Marquard Ludwig von Printzen

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Baron Marquard Ludwig von Printzen (born April 14, 1675 in Berching in the diocese of Eichstätt ; † November 8, 1725 in Berlin ) was a royal Prussian diplomat, high court marshal , head of the administration of spiritual and educational matters under King Friedrich I and Friedrich Wilhelm I. and Knight of the Black Eagle Order .

Life

origin

His father was the Brandenburg Major General Johann Friedrich von Printzen and his wife Judith von Schönaich (1643–1732). Ludwig was born in his father's winter quarters.

Career

He was very talented, and on October 4, 1688, he enrolled at the University of Frankfurt. There he studied under teachers like Bekmann , Lith and Cocceji the Elder . Then he made his Grand Tour through Holland - where he attended the University of Utrecht - before continuing to England, Italy and Austria. Then he went to the Brandenburg civil service, because as a student he was recommended to the elector.

He began as a diplomat. In 1698 he came to the court in Mitau in Courland , where the Dowager Duchess Elisabeth Sophie Kettler , the sister of Elector Friedrich III, was. He helped organize the administration of the country there. In the autumn of 1698 the elector sent the 23-year-old to the court in Moscow as an envoy. There he quickly gained the trust of Tsar Peter I. In 1699 he was appointed castle captain, when he came to the court in Kassel . But at the end of 1700 he was sent back to Russia. His way led him again via Mitau, then he turned to the beleaguered Riga . There he visited the Saxon camp and the besieged Swedes in the city.

When Frederick I made Prussia a kingdom, the quick recognition by Russia was the work of Printzens. On July 5, 1701, during an audience , he was received with great pomp as the royal Prussian envoy. He also received the Order of St. Andrew the First Called from the Tsar . Nevertheless, he did not really like it in Russia, and so at the end of 1701 he asked for his recall because he wanted to lead a "decent life" again. On his return he was sent to Bayreuth , where he attended the wedding of the Dowager Duchess of Courland and the Margrave of Bayreuth . In Franconia, Printzen was also active in religious matters for the first time. In this way he was able to convince the strictly Lutheran magistrate in Nuremberg that the Reformed were allowed to hold public services in the suburbs.

When the real secret councilor of state and war Paul von Fuchs died in 1704 , Printzen became his successor on May 22, 1705. The 30-year-old became a member of the highest government authority in Prussia. The dignity earned him a salary of 4,000 thalers. In addition, he was allowed to keep the castle administration and the resulting funds, which added up to the considerable sum of 11,000 to 12,000 thalers. In addition, the king gave him Marquardt Castle , which at the time was called Schorin and was renamed in his honor. In 1708 he sold the estate and instead acquired Carow .

During the Northern War , the Swedish King Charles XII. Conquered Poland and had Stanislaus Lesczinski elected king there , the Saxons were defeated and the electorate was occupied. The Prussian troops fought against the French in Italy. As a result, the king no longer had a military option, so he had to use Printzen's diplomatic skills. A triple alliance was planned between Sweden , Prussia and Kurbraunschweig to protect the Protestant co-religionists in Silesia, Hungary and the Palatinate. In order to recognize the new Polish king, they wanted the city of Elbing , the Duchy of Warmia and a connection to Königsberg. Printzen negotiated this with the Swedish king in August 1705 in Warsaw, in September and November 1706 and in May 1707 at the Swedish headquarters in Saxony. Ultimately, Prussia had little to offer, in February 1707 the Polish king was recognized, and the city of Elbing was given for this. Even if Printzen was unable to implement his king's ideas, he received the Order of the Black Eagle in 1706.

Printzen now mainly devoted himself to internal administration. He dealt with church and school affairs, and - although an opponent of the leading imperial counts ( three counts cabinet ) - he was able to rise further and take on more and more offices in the field of clergy and educational matters. In 1707 he became department head for the universities, 1708 administrator of Mons Pietatis , 1709 president of the Kurmärkischen consistory , director of the church council, director of the Joachimsthaler Gymnasium and curator of all Prussian universities. 1710 protector of the Society of Sciences and 1711 director of the Oranienburg orphanage . In 1713 he became president of the newly established Reformed Upper Church Directorate , which is the first time he administered all Protestant Reformed parishes in the Prussian state, with the exception of those in Kleve-Mark-Ravensberg. On September 14, 1714 he also became President of the French Reformed Upper Consistory founded in 1701 . In 1718 he became director of the royal library, antiques and medals, natural objects and the art chamber and, in 1724, director of the Upper College of Medicine.

Printzen was a highly educated man and organizer, so he had a significant influence on the development of the Evangelical Reformed church and school constitution in Prussia. Months after he had received the leadership of the new reformed higher authorities, he laid the "eternal pragmatic law of the reformed church" on October 24, 1713, the "royal-Prussian evangelical-reformed inspections, presbyterial, classical grammar schools and School regulations ”.

In 1710 the Count's cabinet under Wartenberg was overthrown . Then the Crown Prince and the Ministers Heinrich Rüdiger von Ilgen and Ernst Bogislav von Kameke set to work to put the finances, which had been shattered by mismanagement, back in order. Printzen was commissioned to investigate the neglected Hofrentei and to limit the expenses for the cellar and kitchen. In 1712, in addition to his numerous offices, he was also appointed Oberhofmarschall. Thanks to his extensive skills, he was used everywhere, whether in the foreign ministry, in the judiciary and tax system or as head of the court.

In 1713, after Friedrich Wilhelm I ascended the throne, he implemented the collegial system in the Ministry for “Foreign Affairs” . Printzen, Christoph von Dohna and Rüdiger von Ilgen were also appointed cabinet ministers.

When reforming the judiciary, namely the higher courts, Printzen was a member of the reform commission and signed the new work alongside Kameke and Ilgen. The king also set up a commission to reorganize the cities' finances, and Printzen was still responsible for Magdeburg in 1712. In 1714 he was then brought to Berlin, where he and Johann Andreas Kraut reorganized the Berlin city administration until 1716 and transferred it to regular channels.

He died in Berlin on November 8, 1725. In his funerary inscription he was named: “religionis stator, pietatis exemplar, bonarum litterarum et solidae eruditionis non patronus magis quam ipse cultor”.

reception

Printzen was considered a very pious man by his contemporaries. He made sure that churches were built on all his estates. He was well read, not only in the Bible, but also in legal writings and in humanistic sciences. As a student, he was therefore the Elector Friedrich III. recommended. His good manners made him head of the court.

A whole series of biographies appeared shortly after his death:

  • Jacob Elsner: Commemorative writing of Mr. Marquard Ludwig von Prinzen Sr Königl Majestät in Preuffen Oberhofmarschall and secret budget and war council set, Berlin 1726 sol is in the honor memory set up for the lord of princes.
  • Nikolaus Westermann : Oratio funebris Francofurtana. Latin
  • Johann Hildebrand Withof : Oratio Duisburgensis.
  • Nicolaus Hieronymus Gundling : Laudation funebris. Latin
  • Well-deserved memory of honor that ... Printzen erected. Digitized
  • David Fassmann : Conversation between Printzen and Chancellor Distelmeyer. Digitized

family

In 1712 he married Dorothee Sophie von Schlippenbach, a daughter of Karl Friedrich von Schlippenbach . The couple had several children including:

  • Wilhelm Ludwig Marquard († July 25, 1749), canon, canon in Havelberg
  • Friedrich Wilhelm (* January 27, 1719; † September 24, 1773) ∞ Susanne Benedigte von Meyer (* February 24, 1722)

Works

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ From Miscellaneis, and Supplementis p. 486 Appointment of Printzen
  2. ^ Theodor Fontane : Walks through the Mark Brandenburg. Marquard, digitized
  3. ^ Journal of Canon Law. Volumes 3–4, p. 338f HF Jacobssen: The church conditions of the Reformed in Prussia.
  4. ^ Samuel Lentz: Diplomatic Stifts-Historie von Havelberg. P. 103