Levetzow (noble family)

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Coat of arms of those of Levetzow

Levetzow (also Levezow or Lewetzaw ) is the name of an old, originally Mecklenburg noble family with the parent house of the same name near Wismar (now in ruins), which later also came to Holstein and Denmark . Branches of the family still exist today.

history

origin

The fact that the family was of Wendish origin , as stated in some older literature , can not be genealogically proven. No Slavic first names were given to relatives during the 13th and 14th centuries .

Ulrike von Levetzow (1804–1899)
Albert von Levetzow (1827–1903)

The family first appears in a document in 1219 with the knight Henricus Leuzowe and then with the brothers Günther and Heino , with Günther appearing in a document in 1266. The knight Johannes de Levezan appears in 1305 and Henricus Levetzow in 1375 as a witness in documents from the city of Güstrow .

Levetzow, the headquarters that gave it its name, was first mentioned in 1262 and is now part of the municipality of Lübow near Wismar in the north-west Mecklenburg district .

Lines and possessions

Alliance coat of arms of Levetzow and Plessen on the (old) Schwiessel manor from 1735

As early as 1372 Heinrich von Levetzow received the office of Hereditary Marshal of the Werle-Güstrow lordship from the Schorrentin line .

In 1523 members of the family signed the Union of Estates . The three main lines to Marckow-Mistorf , Schorrentin (today part of Neukalen ) and Lunow (today part of Teterow ) were formed, which over time were able to acquire considerable property in the duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz . While the lines to Schorrentin and Lunow were extinguished again, the line to Marckow-Mistorf was able to expand further and from the 18th century to settle in Alt- and Neumark .

In both Mecklenburg relatives achieved a high reputation at court and in the state. Joachim Otto Ulrich von Levetzow was court marshal at the grand-ducal-Mecklenburg-Schwerin court. Theodor Diederich von Levetzow was President of the Chamber and Forestry College and President of the Debt Repayment Commission, Minister of State and Chairman of the Ministry of Finance in 1840 .

In Einschreibebuch the monastery Dobbertin are 25 items of daughters of the family of Levetzow 1722-1910 from Hoppenrade , Koppelow, Lelkendorf , High Mistorf, United Markov and Schwissel for inclusion in the aristocratic convent in the monastery Dobbertin .

The Rittmeister Alexander von Levetzow , Herr auf Kläden, came from the Brandenburg branch . He was also canon of Magdeburg and Halberstadt .

A branch with Hans Friedrich von Levetzau came to the Kingdom of Denmark as early as the 17th century. He was naturalized on April 26, 1670 and promoted to lieutenant general in the Danish army. In North Jutland , in the Aalborg area , he was able to buy several large goods and continued his line in Denmark. His descendants received high state and court offices, including Siegfried Victor Rabe von Levetzow, royal Danish secret councilor and chamberlain, and Theodosius von Levetzau royal Danish privy councilor at the beginning of the 19th century . The Danish privy councilor and chamberlain Albrecht Philipp von Levetzau, who also came from this line, became cathedral dean of Lübeck .

Important recent members were the Prussian Real Secret Council Albert von Levetzow (1827–1903), member of the State Council and the Reichstag . He was parliamentary group leader of the German Conservative Party and from 1881 to 1884 and 1888 to 1895 President of the Reichstag . Levetzowstrasse in Berlin-Moabit was named after him. Theodor von Levetzow (1843–1902), sea ​​captain , was Reich Commissioner for Emigration and Joachim von Levetzow (1859–1933), member of the Grand Ducal Oldenburg state parliament and deputy chairman of the Federation of Farmers .

Estate systems
Manor house ( castle ) Lelkendorf
  • The Levetzow estate was owned by the family from the Middle Ages until the 18th century.
  • The Lelkendorf estate was owned by the family from 1224 to 1945. The manor house ( castle ) Lelkendorf from after 1629, rebuilt in 1898, was re-acquired by the family in 1989 and then renovated for holiday and owner-occupied apartments.
  • Gut Groß Lunow was owned by the family from 1309 to 1647.
  • The Good Klenz was from around 1400-1796 some 400 years in family ownership.
  • The Schwiessel manor house was owned by the family from 1732 to 1782.
Family association

On May 8, 1877, a family association of the barons and gentlemen von Levetzow was founded in Hamburg .

Status surveys

Members of the sex were raised in rank several times:

Karl von Levetzow from the Divak family , kk Oberleutnant , received on May 6, 1864, in Schwerin, a grand ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin permit as kk officer within Austria to use the title of baron . An Austrian prevalence of the baron title as a foreign one took place on January 12, 1871 at Ofen and on August 26, 1892 at Vienna as co-lord of Divak with Polehraditz in Moravia .

Heinrich von Levetzow from the House of Kokkedal, royal Danish privy councilor and chamberlain, hunter master and bailiff at Fredriksborg and Kronborg, received the Danish nobility naturalization on April 3, 1776. Likewise, Hans Friedrich von Levetzow auf Oxholm, royal Danish chamberlain, privy councilor and lieutenant general, already on April 26, 1670. His son Christian Friedrich von Levetzau, royal Danish lieutenant general and secret conference councilor, was granted a diploma in the Danish counts on March 13, 1751 raised. He died on April 17, 1756 with no offspring.

Erdmann von Levetzow, Royal Prussian Rittmeister , received the Prussian baron status for himself from the House of Vippach on March 30, 1907 in Berlin by means of the highest cabinet order . The diploma was issued on August 12, 1907 in Wilhelmshöhe . On May 29, 1912 in Vienna he received unlimited Austrian recognition of the baron status, diploma issued on October 11, 1912. An Italian recognition followed on February 11, 1930. On January 21, 1934, an Italian name association for his son Carl Erdmann Freiherr took place von Levetzow with his wife Clementine Countess Lanthieri von Paratico, the last of their family, as Levetzow-Lantieri .

coat of arms

Family coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows in silver on a red foot a red drill gate (also called candle rake) made of seven (also five) pointed stakes and two bars. The left half of the shield with the gap resting on the helmet, topped with peacock feathers like a fan, behind it a silver shaft, which in turn is equipped with three peacock feathers. The helmet covers are red-silver.

Heraldic saga

The coat of arms saga is younger than the coat of arms that appeared as a seal in Mecklenburg as early as the 13th century. According to this legend, a squire saved his master from an ambush. When they moved into a city to negotiate peace, he saw the trap. The city gate should be closed behind them. He warned the group, held the gate open, and everyone was saved. As a reminder, he then led the symbol of the portcullis in the coat of arms.

  • Coat of arms in Danmarks nobility Aarbog 1890

  • Coat of arms graphic by Otto Hupp in the Munich calendar of 1901

  • Coat of arms of the Counts of Levetzow in Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1890

Known family members (chronological)

literature

Web links

Commons : Levetzow (Family)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mecklenburg record book . (MUB) Volume I. Schwerin (1863) No. 256.
  2. ^ Levetzowstrasse. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near  Kaupert )
  3. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch, Volume 8, page 337
  4. ^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch. VOLUME 8, 2018, page 338
  5. ↑ tlz.de
  6. ↑ Ulf Dräger, Andrea Stock (editor): Die Welt "en miniature": German medal art today, 2000–2006. Moritzburg Foundation, Halle 2007, ISBN 978-3-937751-54-2 , ( Die Kunstmedaille in Deutschland. Vol. 23) (On the occasion of the exhibition Die Welt “en Miniature”. German Medal Art Today from July 15 to October 7, 2007 in the Moritzburg Foundation, Art Museum of the State of Saxony-Anhalt).