Offenberg (noble family)
Offenberg is the name of a Swiss-Baltic noble family whose origins go back to the 10th century. The family spread across the Baltic region to Russia , Poland , Saxony and the rest of Germany . In the Duchy of Courland and Zemgale they were among the leading and most influential political figures in the country, and in the later Governorate of Courland , which was under the sovereignty of the Russian Empire , they were high- ranking officers and state officials in the Russian service.
The ancestors
Even if it is under the description of the legend , the ancient family came from the Zurich area , where they were first mentioned in 996. With Martin von Offenberg a tournament winner at the knight games in Zurich became known in 1165 . In the years 1256 and 1275 Rudolph and Hugo von Offenberg were named as Commander of the Order of St. John at Burgsee. It was an Amadeus from Offenberg, the Emperor Sigismund (1368-1437) for the coronation of Rome , probably as a bodyguard , accompanied, on a Tiber bridge in Rome , he received by the Emperor the accolade , he was later Colonel guild master to Basel and died 1458. Emmerich von Offenberg lived in 1490 as a Roman imperial land colonel in Switzerland. His son Jonas was a Privy Councilor and governor in Styria , he served in 1571 Emperor Maximilian II (1527–1576) as envoy to Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible (1530–1584). Jonas's only son Lorenz served with great honors in the army of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and received considerable estates in Styria in recognition of his services.
In the Baltic States
In 1540 Lorenz I von Offenberg († 1576) came to Livonia as a companion of Archbishop and Margrave Wilhelm von Brandenburg (1498–1568), who had received the archbishopric in Riga , and became lord of Kokenhusen and Stiftvoigt of Treyden and Cremon. He was later Chancellor of the Livonian Order , an independent part of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic States, and appeared in 1569 as the representative of the Livonian Knighthood on the Union of Lublin . He is considered to be the progenitor of the noble family von Offenberg in the Baltic Sea region . Emperor Rudolph II. (1552–1612) awarded the family a diploma in 1594 , through which he recognized "the old and noble blood of the Offenberg" for the Holy Roman Empire . In 1601 they received the status of baron. Lorenz II. († 1625) was married to Barbara von Rosen , with this marital relationship he gained access to the Baltic knighthood . His descendants spread to Denmark, Saxony and Courland , while the parent company remained on the Illien estate. Two lines developed in Courland: Groesen and Illien. Numerous state officials and officers emerged from the Groesen line. With Friedrich Alexander (1841–1895), secretary and archivist of the Courland Knighthood , it died out in the male line.
House Illien
Friedrich George (1620–1676), a son of Lorenz II, founded the Illien line. His grandson Heinrich Christian (1696–1781) was the country steward in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia . Through his marriage to Friederike Dönhoff , he came into possession of the Illien and Sarraiken estates. Heinrich Christian Wilhelm von Offenberg (1788–1871) inherited Illien and enlarged the family property. His brother Friedrich Carl Nikolaus (1789-1856) was a Russian general , his second brother Emmerich Johann (1791-1870) was also a Russian general and inspector of the entire Russian cavalry . Heinrich Peter Friedrich (1821–1888) was a senior Russian officer and civil servant; from 1872 to 1875 he was an envoy to the USA . In 1841 the family were included in the registers of the Courland Knighthood and, according to Russian recognition, had had the title of baron since 1862 . Although Heinrich Christian on Illien with his wife Jenny von Mirbach had 17 children, died with the marshal Ulrich of open life (1879-1959), the last line of Courland in the male line.
Personalities
- Heinrich von Offenberg (1752–1827), single, court marshal to the Duke of Courland and Semigallia, Imperial Russian Privy Council, President of the Courland High Court . He was a bearer of the Order of Vladimir and the Russian Order of St. Anne , Knight of the Legion of Honor and Commander of St. John of Jerusalem . From 1778 he was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Mitau and from 1786 to 1827 an honorary member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin .
- Karl Gustav von Offenberg auf Grösen (1755-1835) founded the older line, he was the imperial Russian secret council and from 1807 to 1818 president of the Pilsen district council . He was the bearer of the Grand Cross of the Russian Order of Saint Anne.
- Heinrich Christian von Offenberg (1696–1781) founded the younger line, he was Courland court master and senior counselor as well as bearer of the Grand Cross of the Alexander Nevsky Order and the Russian Order of Saint Anne.
- Friedrich Karl von Offenberg († 1789) was a Russian lieutenant general and holder of the Grand Cross of the Russian Order of Saint Anne and the Order of Saint Stanislaus.
- Emmerich von Offenberg (1791–1870), Russian general of the cavalry
- Heinrich Christian Wilhelm von Offenberg (1788–1871), grandson of Heinrich Christian, was president of the Courland estate Mitau and lord of Illien. He was married to Jenny von Mirbach and had 17 children with her. During the time of the Polish uprising in 1831, with a command of volunteers, he established the connection between Courland and Prussia .
- Friedrich von Offenberg (1789–1856), Russian general of the cavalry
coat of arms
The coat of arms of the von Offenberg family shows two mossy mountains resting diagonally to the right in a wavy silver shield and raised by different heels. A red, gold ostrich feather grows on the tournament helmet . The helmet covers are black and gold on the right, red and silver on the left.
literature
-
Genealogical handbook of the nobility , CA Starke Verlag, Limburg / Lahn
- Adelslexikon , Volume X, Volume 119 of the complete series, 1999, pp. 1–2; XVII, Volume 144 of the complete series, 2008, p. 466.
- Genealogical manual of the baronial houses Volume 21, Volume 120 of the complete series, 1999, pp. 288-314.
Web links
- Baltic Historical Commission (Ed.): Entry on Offenberg. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
- Offenberg. Entry on zeno.org
- Schlau, Karl-Otto, "Offenberg, von" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 19 (1999) , p. 483 f. Online version
Individual evidence
- ↑ Offenberg, Lorenz von; In: Catalog of the German National Library online in the DNB
- ↑ Newspaper for the German Aristocracy , Second Volume, Editor F. Baron de la Motte Fouqué, No. 101, Saturday, December 18, 1841, Verlag Helbig, 1841, original from Bayerische Staatsbibliothek , digitized April 13, 2010 online , p 403/404, no. 1811, Google Books , accessed June 28, 2016
- ↑ Leopold Freiherr von Zedlitz-Neukirch , Neues Prussisches Adels-Lexicon,… of the… princely, counts… houses (etc.) residing in the Prussian monarchy . Verlag Reichenbach, 1837, original from the Austrian National Library , digitized 21 Nov. 2013 online page 477, Google Books, accessed on 28 June 2016
- ^ Heinrich Baron von Offenberg, excerpt from the register of the Akademie der Künste online
- ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Heinrich-Christian v. Offenberg. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
- ↑ Leopold Freiherr von Zedlitz-Neukirch, Neues Prussisches Adels-Lexicon,… of the… princely, counts… houses (etc.) residing in the Prussian monarchy . Verlag Reichenbach, 1837, original from Austrian National Library, digitized 21 Nov. 2013 online , p. 477, Google Books, accessed on 28 June 2016
Remarks
- ^ Supreme guild master guild master (over several guilds?). In: German legal dictionary , online at www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de
- ^ Highest military commander in a country (esteil). In: German legal dictionary, online at www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de