in the district, lived in financial circumstances that guaranteed independence and demonstrated their professional qualifications in an examination. In 1843 he took over the administration of the District Office of the Büren District and was appointed District Administrator in 1845. The exams that were actually prescribed had been waived. He was reprimanded by higher authorities because of extremely critical reports in his unfamiliar choice of language at the time.

Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg was a member of the Westphalian Provincial Parliament . During the revolution of 1848 there were protests at Gut Westheim by farmers. As district administrator, he called on the military because there had been riots and arson against Fürstenberg Castle in the Büren district. In April 1848 he submitted his departure as district administrator, which was pronounced in June. In the same year he was elected to the Prussian National Assembly. This Prussian National Assembly only met from May 22nd to December 5th, 1849.

In addition, in 1849 he was involved in founding the newspaper “ Deutsche Volkshalle ” in Cologne and an anti- duel club .

From 1852 to 1854 he was a member of the second chamber of the Prussian Landtag in Berlin for the Büren-Warburg-Höxter constituency. It belonged to the Catholic parliamentary group and was on the parliamentary committee. He made a name for himself as a passionate representative of Catholic interests in Protestant-dominated Prussia. Because of his conservative positions he came into conflict with his rather liberal faction. He resigned his mandate in January 1854 because of opposing changes to the Prussian constitution.

He was considered a leading exponent of political Catholicism in the 19th century. He exercised a variety of activities in the Catholic lay movement. In 1838 he had twice in the so-called Cologne turmoil when there was a conflict between the Prussian state and the Catholic church, in Minden under house arrest standing Cologne Archbishop Clemens August Droste zu Vischering made in longer conversations. From 1848 his activities in Catholicism increased. When numerous Pius societies for religious freedom were founded in the German Empire in 1848, he also founded such an organization in Westheim. In 1849, zu Stolberg-Stolberg belonged together with Franz von Hartmann to the presidium of the German Katholikentag . There the Bonifatiusverein was founded as a mission association for Germany with significant participation Josef zu Stolberg-Stolberg. Until his death in 1859 he was also the first president of the association.

Because of his diverse activities, he never cared about the economic interests of his Westheim estate. The property was run by the respective rent master. At the time of his death, the estate was heavily in debt.

He died during a trip after a brief illness in Rumillies in Belgium. He was buried in the family crypt of his second wife in Rumillies.

His estate in the Federal Archives shows that he maintained an intensive correspondence, particularly with representatives from the Catholic and conservative camps. These included Cardinal Melchior von Diepenbrock , Ludwig Friedrich Leopold von Gerlach , Hermann von Mallinckrodt , and Pope Pius IX. , Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Konrad Martin , Bishop of Paderborn .

family

The count was married twice. His first wife Maria Theresia von Spee (born June 19, 1811 - February 1, 1850) daughter of Franz Anton von Spee and Countess Sophia Maria von Merveldt , he married on October 17, 1838. The couple had the following children:

  • Sophie (* November 14, 1839; † May 9, 1931) ⚭ November 28, 1867 Helge von Hammerstein-Equord (* September 18, 1833; † April 16, 1893)
  • Maria (July 17, 1841; † April 22, 1917) ⚭ January 14, 1862 Klemens von Nagel-Doornick (* January 25, 1835; † April 18, 1900)
  • Julia (June 3, 1844 - September 28, 1892)
  • Leopold (April 4, 1846 - January 30, 1923) ⚭ Mary Elizabeth Eddington (November 14, 1845 - December 15, 1926)
  • Franz (born September 13, 1848; † April 22, 1912) ⚭ July 30, 1872 Maria de Marchant et d'Ansembourg (born January 15, 1847; † October 2, 1922)

On February 25, 1851 he married his niece Caroline von Robiano-Borsbeek (* December 24, 1826, † January 9, 1882), daughter of his sister Maria and Carl von Robiano-Borsbeek . The couple had the following children:

  • Therese (April 1, 1852 - June 9, 1931) ⚭ May 1, 1873 Philipp von Boeselager (September 28, 1846 - November 14, 1898)
  • Hermann (February 28, 1854; † June 16, 1925) ⚭ November 27, 1879 Marie Karoline von Walterskirchen (* November 23, 1854; † January 18, 1918)
  • Anna (November 17, 1855 - May 2, 1877)
  • Paula (born October 20, 1857 - † August 11, 1887)
  • Joseph (June 25, 1859 - October 29, 1888)

literature

  • Otto Pfülf : Joseph Graf zu Stolberg-Westheim 1804-1859. His services to the Catholic Church in Germany. A picture of life. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1913.
  • Bernd Follmann: Josef Theodor Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg and the Graeflich zu Stolberg'sche Brewery Westheim. Sauerland 2011/3, pp. 141–144.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: The kk or kuk generals 1816–1918 ( Memento from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ dbk.de: Overview of the German Catholic Days 1848-2006. (PDF) Retrieved August 14, 2019 .
  3. ^ History of the Bonifatiuswerk
  4. ↑ Great-grandchildren are the two officers and Nazi opponents Georg Freiherr von Boeselager (1915–1944) and Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager (1917–2008) - On the descent of the Boeselager brothers

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Stolberg-Stolberg, Joseph Theodor zu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stolberg-Stolberg, Joseph Theodor Graf zu (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Landowner and Catholic politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1804
PLACE OF BIRTH House Luetkenbeck
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1859
Place of death Rumillies near Tournai , Belgium