Markus Otto

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Markus Otto (born November 18, 1600 in Ulm , † November 20, 1674 in Strasbourg ) was envoy of the imperial city of Strasbourg during the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

Markus Otto

Life

Origin and family

Markus Otto was born the son of the carpenter Max Otto and his wife Ursula Heldin. In 1637 he married Margarethe Saladin (1619–1678). The marriage remained childless.

Career and work

After attending grammar school in Ulm , Markus studied philosophy and philology in Strasbourg . This was followed by law studies in Tübingen , Basel , Freiburg and Vienna . In 1629 he received his doctorate at the University of Strasbourg with the dissertation "De Repressaliisden". After a short time as a lawyer at the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer, he returned to Strasbourg and became a secret councilor and assistant to the town clerk. In 1645 he was commissioned by the Strasbourg City Council to represent the interests of the imperial city at the Westphalian Peace Congress in Münster and Osnabrück. The cities of Landau, Speyer and Weißenburg (Alsace) as well as the Rhine Count Johann Casimir gave him a mandate for this. Markus used his great diplomatic skills in the negotiations and represented the rights and interests of his clients very successfully. In Munster he signed the peace treaty for his clients on October 24, 1648. In addition, with his signature he represented the envoy of the city of Ulm for the cities of Ulm, Giengen, Aalen and Bopfingen. Johann Balthasar Schneider represented the interests of eight cities in the Alsatian Decapolis . Like Markus during the negotiations, he could not prevent Alsace from being ceded to France . France was the main winner after the Peace of Westphalia.

Others

Markus and his wife donated their fortune, which amounted to almost 43,000 gold guilders, to enable young people from poor backgrounds to study. Dominikus Dietrich , the mayor of Strasbourg, has been appointed administrator of the foundation.

See also

List of envoys to the Peace of Westphalia

literature

  • Heinz Duchhardt , Gerd Dethlefs, Hermann Queckenstedt: ... to an everlasting memory. Subtitle: The Peace Halls in Münster and Osnabrück. Series Osnabrücker Kulturdenkmäler, Vol. 8, Bramsche 1996, ISBN 3-930595-83-4 .

Web links

  • Markus Otto short biography on the Internet portal "Westphalian History"
personal data
SURNAME Otto, Markus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Envoy from the imperial city of Strasbourg to the Westphalian Peace Congress in Münster
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1600
PLACE OF BIRTH Ulm
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1674
Place of death Strasbourg