Karl August von Bretzenheim
Karl August Friedrich Joseph von und zu Bretzenheim (* December 24, 1768 ; † February 27, 1823 in Vienna ) was the first imperial prince from and to Bretzenheim .
Life
Karl August was an illegitimate son of Elector Karl Theodor von Bayern (1724–1799) from his relationship with Maria Josepha Seyffert (1748–1771), an actress and dancer at the Mannheim Theater , who was promoted to the rank of “Countess of Heydeck ”was raised.
Karl Theodor, who had no legitimate offspring, looked after his children born out of wedlock very lovingly. In addition to their son Karl August, there were also the sisters Karoline , the twins Eleonore , Friederike and Karl August's half-sister Karoline Franziska , who received brief piano lessons from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .
After the dissolution and abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, Elector Karl Theodor von Bayern founded a "Bavarian-English tongue" of the Order of Malta with parts of his property to care for his natural son Karl August von Bretzenheim in 1780 . Even as a boy he became Grand Prior of the Bavarian Order of Malta or the Order of St. George with corresponding ongoing appanage . After the death of Karl Theodor, the order in Bavaria was dissolved in 1799, but was re-established in the same year after massive protests by the Russian tsar. Karl August was not reassigned to the order and the grand priory was transferred to the only four-year-old second son of the new elector Maximilian Joseph , Karl . In 1806 the states of the Rhine Confederation decided to dissolve the German Grand Priory and to expropriate the entire possessions of the Order in its member countries. In 1808 the Maltese holdings were also secularized in the Kingdom of Bavaria.
In 1789 Karl August received from Emperor Joseph II, after payment of his father Karl Theodor von Bayern, the 300,000 guilders expensive Bretzenheim an der Nahe (today district of Bad Kreuznach) and the Zwingenberg am Neckar rulership , which was bought for 400,000 guilders and 1,000 ducats of key money . In the Principality of Bretzenheim, the former castle of the previous owner at Kirchstrasse 2 was renovated and converted into a baroque castle after a fire in 1774. The building inspector J. Faxlunger from Mannheim grouped a yard with farm buildings, a Renaissance archway around 1590, and a mansion with a striking stair tower from 1595. A residential palace was not necessary as Karl August did not reside there. The former Hatzfeld estates Weisweiler and Pallandt and the estates of Breitenbend and Merfeld in the Duchy of Jülich were added to Bretzenheim . The principality was later expanded by the goods Mandel , Planig , Ippesheim , Rümmelsheim (today districts of Bad Kreuznach) and Leyen . In 1799, the prince also acquired the Styrian goods Thannhausen , Unter-Fladnitz , Sturmberg , Ratmannsdorf and Wachseneck, which Karl August sold again in 1809. Karl August, previously with the title of Count von Heydeck, was raised to Prince of Bretzenheim by Emperor Joseph II in 1789 . Under this name he also received a seat and vote in the Reichstag under the counts of the Upper Rhine District as well as the coin shelf , which he gave expression in the minting of the "Bretzenheimer Taler".
When his father moved from Mannheim to Munich in 1778, his son followed him as general of the cavalry , although he himself was never at war. After the death of a father on February 16, 1799, Karl August moved with his family to Vienna, rented a room there and lived here until his death in 1823 at the age of 57. In Vienna he increased his military career again. The Bavarian major general was raised to the rank of imperial major general on August 1, 1800, without any combat experience. In 1810 he quits the service. In Palais Bretzenheim in Mannheim that the father built for him and named after him, he never lived longer. This was also impossible for him, since from 1792 the French Revolutionary Army occupied Mannheim several times. Adam-Philippe de Custine temporarily occupied the Hochstifte Speyer and Worms on the Upper Rhine. The Electoral Palatinate, Mainz and Frankfurt am Main also came under French control.
As an 18-year-old youth, he traveled to Italy in 1787, as was customary for young noblemen at the time. His company consisted of six people. According to historical documents, this trip cost his father's treasury 44,326 florins. This roughly corresponded to the annual budget of the Latin school system.
Since he lost the principality again in 1795 as a result of the First Coalition War , he was compensated by the princely monastery and the imperial city of Lindau . On April 25, 1803, Karl August sold Lindau to Austria for 46,000 guilders and also received the Hungarian rulers of Regéc and Sárospatak . This made him a Hungarian magnate and from then on called himself Karl August Friedrich Joseph Prince Bretzenheim von Regecz. The sale of Lindau brought Europe to the brink of war. Napoleon I was furious: “ The whole of Europe is interested in Lindau not becoming Austrian! "
In 1822, shortly before his death in Vienna, the Prussian government returned the rulers of Paland and Weisweiler in the Düren district . At the time of his death, the prince's income was estimated at 130,000 guilders.
coat of arms
The coat of arms of Karl August Prince of Bretzenheim was developed on the basis of his father's coat of arms. Similar to the father, it shows a squared shield with a shield head (upper part) in red with a silver cross. The middle shields 1 and 3 each have a gold crowned lion in blue, 2 and 4 are halved, half silver - half red with a shield in the middle. This middle shield has a golden pretzel with a red background, so the Bretzenheim coat of arms symbol was included in the family coat of arms of the electoral children. If, as here, the knot of the pretzel points to the base of the shield, the pretzel is called overturned or pointing downwards.
The princely coat of arms of Karl August Prince of Bretzenheim (1766–1833) can still be found on the main altar of the Bretzenheim church, Marie Birth. This coat of arms was also placed above the courtyard entrance at the rebuilt Palais Bretzenheim in Mannheim .
Marriage and offspring
At the age of 20, on April 27, 1788 in Oettingen, Karl August married Maria Walburga (1766-1833), daughter of Prince Anton Ernst zu Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg , with whom he had the following children:
- Elisabeth Auguste (* / † 1790)
- Maria Anna (1793–1796)
- Karl Theodor (1794–1796)
- Leopoldine (1795–1844)
- ⚭ 1816 Count Ludwig Almasy († 1836)
- Amalie (* / † 1797)
- Maria Crescentia (1799–1866)
- ⚭ 1816 Count Joseph Somogyi († 1865)
- Ferdinand (1801–1855), 2nd prince from and to Bretzenheim
- ⚭ 1831 Princess Karoline von Schwarzenberg (1806–1875)
- Amalie (1802-1874)
- ⚭ 1822 Count Ludwig Taaffe († 1855)
- Alfons (1805–1863), 3rd prince from and to Bretzenheim
- ⚭ 1849 Johanna Hoffmann (1823–1866), niece of the writer Johann Nestroy . With the death of Alfonso, the princely line died out after 74 years.
literature
- Günther Ebersold: Karl August Reichsfürst von Bretzenheim. The political biography of an apolitical. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2004, ISBN 3-8334-1350-6 . Reading sample with Google book search
- August Menninger: Prince Carl August von Bretzenheim and his coins. 1826.
- Christian von Stramberg, Anton Joseph Weidenbach: Memorable and useful Rhenish antiquarius. Volume 16, part 2, RF Hergt, 1869, p. 268 f. online in the google book search
- Genealogisches Staats-Handbuch , Volume 67, Varrentrapp, 1839, p. 441 digitized
- Wilfried Müller: University and order. The Bavarian State University of Ingolstadt between 1773-1803 ; ISBN 3-428-06135-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ s. Ebersold p. 186
- ^ Johann Friedrich Schannat: Eiflia illustrata or geographical and historical description of the Eifel. Volume 1, Johann Peter Bachem, 1824, p. 532
- ^ Johann Friedrich Schannat: Eiflia illustrata or geographical and historical description of the Eifel. Volume 1, Johann Peter Bachem, 1824, p. 533
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Ignaz Felix von Roll zu Bernau |
Lord of Bretzenheim from 1774 Count from 1789 Prince 1772–1795 |
Territory annexed by France |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Karl August von Bretzenheim |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Karl August von Heydeck; Karl August Friedrich Joseph von Bretzenheim; Karl August von und zu Bretzenheim; Karl August Friedrich Joseph from and to Bretzenheim |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | first prince of Bretzenheim |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 24, 1768 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 27, 1823 |
| Place of death | Vienna |