Moltke (noble family)

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Family coat of arms of the von Moltke family

Moltke is the name of an old Mecklenburg noble family that has spread in several lines in Denmark since the 18th century.

history

Origins

The von Moltke belong to the Mecklenburg nobility . The family first appears in a document on September 19, 1254 in Wismar with the brothers and knights Fridericus Meltiko, miles and Johannes Moltike as followers of Johann I of Mecklenburg . The trunk series begins with the named Friedrich. The family name is most likely derived from the village of Moltow (mnd. Moltekowe, today part of Hohen Viecheln , located south of Wismar). The place name and surname jointly bear the Slavic root Moltek , which is supposed to be a reduction of mlatu , the hammer , according to another view an expression for black grouse , the heraldic animal of the sex. The Berkhahn and Karin families were related to the Moltkes .

Medieval wall painting in the choir of the Toitenwinkel village church , above the Moltke coat of arms

In the second half of the 13th century, the Moltkes migrated from the Mecklenburg dominion to the neighboring Rostock dominion, where they quickly rose to become the leading aristocratic family. Johann Moltke in Toitenwinkel (1271/1309) was Waldemars von Rostock's truchess and, after his death, actually ran the legal guardianship for the minor sons of the sovereign. The Moltkes subsequently acquired numerous goods in the Rostock area. On December 27, 1280 they are co-signers of Ribnitz documents and in 1295 Johannis de Moltke is pastor of the Ribnitz town church . Amalie Eleonore von Moltke is the domina of the Poor Clare monastery in Ribnitz from 1756–1777 .

In the early 14th century, the Moltke knights were mentioned at Strietfeld Castle (today part of Lühburg and a preliminary work of the Dalwitz estate ), Toitenwinkel Castle (until 1679, numerous tombstones and epitaphs are in the Toitenwinkel village church ) in Detershagen , Plennin , in Klein Belitz with Neukirchen, in Wokrent (now part of Jürgenshagen ) and in Wendischhagen (now part of Malchin ), from the 15th century to 1786 on Samow , from 1545 to 1816 on Schorssow , on Walkendorf (17th century to 1830 ), since the middle of the 17th century on Bülow (until 1816).

An essential stage in the rise of the Moltke family was the alliance between Johann Moltke in Toitenwinkel (1271/1309) and the Danish King Erich VI. , as a result of which the Rostock rule became a Danish fiefdom, but the Moltkes were amply rewarded as Danish war entrepreneurs. After the rulership of Rostock fell to Mecklenburg, the Moltkes continued the Strietfeld line under Heinrich II. , Albrecht II. And Albrecht III. von Mecklenburg continued their war entrepreneurship and expanded the Strietfeld property complex into one of the largest in Mecklenburg with the profits made from it. On the basis of this property complex, numerous sovereign councils emerged from the family in the late Middle Ages. In addition, in the 14th century the Mecklenburg bailiwicks of Ribnitz , Tessin , Gnoien , Strelitz and Boizenburg were temporarily in the family's lien or feudal possession.

In the middle of the 18th century, various branches of the von Moltke family still held significant property. Eberhard Friedrich Ehrenreich von Moltke, born in 1727 as provisional agent of the Ribnitz monastery and knightly deputy of the office of Gnoien, owned Walkendorf, Burg Strietfeld, Friedrichsdorf , Dorotheenwalde , Schorssow , Ziddorf , Tessenow and Bülow . After that, however, the property decreased more and more and at the beginning of the 20th century, the von Moltke in the Ribnitz area had hardly any real estate worth mentioning.

In Einschreibebuch of Dobbertin Abbey there are 16 entries of daughters of the family of Moltke 1696-1863 from Walkendorf, Schorssow and Samow for inclusion in the noble Damenstift in Kloster Dobbertin .

In the 14th century, the Moltkes were also resident in the Principality of Rügen and the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden and were honored there. Under Albrecht III. The family came from Mecklenburg with Johann Moltke (1366/89) to Sweden, but he was killed in 1389 in the battle of Falköping .

The Mecklenburg tribe gradually expanded, acquired large estates, including the estate on the Wustrow peninsula, and later branched out again to Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, and also to Prussia, Thuringia, Württemberg, Bavaria and Austria .

Numerous officers came from the family, including the two Prussian chiefs of the general staff Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke († 1891) and Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von Moltke († 1916).

Kreisau line

The Prussian General Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke , as Chief of the General Staff and commanding troop leader, played a key role in the Prussian victory in the Prussian-Austrian War of 1866 and in the Franco-German War of 1871, came from the Samov branch. He acquired the Kreisau estate in Lower Silesia as a retirement home. He was raised to the hereditary Prussian count on October 28, 1870 .

His great-great-nephew Helmuth James Graf von Moltke was one of the leading figures in the Kreisau Circle resistance group and was executed as a resistance fighter in the Third Reich in 1945 .

Helmuth von Moltke (1848–1916), called Moltke the Younger , Prussian Colonel General and Chief of the Great General Staff in World War I, was not a descendant of Helmuth the Elder , but the son of a cousin, also from the Samov branch.

  • Kreisau Castle , Lower Silesia

  • Alliance coat of arms of those of Moltke (left) and Burt above the portal of Kreisau Castle

  • Coat of arms of the Counts of Moltke-Kreisau

Danish lines

Count Adam Gottlob von Moltke (1710–1792)

The family received several Danish rankings. So was Adam Gottlob Moltke arise (1710-1792), of the tribe Strietfeld and Good Walkendorf born in Mecklenburg, as royal Danish court marshal on 31 March 1750 in the Danish Lehnsgrafenstand levied. In 1746 he received Bregentved Castle near Haslev on the Danish island of Zealand with over 6000 hectares of forest and farmland as a fief. The Danish line, which goes back to Adam Gottlob, provided numerous generals, ministers and diplomats as well as several prime ministers of Denmark. Today's owner of Bregentved Palace is Christian Georg Peter Lehnsgraf Moltke (* 1959). One of the four palaces of today's royal residence Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen was built in 1754 for Adam Gottlob as Palais Moltke . The Prime Minister Adam Wilhelm Moltke acquired another palace in Copenhagen in 1852, the Moltkes Palæ , built in 1680 , which his grandson owned until 1930.

Adam Gottlob also acquired Glorup Castle in Svindinge Sogn in 1762 and Rygård Castle in Langå Sogn in 1766 , both of which are still owned by Count Moltke-Huitfeldt. Together with Anhof (sold in 1916) they formed the family entourage Stamhuset Moltkenborg from 1793 . Count Léon Moltke-Huitfeldt (1829-1896) was the Danish ambassador to Paris at the time when his Prussian cousin Helmuth besieged the city and the overthrow of Napoléon III. brought about. Léon's son, Count Adam Carl von Moltke-Hvitfeld (1864–1944), married Louise Eugenie Bonaparte , daughter of Napoleon III , in 1896 . American nephew Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte-Patterson II.

From 1763 to 1832, Noer Castle in Schleswig-Holstein was owned by the Danish line and belonged to a. Count Magnus von Moltke , and for a short time the Grünholz estate .

  • Bregentved Palace (owned since 1746 until today)

  • Glorup Castle (owned since 1762 until today)

  • Rygård Castle (owned since 1766 until today)

  • Palais Moltke (part of Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen)

  • Moltkes Palæ, Copenhagen

Another Danish line goes back to the Danish general Johann Georg von Moltke (1703–1764), a brother of Adam Gottlob, which also provided high-ranking officers and ministers and which is still flourishing today. One of Johann Georg's grandchildren, Georg Moltke-Rosenkrantz (1786–1846), was raised to Baron Moltke-Rosenkrantz in 1828 under the name and coat of arms association with the feudal barons Rosenkrantz .

Werner Jasper Andreas von Moltke (1755-1835) from the Mecklenburg House of Walkendorf (Schorssow line) was raised to the Danish feudal count as royal Danish chief president and bailiff of the Faroe Islands (based in Copenhagen) in 1834. His son was Count Ludwig von Moltke .

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows three (2.1) black black cocks in silver . On the helmet with black and silver covers there are seven as well as eight fan-like golden gussets , each decorated with a natural peacock feather.

Known family members

Helmuth Graf von Moltke (1800–1891), Prussian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff
Helmuth von Moltke (1848-1916), called Moltke the Younger , Prussian Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (1907–1945), resistance fighter of the Kreisau district
  • Johann Moltke in Toitenwinkel (1271/1309), sovereign councilor, truchess
  • Johann Moltke in Strietfeld (1318/38), sovereign councilor, war entrepreneur
  • Johann Moltke in Strietfeld (1341/64), sovereign councilor, war entrepreneur
  • Friedrich Moltke in Strietfeld (1353/90), ducal councilor, war entrepreneur
  • Heinrich Moltke in Westenbrügge (1339/96), ducal councilor, court judge
  • Johann Moltke in Strietfeld (1365/1407), ducal councilor, war entrepreneur
  • Otto Moltke in Strietfeld (1440/86), Mecklenburg district administrator
  • Ludolf Moltke in Strietfeld (1472/1532), Mecklenburg District Administrator

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pomeranian document book 593
  2. ↑ Mecklenburgisches Urkundenbuch (MUB) Volume II. Schwerin (1864) No. 734
  3. ↑ a b Tobias Pietsch: The Moltkes in the late Middle Ages . In: Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher . tape 125 , 2010, p. 141-174 .
  4. ↑ (MUB) Volume II. (1864) No. 1553
  5. ↑ (MUB) Volume III. (1865) No. 2311
  6. ↑ a b c d Genealogical Manual of the Adels , Adelslexikon Volume IX, Volume 116 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1998, ISSN  0435-2408 , p. 141 ff.
  7. ↑ Gabriele von Moltke (49) is the editor of the Berlin "Abendschau" RBB September 1, 2019