Martin Maximilian von der Goltz

Goltz festivals in Golčův Jeníkov

Goltz-Palais in Znojmo, today the New Town Hall

Butcher's bastion in Zittau, it probably emerged from the Goltzburg

Martin Maximilian von der Goltz , in Czech Martin Maxmilián z Golče (* around 1593 in Pomerania ; † May 10, 1653 in Jeníkov ), was an imperial colonel, general field master and fortress construction specialist in the Thirty Years' War, as well as commander of Rostock , Einbeck , Zittau , Bautzen and Regensburg . He gained particular fame in 1634 in connection with the city fire of Bautzen and through a duel in Prague in which he shot Wolf Adam von Pappenheim, the only son of Field Marshal Pappenheim , in 1647 , which extinguished the Treuchtlingen line of the Counts of Pappenheim . The Czech town of Golčův Jeníkov is named after him.

Life

He came from the Pomeranian line of the von der Goltz family and was the only son of Johann Martin von der Goltz, heir to Brotzen , Heinrichsdorf and Klausdorf , and his first wife Ilse, née von Güntersberg . He grew up in a Protestant family.

It is believed that von der Goltz already in youth under the influence of Croner transgressed pastor Librarius to Catholicism. Von der Goltz left his parents' house early and joined the Passau soldiers with whom he came to Bohemia in 1611 . After that, he probably lived for a while in Znojmo with his uncles Günther and Reinhard von der Goltz, who served as colonels in the Moravian estate army after the outbreak of the class uprising in 1618. Martin Maximilian von der Goltz, on the other hand, entered the imperial service as Kornet in the arquebusier regiment of Colonel Hans von Mollard and fought against the estates in the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 . He then joined the arquebusier regiment of Pietro Aldobrandini as a lieutenant and fought against Gabriel Bethlen in Hungary . When the regiment was disbanded after the Peace of Nikolsburg at the end of 1622, he had risen to the rank of colonel sergeant.

Afterwards von der Goltz returned to Moravia and took over the Znojmo palace from his uncles. Around 1624 he joined the regiment of Colonel Heinrich von Schlik and fought in Silesia and Holland . When, after the regiment had been transferred to the Duchy of Jülich-Berg, the supply of the crew and the horses had collapsed, von der Goltz fell out with Schlik and arbitrarily transferred to the Juliani regiment, where he was given the rank of lieutenant colonel and regimental commander. Schlik 's complaint to Wallenstein about this behavior was unsuccessful. During the Danish-Lower Saxon War, von der Goltz Melchior von Hatzfeldt reported from Aarhus at the end of 1628 on the events in Northern Europe. After Rostock was occupied by the regiment of Colonel Heinrich Ludwig von Hatzfeld in 1629, von der Goltz was stationed in the Hanseatic city. After the murder of Hatzfeld on February 1, 1631 by Jakob Varmeier , von der Goltz took over his office as city commander and was also promoted to colonel. Hatzfeld's widow, Maria Magdalena Juliana, born by Obsinnig called Roë, became his partner. Despite the expansion of the Rostock city fortifications, von der Goltz was only able to hold the city until October 1631. After a month-long siege, he capitulated and finally surrendered the city to the Swedes against his free withdrawal. Then he joined the corps of General Pappenheim and withdrew with his people to the Hessian-Thuringian area. Under General Pappenheim, Goltz fought in 1632 in the siege and capture of Einbeck ; thereafter the colonel remained with two sub-regiments as imperial commander in Einbeck. On May 15, 1632 he conquered Heiligenstadt and had the two equestrian companies of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar stationed there slaughtered. At the end of May, the Weimar troops under Count Löwenstein were able to recapture the Eichsfeld . In June 1632 Goltz defeated Swedish troops at Marienburg , but lost the castle again to the Swedes a short time later. On July 6th, his troops invaded the imperial city of Mühlhausen .

At the end of the year von der Goltz moved his troops south and took over the city of Zittau as the imperial city commander . He had new city fortifications built and the Bautzen suburb above the city demolished in order to have a clear field of fire there too. At the beginning of May 1633 Goltz was appointed commander in chief of all imperial troops between Zittau and Leitmeritz ; thus the colonels Rudolf von Thun in Leitmeritz and Wenzel Eusebius von Lobkowicz were subordinate to him. After 15 companies of Saxon riders invaded northern Bohemia, von der Goltz started a diversion and appeared in mid-July with 2000 riders in front of the city walls of Dresden . When the plague broke out in Zittau in the summer of 1633 due to the billeted military , the Goltz had a strange house built with comfortable rooms, cellars and stables in the Bohemian Zwinger of the city fortifications , which was called the Golzburg . It is believed that the Goltzburg is today's butcher's bastion. In the autumn of 1633 the Croatian riders under Colonel Isolani were subordinated to him and transferred to Zittau.

After the capture of Bautzen by Wallenstein, von der Goltz appointed him as the new commandant of Bautzen in December 1633; In Zittau a small crew remained under Colonel Konrad Boehm von Ehrenstein. After the murder of Wallenstein, Wenzel Eusebius von Lobkowicz was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Lusatia in early 1634. In Bautzen von der Goltz began with the demolition of the suburbs and the improvement of the city fortifications. When the Electoral Saxon army under Johann Georg I appeared in front of Bautzen on May 2, 1634 and besieged the city, von der Goltz gave the order to set fire to the remaining suburban houses so that they would not offer the Saxons any shelter. Shortly afterwards, a fire broke out in Bautzner's Judengasse, which within five hours reduced almost the entire city to rubble and ashes. It could not be clarified whether the city fire was caused by flying sparks from the suburbs or whether it was deliberately started by Croats plundering Isolanis . From the imperial side, the fire was accused of the suburban residents as an act of revenge for the demolition of the houses. Since the fire had also destroyed the supplies of the imperial troops, von der Goltz was forced to surrender and was only able to freely withdraw the crew with luggage and by giving the oath not to fight against Saxony and its allies within six months Negotiate side gun to Leitmeritz.

In July 1634, during the siege of the city of Regensburg, which was occupied by the Swedes , the von der Goltz regiment was placed under Lieutenant General Gallas and relocated to the Upper Palatinate . After the capitulation of Regensburg was von der Goltz by Emperor Ferdinand III. appointed city commander of Regensburg and subordinate several regiments to him. After the battle of Nördlingen on September 15, 1634, the emperor raised von der Goltz to the rank of baron with an improvement in the coat of arms . In March 1635, Gallas von der Goltz and 1,300 soldiers sent for relief to Speyer ; However, the troops only got as far as Rheinhausen because it was not possible to cross the Rhine , and they were captured when Speyer surrendered.

In the autumn of 1635 von der Goltz and his regiment were assigned to the Valtellina , and in early 1636 his troops camped near Mühlhausen . In May 1636 he was promoted to general field sergeant . From the confiscated property of Jan Rudolf Trčka von Lípa , he received the Bohemian rule Jeníkov as an imperial gift in the same year and traveled to Bohemia to take over his new property.

In October 1636 von der Goltz returned to military service. It is possible that he was already fighting in the Battle of Wittstock . At the end of October he took part in the fighting at Ebeleben , after which the von der Goltz regiment camped at Oschatz until March 1637 . Subsequently, some mostly victorious skirmishes with the troops of the Swedish general Banér took place between Oschatz and Riesa . In winter von der Goltz moved with his troops to Western Pomerania and was able to take Loitz Castle on December 11th . He then besieged the Demmin fortress , reinforced with Saxon troops under Vitzthum von Eckstedt . After the surprise surrender of the Finnish occupation, von der Goltz was able to take the fortress before Christmas. Because of this success he was promoted to Feldzeugmeister on March 31, 1638.

In 1638 von der Goltz went back to his Jeníkov estate, where he used Maria Magdalena. von Hatzfeld married and signed the estate over to her. In autumn von der Goltz was called up again for military service; Emperor Ferdinand III. transferred to him on September 1, 1638 command of the troops in the Upper Imperial Circles. A little later he was posted to the Upper Rhine together with Lieutenant Field Marshal von Breda . Under the command of General von Götzen , he fought in the defense of Breisach against the French and the troops of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar . After von Götzens was recalled, von der Goltz was appointed commander in chief. He finally had to give up Breisach because of the poor condition of the troops.

After the troops of the Swedish General Banér had crossed the Elbe , Emperor Ferdinand III. In February 1639 his commanding Gallas ordered the concentration of cavalry on the Bohemian borders and ordered the Feldzeugmeister von Fürstenberg and von der Goltz to concentrate the cavalry from the Franconian quarters of Ansbach , Kulmbach , Henneberg and Nuremberg in one place. At the beginning of March the regiments of Goltz and de Grana camped in Jungbunzlau . After the defeats of Chemnitz and Ruppertsgrün , the emperor ordered Feldzeugmeister von der Goltz to repatriate the Tiefenbach , Maximilian von Waldstein and Prösing regiments to Bohemia, and he also instructed him to represent the Feldzeugmeister von Salis who had been captured during the Ruppertsgrün affair and ordered him to do so Prague . Then von der Goltz ordered to Silesia in order to prevent the further advance of the troops of the Swedish Major General Stallhanß . After the departure of General von Mansfeld , the imperial troops remaining in Silesia were placed under the command of von der Goltz at the end of March 1640. Von der Goltz 'troops were reinforced by the units of General Sperreuter . They were able to take away the Kemnitz and Lüben castles from the Swedes and besieged Hirschberg several times .

For health reasons, von der Goltz retired from active military service at the end of 1641. After initially taking on supply tasks for his troops, which were now subordinate to Field Marshal Franz Albrecht von Sachsen-Lauenburg , he withdrew to his Jeníkov estate, which had been ruined by the Swedes, in December 1641 with the approval of the Emperor, and from 1645 lived partly in one of his Woman acquired house in Prague's old town .

When another Swedish invasion of Bohemia became foreseeable in 1647, the military governor of Prague Rudolf von Colloredo invited the generals and colonels to a meal in his palace on Prague's Lesser Town on June 30th . Von der Goltz, who was known for direct words, made very disparaging comments about the absent Sergeant General Klaus Dieter von Sperreuter. In doing so, he clashed with Wolfgang Adam von Pappenheim. The son of General von Pappenheim insulted him in front of the assembled generals and threatened him with his pistol. Finally he challenged von der Goltz to a duel, which was carried out without seconds on Marienwall near Prague Castle and ended fatally for Pappenheim. Colloredo had previously sent Johann Christoph von Waldstein and Wenzel Čabelický von Soutice to Marienwall to prevent the fight. Von der Goltz was placed under house arrest and on August 21, 1647 by Ferdinand III. acquitted.

After the battle of Zusmarshausen , von der Goltz was reactivated. As the successor to the fallen General von Holzappel , Octavio Piccolomini was entrusted with the high command of the imperial army. Until his arrival, Heinrich Schlik intended to appoint von der Goltz interim as commander in chief; however, both von der Goltz and Rudolf von Colloredo, who was proposed afterwards, refused to do so. At the beginning of October, von der Goltz began assembling an auxiliary corps in Budweis to support the Prague cities, which were partly occupied by the Swedes. Even before the corps of 8,000 men with the generals von Suys and Myslík von Hirschau reached Prague, the news of the Peace of Westphalia reached Sázava . Von der Goltz then remained in military service and, together with Ernst von Abensperg and Traun, received tasks to regulate the withdrawal of the Swedes.

After the abdication of his corps he returned to Jeníkov in the summer of 1650 and had the town rebuilt with the involvement of Zábělčice . In addition to the old fortress Staré opatství in Zábělčice, he had a new tower fortress built as a mansion. Together with his wife, von der Goltz was busy re-catholizing the utraquist residents and in 1652 brought some Jesuits from Kuttenberg to Jeníkov, to whom he left the Sirákovice and Spytice estates , as well as the construction of a bell tower and an annual payment of 1,000 Rhenish guilders to the Jesuit residence.

On May 10, 1653 von der Goltz, who suffered from podagra and kidney stones , died without leaving a will. Like his widow four years later, he was buried in the crypt of the Loretto Chapel he built in Jeníkov. The lack of regulation of his estate, especially the promises made to the Jesuits, later led to protracted disputes between the heir to the rule, Johann Dietrich von Ledebur , and the Jesuits.

The Bohemian town of Goltsch-Jenikau / Golčův Jeníkov was named after him around 1720.

Possessions

In 1636 von der Goltz received the Jeníkov rule with the associated 15 villages as an imperial gift for his military services . In 1638 he signed the rule of his wife, who bought the Nové Vohančice estate that same year . Around 1650 Maria Magdalena von der Goltz also acquired the neighboring Hostačov estate and attached it to Jeníkov.

In Znojmo , he bought the largest town house in the city during the war; the Goltz-Palais now serves as the new town hall. His wife also bought a spacious house in Prague's old town .

family

Martin Maximilian von der Goltz was married to Maria Magdalena Juliana, born von Obsinnig called Roë , widowed von Hatzfeld (1594-1657) since 1638 . The daughter of Johann von Obsinnig and Hermanna von Steprath had inherited the rule of Klempenow from her first husband Ludwig Heinrich von Hatzfeldt, who was murdered in 1631 , but lost it to Dodo zu Innhausen and Knyphausen a year later as a result of the Swedish occupation . The marriage remained childless. Maria Magdalena von der Goltz raised the orphaned son of her sister, Johann Dietrich von Ledebur , who later inherited her. Joachim Rüdiger von der Goltz was his cousin.

literature

• Jan Kilián: Feldzeugmeister Martin Maximilian von der Goltz (around 1593 - 1653): A life and a career in the Thirty Years War . Writings of the Army History Museum. Vienna 2018 ISBN 978-3-902551-80-1

Web links

• Harald Skala: Martin Maximilian Freiherr von der Goltz - Imperial General-Feldzeugmeister, City Commandant of Zittau
• Description in: The Thirty Years' War in personal testimonies, chronicles and reports

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Benedict Carpzov : Analecta fastorum Zittaviensium, or historical scene of the praiseworthy old six-city of the Marggraffthum Ober-Lausitz Zittau . Zittau 1716, p. 231.