Ottheinrich

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Georg Pencz : Portrait of the Count Palatine Ottheinrich

Ottheinrich von der Pfalz or Ottheinrich von Pfalz-Neuburg - actually Otto Heinrich (also Ott Heinrich ) - (born April 10, 1502 in Amberg , † February 12, 1559 in Heidelberg ) from the Wittelsbach family was Count Palatinate of Pfalz-Neuburg from 2 June 1522 and Count Palatine Elector of the Palatinate from February 26, 1556 until his death.

origin

Ottheinrich's parents were Ruprecht the Virtuous (1481–1504) and Elisabeth von Bayern-Landshut (1478–1504), a daughter of Georg the Rich (1455–1503). His paternal grandfather was Elector Philip the Sincere of the Palatinate. On July 30, 1505, after the death of his parents, the Landshut War of Succession ended with King Maximilian's Cologne arbitration at a Diet in Cologne . The two orphaned grandchildren of Duke Georg, Ottheinrich and Philipp , received the newly formed Young Palatinate, a fragmented area from the Upper Danube over Franconia to the northern Upper Palatinate .

Life

Early years

In 1518 he took part in the Reichstag in Augsburg . After the death of Emperor Maximilian , Ottheinrich accompanied his uncle and guardian, Count Palatine Friedrich, to Spain in 1519 to deliver the election news to the newly elected German King Karl V. He then traveled to Castile , Aragon , Burgundy and the Spanish Netherlands . Shortly after his return to Germany, Ottheinrich set out on a trip to the Middle East in the Holy Land , for which he kept a diary. On June 5, 1521, he left Venice and reached Jaffa on July 10, 1521 by sea . Ottheinrich and his entourage visited the holy places in Bethlehem , on the Jordan , on the Sea of ​​Galilee , in Jerusalem and on the Mount of Olives . Ottheinrich was knighted by the Holy Sepulcher in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher . On August 6, 1521, the tour company returned to Jaffa to begin the journey home, which they ended on December 16, 1521.

Pfalz-Neuburg

Coat of arms of the Dukes Ottheinrich and Philipp of Bavaria

On June 2, 1522, Ottheinrich and his brother Philipp were declared of the age of majority in the knight's hall of Burglengenfeld Castle on the occasion of a Neuburg state parliament held there . Ottheinrich then took over the government of the Principality of Palatinate-Neuburg (Young Palatinate), founded in 1505 as a result of the Landshut War of Succession , with his brother Philipp , but which was again divided among them in 1535. He now called himself Ottheinrich von Pfalz-Neuburg and in the following years converted the Neuburg Castle into a Renaissance residential palace - always trying to compensate for the lack of prestige in his own country and on the parquet of the princely nobility .

Ottheinrich took part in some military campaigns, such as the Sickingen feud in 1523 or the Peasants' War in 1525. Due to his lavish lifestyle, Ottheinrich soon faced bankruptcy , which he tried to avert by constantly taking out new loans . He also had a promissory note from his grandmother Hedwig's estate . This promissory note for 32,000 guilders , issued by King Casimir IV of Poland on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Hedwig to George the Rich , was never paid out by the Polish royal court. Ottheinrich had interest and compound interest calculated and came up with the proud sum of 200,000 guilders, which the Polish king owed him. On November 27, 1536, Ottheinrich set out to visit his great-uncle, the Polish King Sigismund I, in Krakow , where he arrived on December 24, 1536. During the three-week negotiations, Ottheinrich was able to obtain the disbursement of the promissory note, but not that of the interest. Ottheinrich's financial crisis remained unsolved.

Barthel Beham : Portrait of Count Palatine Ottheinrich from 1535

During his trip to Poland, Ottheinrich had fifty watercolor views of the cities he visited, most of which are the earliest representations that have survived today. (See also: “ Travel album of Count Palatine Ottheinrich ”.) This long-unrecognized travel souvenir Ottheinrich introduced astonishingly new and modern image motifs into European art history and was only recently recognized and appreciated for its cultural-historical importance.

In 1541, Ottheinrich received the part of the country and his debts back from his brother Philipp. On June 22, 1542, influenced by the theologian Andreas Osiander , he introduced the Protestant denomination into his principality by decree . Luther's staunch supporter brought the university reform begun by his predecessor Friedrich II to an end (in 1558 the university, which had changed from a papal to a Lutheran, received new statutes and statutes, which Philipp Melanchthon helped to draft). His palace chapel in Neuburg, completed in 1543, is considered to be the first church building for the Protestant rite.

In 1544, Ottheinrich's debts amounted to over a million guilders. Over 600 creditors appeared at Neuburg Castle . In the following negotiations, the estates finally took over Ottheinrich's debts. In return, they took over government and sold Ottheinrich's property to cover debts. In September 1546, Neuburg was finally occupied by the emperor's troops, as Ottheinrich was (justified) suspected of supporting the Schmalkaldic League in the war against the emperor. Ottheinrich was banned and ostracized .

He first went into exile to his uncle in Heidelberg . He later moved to the Carmelite monastery in Weinheim . There he set up an alchemical laboratory to make gold and find the philosopher's stone . Ottheinrich began collecting again for his library, whose old holdings in Neuburg had been lost to him. So around 1548 he moved the library of the Lorsch monastery to Heidelberg Castle . He also succeeded in buying back the costly tapestries made by Christian de Roy in Neuburg from 1539 to 1546 , which were essentially intended to praise Ottheinrich's reign. After the prince uprising in 1552, Ottheinrich was able to return to Neuburg.

Elector

After the death of his uncle, Elector Friedrich II of the Palatinate on February 26, 1556, Ottheinrich was finally able to take up the long-desired rule as Elector of the Palatinate, to which he was entitled due to the succession. At this point in time, Ottheinrich, who weighed almost 200 kg, was already badly affected. As elector, he was now archdean of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and one of the two imperial vicars in the event of the vacancy of the throne . In 1557 Wolfgang von Pfalz-Zweibrücken received the Young Palatinate in accordance with the provisions of the Heidelberg Treaty , which had been concluded in 1553 between the various branches of the Wittelsbach family .

Ottheinrich led in 1557 the Reformation by Lutherans direction in the Palatinate and their condominiums one. He also promoted science and hired budding medical professionals to dissect corpses. His library, the Bibliotheca Palatina , was considered one of the most important of its time. So far, 63 incunabula and prints from the 16th century from the provenance of Ottheinrich have been identified in the Scientific City Library in Mainz and in the Gutenberg Museum . Mainz thus ranks third after Rome and Munich in the ranking of libraries with Ottheinrich bindings . Today there are 26 volumes in the State Library in Neuburg an der Donau . He had the famous Ottheinrich Bible illuminated or completed in 1530/32. Special copies of book covers were made between 1546 and 1559. The famous Ottheinrichsbau of Heidelberg Castle , built under his government, is named after him.

Ottheinrich died in the third year of his reign as elector at the age of 56. His grave in the Heiliggeistkirche in Heidelberg was looted and destroyed in the Palatinate War of Succession in 1693.

With Ottheinrich died on Ludwig III. receding line. He was therefore inherited by Friedrich von Pfalz-Simmern , who descended from Ludwig's brother Stefan and succeeded him in the Electoral Palatinate. Wolfgang von Pfalz-Zweibrücken, who had already received the Young Palatinate with Neuburg before, also descended from Stefan and in turn became the progenitor of all Wittelsbachers living today.

marriage

Ottheinrich married his cousin, the widow of Margrave Casimir von Brandenburg-Kulmbach , Princess Susanna of Bavaria (1502–1543) , on October 16, 1529 in Neuburg an der Donau . Susanna was the daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich and his wife, Archduchess Kunigunde of Austria . The marriage remained childless.

Afterlife

Ottheinrich is also the namesake of the Ottheinrich-Gymnasium in Wiesloch as well as the Ottheinrich Medal in his residential city Burglengenfeld and the VCP tribe Ottheinrich von der Pfalz in Ingelheim am Rhein .

It is also mentioned in the student songs . In “Heidelberg, du Jugendbronnen” it says at the beginning of the third verse:

The cups roared here foaming,
and it was meant for Mr. Otto Heinrich
who is still more famous as a reveler,
because as Count of the beautiful Palatinate.

family tree

Ludwig IV.
Elector Palatinate
 
 Margaret of Savoy
 
 
 
 
 
 Ludwig the Rich
Duke of Bavaria-Landshut
 
 Amalia of Saxony
 
 
 
 
 
 Casimir IV.
King of Poland
 
 Elisabeth of Habsburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Philip the Sincere
Elector of the Palatinate
 
 
 
 
 
 Margarete of Bavaria-Landshut
 
 
 
 
 
 George the Rich
Duke of Bavaria-Landshut
 
 
 
 
 
 Hedwig of Poland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ruprecht of the Palatinate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Elisabeth of Bavaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ottheinrich
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

literature

  • Andreas Edel:  Ottheinrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , pp. 655 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Suzanne Bäumler; Evamaria Brockhoff and Michael Henker (eds.): By Kaisers Gnaden. 500 years of Pfalz-Neuburg. Catalog for the Bavarian State Exhibition 2005 Neuburg an der Donau June 3 to October 16, 2005. Augsburg 2005.
  • Hans-Wolfgang Bergerhausen : "So we ... have been shown great honor and compliance". On the history of Ottheinrich von Pfalz-Neuburg (1502–1559). In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 22, 2003, pp. 135-147.
  • Claudia Fabian / Jürgen Schefzyk (eds.): The Ottheinrich Bible. The first illustrated New Testament in German . Primus, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 3-89678-391-2
  • Fritz Grosse: Image of Power. The picture behind the pictures at Ottheinrich von der Pfalz (1502–1559) . Imhof, Petersberg 2003, ISBN 3-937251-17-0 (also dissertation, Halle / Wittenberg 2002).
  • Barbara Kurz: Elector Ott Heinrich. Politics and religion in the Palatinate 1556–1559. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1956.
  • Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.): Count Palatine Ottheinrich. Politics, Art and Science in the 16th Century . Pustet, Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-7917-1802-9 .
  • Angelika Marsch (Hrsg.): The travel pictures Pfalzgraf Ottheinrichs from the years 1536/37. From his ride from Neuburg on the Danube via Prague to Krakow and back via Breslau, Berlin, Wittenberg and Leipzig to Neuburg . 2 volumes, Verlag Anton H. Konrad, Weißenhorn 2000, ISBN 3-87437-440-8 .
  • Angelika Marsch: Pictures and documents from the trip of Count Palatine Ottheinrich to Krakow and Berlin in 1536/37. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 22, 2003, pp. 148-157.
  • Travel, rest and moment: Central European cityscapes from the 16th century; [Exhibition of the University Library of Würzburg in the Martin von Wagner Museum, Residence, south wing; as part of the 600th anniversary of the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg from February 1 to March 31, 2002]. Röll, Dettelbach 2002, ISBN 3-89754-201-3 .
  • Alexander Freiherr von Reitzenstein : The Count Palatine Ottheinrich and Philipp von Neuburg . In: Josef Heider (Ed.): Neuburg, the young Palatinate and their princes. Festschrift for the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Principality of Neuburg . On behalf of the city of Neuburg ad Donau 1955, pp. 33–42.
  • Folker Reichert: The trip of Count Palatine Ottheinrich to the Holy Land in 1521 . Pustet, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7917-1964-5 (Neuburger Kollektaneenblatt, 153).
  • Klaus Reichold: The sky climber. Ottheinrich von Pfalz-Neuburg (1502–1559) . Pustet, Regensburg 2004, ISBN 3-7917-1911-4 .
  • Robert Salzer:  Otto Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, pp. 713-719.
  • Susanne Wagini: Ottheinrich's portrait gallery in the “round room” of Neuburg Castle on the Danube . tuduv, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-88073-247-7 (writings from the Institute for Art History at the University of Munich, vol. 20).
  • Karl Schottenloher: Count Palatine Ottheinrich and the book , Aschendorff, Münster, 1927.
  • Susanne Seitz: The Count Palatine Ottheinrich and Philipp , Sutton, Erfurt, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86680-712-9 .
  • Wolfgang Wüst:  OTTHEINRICH from the Palatinate. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-044-1 , Sp. 1348-1352.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Ottheinrich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hans Jürgen Brandt: Jerusalem has friends. Munich and the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher . EOS, Münsterschwarzach 2010, p. 36.
  2. ↑ Route from Neuburg to Krakow
  3. ^ Rolf Heyers: Dr. Georg Marius, called Mayer von Würzburg (1533-1606). (Dental) medical dissertation Würzburg 1957, p. 14 f.
  4. ↑ Helmut Presser: Unknown Ottheinrich volumes in Mainz , Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 30 (1955), pp. 281–290; Annelen Ottermann: Four new Ottheinrich volumes in the Mainz city library, Gutenberg yearbook 66 (1991), pp. 344-350.
  5. ↑ http://www.mkv.at/?sys=website&seite=25&lied=126, accessed on March 19, 2012.
predecessor Office successor
Friedrich II. Elector Palatinate
1556–1559 		Friedrich III.
Start-up Duke of Pfalz-Neuburg
1505–1557 		wolfgang
personal data
SURNAME Ottheinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otto Heinrich of the Palatinate
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count Palatine of Pfalz-Neuburg, Elector of the Palatinate
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1502
PLACE OF BIRTH On the mountain
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1559
Place of death Heidelberg