Massenbach (noble family)

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Family coat of arms of those of Massenbach

The Freiherren von Massenbach are an old, formerly imperial knight family from Swabia. The family is named after their headquarters in Massenbach (today a district of Schwaigern in the Heilbronn district ). The Lords of Massenbach were mentioned for the first time in the 12th century and, based on the main line in Massenbach from the 14th to the 16th century, they also formed the Neuhaus and Talacker lines named after their estates near Ehrstädt and Weil der Stadt . Around 1500 there was also an important northern German line with various possessions in Prussia , which repeatedly occupied the southern German main line, which had died out several times. The family continues to exist in southern Germany to this day and has extensive property there, which was transferred to the Freiherr von Massenbach'sche Waldstiftung in 1929/30 .

history

ancestry

Massenbach Castle

The family is of a tribe and coat of arms with the lords of Gemmingen , who appear in a document on August 16, 1233 with Hertlieb and Albertus de Gemmingen , conventuals at Hirsau Abbey . It is mentioned for the first time with a Warmunt from Massenbach , who is mentioned in 1160 as a witness of a comparison between Adelhelm von Schwaigern and the Hirsau Monastery. A relationship to the noble gentlemen von Schwaigern and the gentlemen von Neipperg is conceivable via the name Warmunt . The uninterrupted line of trunks begins with Henricus de Gemmingen dictus de Massenbach , who was the first Gemmingen to appear in a document with the name Massenbach in 1216.

The oldest documented possessions of the family were around Massenbach , Bretten and Hemmingen . The family is first recorded at the headquarters in Massenbach in 1319. From the middle of the 14th century, the family Burg and Dorf Massenbach had a change of ownership that was no longer comprehensible as a fiefdom of the Palatinate . At that time, in addition to the main line in Massenbach, the two side lines Neuhaus and Talacker , named after their possessions, were formed, and in the 15th century an important north German line was established. The main line in Massenbach died out for the first time in the first half of the 16th century and was occupied by Wilhelm († 1558) from the north German line, who thus established a new south German line, which expired again with Christoph Wilhelm in 1591 and again with heirs from the north German line was occupied.

Neuhaus line

Neuhaus Castle

The Neuhaus line goes back to Berthold von Massenbach. This received in 1333 for his services from the Württemberg Count Ulrich III. the half Newhus Castle and the associated place Ehrstädt awarded. His descendants first called themselves Massenbach von Neuhaus , then around 1410 von Neuhaus or vom Neuenhaus . The other half of the castle was owned by the lords of Gemmingen, who were related to the Massenbach . Philipp von (Massenbach-) Neuhaus came into possession of the entire castle in 1541 through an exchange of goods. With Hans Philipp von Neuhaus, the Neuhaus line died out in 1580.

Although Württemberg fiefdoms, some members of the line also served in the Palatinate. The line temporarily owned half of Adersbach , but exchanged it in 1541 for a share in Neuhaus and Ehrstädt that had meanwhile come to the Lords of Gemmingen. After the death of Hans Philipp von Neuhaus, the Ehrstädter fiefdom fell back to Württemberg in 1580 and was given to the Lords of Degenfeld , from whom it was inherited back in 1926 to the Barons of Gemmingen, who still own Neuhaus Castle to this day.

Talacker line

The Talacker line was named after its possessions in the lost town of Talacker near Weil der Stadt , at times also had rights to Rinklingen and was often nicknamed Armleder in the 14th century . In the 15th century, the Talackers were mostly in the service of the Palatinate. A well-known representative of the line was Hans Talacker , who took part in the Battle of Seckenheim in 1462 , later numerous feuds , u. a. against the imperial city of Heilbronn , which led the Margraves of Baden and the House of Württemberg and became Götz von Berlichingens' teacher . His son Hans II († 1554) and his grandson Hans Jakob († 1587) were in the service of Württemberg: Hans II was the Württemberg chief steward , Hans Jakob was the governor in Balingen and Weinsberg .

North German line

The north German line goes to Berthold IX. († around 1523), who probably came to the territory of the Teutonic Order in Prussia before 1466 and acquired larger property near Balga on the Frischen Haff (including the Gut Bregden (now Russian: Wawilowo)), which his sons for goods in Stuttehnen , wind germ , Paplauken and Cordommen increased. Between his sons there was an inheritance division in 1537, with Berthold X. († 1555) receiving the north German goods and Wilhelm († 1558) the previously jointly administered headquarters in Massenbach. Since the southern German line had died out again after three generations, the ancestral seat in Massenbach was again the subject of the division of inheritance among the four sons of Berthold X .: While Heinrich the Elder († 1602) administered the southern German property, Hans († 1607) was court marshal to the Swedish King Charles IX The brothers Georg IV († 1598/99) and Wilhelm V († 1609) worked in Prussia. Wilhelm's sons continued the southern German line, Georg's sons continued the northern German line. Georg's grandson Fabian II (1608–1688) was in command of Memel and in 1682 continued the separation of the family lines by selling his shares to Massenbach. The three family branches Posewangen , Rodmannshöfen and Stuttehnen, named after their estates at the time, formed under his grandchildren . The north German line held high Prussian administrative and military posts. Leo von Massenbach (1797-1880) was the district president in Düsseldorf and brought about the elevation of the Rodmannshöfen and Stuttgart lines in 1850 to the Prussian baron class. Leonhard von Massenbach (1835–1883) was the district administrator of the Obertaunus district.

South German line

Wilhelm von Massenbach († 1558) received in 1537 when the inheritance was divided among the sons of Berthold IX. the headquarters in Massenbach. He had been in the service of Württemberg since 1519 and was Obervogt in Göppingen and Brackenheim , as well as a war council of the Schmalkaldic League from 1536 and commander of the Hohenasperg fortress from 1553 . In 1530 he carried out the Reformation in his areas . In 1556 he received the ban on blood from Emperor Charles V and thus imperial immediacy . His son Severin († 1568) was a councilor in Württemberg and received the Ebersberg Castle , which his father had already acquired, as an inheritance. With his son Christoph Wilhelm, the southern German line went extinct again in 1591. The property was divided among the four sons of Berthold X. from the north German line. After Massenbach had initially been administered by Heinrich the Elder († 1602), the sons of his brother Wilhelm V († 1609) continued the southern German line.

Georg Wilhelm von Massenbach (1721–1788)

During the Thirty Years' War , Massenbach was temporarily depopulated, and the local rulers stayed in other places. Wilhelm V's grandson Georg Bernhard (1629–1679) was in command of Donauwörth , his brother Philipp Adam (1621–1702) and his son Nikolaus († 1728) were in French military services and purchased goods in Lorraine. Only Reinhold von Massenbach (1650–1730), great-grandson of Wilhelm V, settled in Massenbach again in 1691. In 1682 he had acquired the shares of the north German line on site and thereby held three quarters of the fief. In 1709 Friedrich von Massenbach (1686–1730), a grandson of Georg Bernhard, who had become Catholic again, also took up his seat in Massenbach. The two denominational lines at the site caused frequent disputes in the 18th century. Georg Wilhelm von Massenbach (1721–1788), Georg's grandson from the Protestant line, had the Massenbach Castle built in place of the destroyed castle and reformed agriculture on his property. The community protested in 1767 with a lawsuit at the Electoral Palatinate against the associated new taxes and compulsory payments and found support from Josef Johann Adam von Massenbach (1710–1792) from the Catholic line. The disputes were only settled with a settlement in 1791, also due to the fact that the Catholic line, which from 1768 again bore the surname Gemmingen starting with Josef Johann Adam , sold its shares in Massenbach to the Protestant line and relied on its goods in Baden and Bavaria withdrew.

The evangelical southern German line in Massenbach branched out after 1760 into the lines called Upper Castle (Georg Wilhelm (1721–1788) and his descendants) and Lower Castle (Georg Wilhelm's brother Johann Reinhold Dietrich (1719-1791) and his son, named after their place of residence Christoph Julius (1758-1835)). However, the Lower Castle was just a stately residential building that, after the family branch quickly died out, was used as the Gasthaus zum Adler and, like the Catholic Castle , was demolished in 1993/1994. The line in the Upper Castle , however, gained importance far beyond the town with the sons of Georg Wilhelm: Friedrich Reinhard Wilhelm (1749–1816) was a councilor for the knightly canton of Kraichgau , became Württemberg chamberlain in 1809 and later head of a section of the war council . His brother Christian von Massenbach (1758–1827) was in Prussian military service and received Gut Bialokosz in South Prussia, where he founded a Prussian side branch of the southern German line, the property of which was owned by his descendants, including the Erfurt parliamentarian Georg Sylvius von Massenbach (1799–1885) and the Marienwerder district president Christian Julius von Massenbach (1832-1904) was increased by other goods such as tiller and Konin . Another son of Georg Wilhelm, Dorotheus Friedrich Eberhard Ferdinand (1760-1825), was a secret war councilor in Berlin, in 1811 Württemberg State Councilor and in 1817 director of the Württemberg Chamber of Accounts. Dorotheus' daughters were court ladies at the courts in Stuttgart and Schwerin.

In the media coverage of Reichsritterschaft 1806 the barons of Massenbach retained their "altherkömmlichen" Baron title . The Wuerttemberg family property, which was administered as the family entailment commission, was transferred to a forest foundation that still exists today through the entails dissolution law of 1929/30.

The following important information is missing from this article or section:
The lover of the Karlsruhe city founder, Eberhardine Luise von Massenbach, should be mentioned here.
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

Coat of arms in Siebmacher's coat of arms book

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows two golden bars in blue. On the helmet with its blue and gold covers stand two buffalo horns labeled like the shield.

Other representatives of the family

Grave slab of Christoph Wilhelm von Massenbach († 1591) at the Georgskirche in Massenbach

literature

Web links

Commons : Massenbach  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Genealogical Handbook of the Adels, Adelslexikon Volume VIII, pp. 306-308, Limburg (Lahn) 1997
  2. ↑ Württemb. Document book 6, p. 489
  3. ^ Hermann Graf von Arnim: Muskau: Standesherrschaft between Spree u. Neisse , Ullstein, 1978, p. 377. ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).
  4. ^ Mathias Niendorf: Minorities on the border: Germans and Poles in the Flatow (Złotów) and Zempelburg (Sępólno Krajeńskie) districts 1900–1939 , p. 455. ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).