Koenitz (noble family)
The Lords of Koenitz , later Barons of Koenitz , were originally a Thuringian noble family from the Orlagau , which later also spread to Franconia and Bavaria .
origin
According to legend, the family derived its origin from a Sarmatian dynasty who ruled a Sorbian-Wendish population between the Saale and Unstrut as early as the 7th century and built the castle and the town of Könitz , then still called Conz , not far from Saalfeld in 627 should. The Sorbian population was Christianized under Heinrich I in 928 and was absorbed by the Thuringians.
history
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In 1064, an Adalbertus de Könitz donated the town of Könitz along with the goods Buch, Briesenitz and Quezin in Orlagau to the Benedictine Abbey of Saalfeld . In 1125 an Albertus de Konitz was named, in 1244 a Merboth from Könitz lived near Altenburg. An Albert v. In 1282 K. donated two farms in Vogelstädt to the monastery in Ilm near Rudolstadt.
Hartmann von Könitz (1179-1262), who was married to Catharina zu Staffelstein from a Meran ministerial family, is at the beginning of the uninterrupted line of tribe . The family first appeared in a document on September 14, 1306 with the knights (milites) "Otto et Henricus de Conez" .
In 1414 Heinrich von Koenitz and his wife Käthe were sitting on the Eyba estate . The couple, who were probably childless, sold their property in 1420/21 to their relatives, the brothers Hartmann II. And Jürgen von Könitz on Kaulsdorf (Saale) . In 1435 they shared their property, which included Kaulsdorf and Eyba, among others, also Lichtentanne (the Herrenhof castle is still there today ). Peter von Könitz (1491–1559) was Chancellor of the Electorate of Saxony and received the fiefdom from Emperor Charles V on March 23, 1555 in Brussels . During the renewal of the hereditary brotherhood at Naumburg in 1614, Salomon von Könitz appeared as Hofmeister of the Kurbrandenburg.
Hans-Wilhelm von Könitz (* 1623) acquired the castles of Ober- and Niedersiemau in today's Untersiemau ( Untersiemau moated castle and Upper Untersiemau Castle ), Weißenbrunn am Forst in addition to his possessions of Eyba , Wickersdorf , Lichtenthanne, Knobelsdorf and Hoheneiche on the Saalfelder Höhe not far from the Saale , Herath and some smaller estates near Coburg. As a result, the family was accepted into the Frankish imperial knighthood in the knight canton of Baunach . After his death, his sons shared the property. Johann Ernst von Könitz (* 1659), treasurer and castle captain of Saxony-Saalfeld , received the manor estates Eyba, Wickersdorf, Arnsgereuth , Knobelsdorf and Volkmannsdorf and founded the Thuringian line. Johann Dietrich (* 1662) became the founder of the Franconian line in Untersiemau, Weißenbrunn and Klein-Heirath. This expired in 1832 with Christian Ferdinand von Könitz (* 1756), Duke of Saxon-Meiningischer privy councilor and court marshal, whose marriage with Henriette Freiin von Spessart remained childless. The Franconian possessions fell back to the main line. The family was recognized as a baron on October 14, 1790 by the Saxon-Coburg feudal court in the Kingdom of Bavaria, and on May 18, 1818, they were accepted into the barons' class of nobility.
The Könitz'sche Gut in Kaulsdorf , which had existed since around 1370, was transferred to von Dobenck in 1687 , who had already acquired the other estate in the village, Kaulsdorf Castle , in 1645 . Two grandchildren of Johann Ernst von Könitz shared the Thuringian property in 1740. Johann Adam Friedrich took over the Saxon part with Wickersdorf, his brother Anton Ludwig Carl got the Schwarzburg part with Eyba and Knobelsdorf, but he died impoverished in Saalfeld in 1791 after he had taken over his property. In 1866 the Upper Castle in Untersiemau fell to the Herzogliche Landesbank zu Coburg, around 1870 the last Baron von Könitz died on Untersiemau, whose moated castle the heirs sold in 1911.
Alexander Freiherr von Könitz from the Thuringian line (1790-1859) was a Bavarian colonel and chamberlain. His marriage to Henriette von Kerstorf († 1854) left behind six daughters, the later Bavarian general of the cavalry Albert von Koenitz (1842–1925). From the line of his uncle Anton von Könitz (1779–1837), among others, Friedrich Adolf Hermann (1803–1866), Duke of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha Chamberlain, and Ernst August Emil Leopold (1809–1871), landowner at Sondshof and in the Königshofen district court in Bavaria.
coat of arms
The family coat of arms shows in silver two upright red alarm clocks (diamonds) touching at the corners and adjoining the edge of the shield . On the helmet with red-silver covers a growing gestümmelter Negroes in silver and red split doublet with departing red and silver diadem.
Trivia
Through the marriage of Hans Ludolf von Wurmb (1544–1626) with Margaretha von Koenitz, daughter of Hartmann von Koenitz (1513–1585) and Agnes (born von Watzdorf , 1519–1584), the family von Koenitz with Klaus Felix Friedrich Leopold Gabriel Archim Julius August von Amsberg , father of Claus von Amsberg .
literature
- Karl Fritzsche: The oldest, middle and more recent history of the Orla-Gau. Niese in Comm, 1847, p. 131.
- Ernst Heinrich Kneschke : New general German nobility lexicon . Volume 5, 1861, pp. 202-203.
- Franz-Josef Hohenlohe-Schillingfürst: Genealogical manual of the nobility enrolled in Bavaria. Volume 15, 1984, p. 787.
- Genealogical manual of the nobility , Adelslexikon. Volume VI, Volume 91 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1987, ISSN 0435-2408 , p. 379.
- Freydank: The Mansfeld noble family von Könitz , in Mansfelder Kinskunde, born 1940, p. 17ff u. 25ff
- Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses, 1918, p.425ff
- Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses, 1906, seventh year, p.409ff family and older genealogy