Otto Friedrich von der Groeben

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Otto Friedrich von der Groeben, 1700.

Otto Friedrich von der Groeben (born  April 16, 1657 in Napratten near Heilsberg in Warmia ; †  June 30, 1728 near Marienwerder ) was an officer and explorer in the service of Brandenburg-Prussia and other European countries.

Life

Otto Friedrich von der Groeben was the son of the Brandenburg Major General and Governor of Marienwerder and Riesenburg Georg Heinrich von der Groeben (* 1630, † 1697) and his wife Barbara Dorothea von Gattenhofen (* 1635, † 1694). Although he was Protestant, he attended the prestigious Jesuit high school in Rößel in the Principality of Warmia from 1666 to 1673 , where he received a thorough classical education.

At the age of 17 he joined the Polish Colonel Christoph Meglin in 1673 and traveled with him to Italy and Malta . From Malta he took part in a pirate voyage against the Ottoman Empire , probably due to lack of money and a thirst for adventure , where he was wounded. He then traveled to Egypt , Palestine and Cyprus and finally to Spain, France and England. During this time he was also a soldier in the service of the Spanish king for a year. After almost eight years of absence, he returned to Prussia in 1680 . He went to Berlin , where he served the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm as chamberlain .

Arrival of the Brandenburgers in West Africa (from: Schorers Familienblatt, 1885)

Probably also because of his travel experience, the elector entrusted Groeben , who was appointed major in the Brandenburg Army , in spring 1682 with the management of a second Brandenburg colonial expedition to the coast of Guinea . The aim of this expedition was to establish a permanent Brandenburg settlement and armed forts for their protection. This expedition was preceded by a Brandenburg trade expedition, which was dispatched to the Guinea and Angola coasts in September 1680 under the direction of the commander of the frigate Moriaen , Philipp Pietersen Blonck . On May 16, 1681, a friendship and trade agreement was concluded with the three Ahanta chiefs Pregate, Sophonie and Apany on the Gold Coast, a little west of the Cape of the Three Peaks , in which the Brandenburgers were allowed a branch and a To continue building. Immediately after the return of the Moriaen in August 1681, the equipment of a new expedition began and at the same time the foundation of the Brandenburg-African Company was initiated .

Groeben's colonial expedition began on May 16, 1682 with the departure of the two ships of the Kurbrandenburg Navy Moriaen (32 guns) and Churprinz von Brandenburg (12 guns) from the Elbe in the direction of the Gold Coast . On December 27, 1682, Groeben first set foot on African soil at the Cape of the Three Peaks near the village of Accada. However, after clashing with the suddenly appearing Dutch , you sailed on and landed a few nautical miles further northwest. A suitable location for the future fort was found near the village of Poquesoe (today Princes Town ). The Brandenburg flag was also raised at this location on January 1, 1683 with a military ceremony. Immediately after the flag was raised, the construction of Fort Groß Friedrichsburg began. On January 5, 1683, the contract with the Ahanta was renewed.

During the construction work, the fever among the Brandenburgers was rampant, and at times only five of 40 men were still operational. Groeben also fell ill. The two fortress construction engineers died, and everyone else was too weak or busy with nursing, so that construction work soon came to a standstill. After Groeben had recovered a little, he sailed with the Moriaen and the sick over to the Portuguese island of São Tomé , where they quickly recovered. On the return journey he explored the Crab Bay (Camerones), some Cameroon areas and the coasts of the kingdoms of Benin and Ardra (Allada) in detail . After a short stay in Groß Friedrichsburg , he handed over the command of the fortress Groß Friedrichsburg and the management of the further construction to Philipp Pietersen Blonck and returned home with the Moriaen via England and Scotland in July or August 1683. The second ship, the Churprinz von Brandenburg , sailed to the West Indies with African slaves intended for sale .

When Groeben arrived in Brandenburg-Prussia after a total of 18 months , the Great Elector honored him as the founder of the first Brandenburg colony and rewarded him with the prospect of being a successor in the administration of Marienwerder and Riesenburg, which his father had held since 1662.

In 1686 Groeben, who had become Polish major general in 1684 , entered the service of the Republic of Venice to take part in the reconquest of Morea under Francesco Morosini in the Great Turkish War. On his return the following year he received the Order De la Générosité . In the same year he married Anna Barbara von Schlieben, probably also because marriage appeared to him to be an “effective remedy for his chronic travel bug”. On May 10, 1688, Elector Friedrich III took over . von Brandenburg Groeben in his service as major general and appointed him chamberlain . Since then, Groeben no longer appears militarily. He devoted himself to the management of his estates and writing. In 1694, in Marienwerder, in the printing works of Simon Reiniger, who came from Elbing , his oriental travel description of the Brandenburg noble pilgrim Otto Friedrich von der Gröben appeared, together with the Brandenburg shipping to Guinea, and the work at Morea , in which he spoke about his travels reported. The lavishly furnished book contained the first known work by the painter Georg Lisiewskis . In 1697 Groeben succeeded his father as governor of Marienwerder and Riesenburg. In 1700 he published the allegorical epic "Des noble Bergone and his virtuous areteen memorable life and love story". In the year of his death he had been Royal Prussian Chamberlain from 1704 and Royal Polish Lieutenant General from 1719 .

Epitaph and tomb

Otto Friedrich von der Groeben died on January 30, 1728 on his estate near Marienwerder. He was buried in the chapel built for him in 1705 on the north side of the cathedral (Marienwerder) . His baroque tomb is located there .

family

Otto Friedrich von der Groeben was married three times. After the death of his first wife Anna Barbara von Schlieben († 1703) he married Countess Helena Marie, daughter of Joachim Heinrich Truchsess von Waldburg , († July 8, 1710) and then in 1711 Luise Juliane von Kanitz († 1730) ) Widow of Major Franz Sigismund von Plotho . He and his wives had 18 children.

From the marriage with Barbara von Schlieben survived:

  • Abraham Bogislaw, (* May 23, 1689; † March 15, 1733,) heir to Neudörfchen, Wöterheim and Boritten, Polish Major ⚭ Maria Eleonore von der Groeben adH Schrengen
  • Anna Barbara (* January 21, 1691; † February 14, 1705) ⚭ 1706 with Bogislaw Albrecht von Oelsen
  • Jakob Friedrich (December 27, 1693; † July 13, 1747) ⚭ 1716 Eleonore Luise von der Groeben adH Beeslack (December 1699; † April 4, 1759)
  • Marie Eleonore (born July 25, 1695) ⚭ Moritz Dietrich von Weyher
  • Katharina Charlotte (born December 16, 1696) ⚭ Johann Ernst von Canitz
  • Katharina Barbara ⚭ Albrecht Ludwig von Hohendorf

From the marriage with Helene Marie von Waldburg survived:

  • Joachim Heinrich (* July 9, 1705; † July 25, 1768) ⚭ 1738 Luise Henriette von Hünicke (* February 28, 1718 - January 25, 1772) (parents of Karl Ernst August von der Groeben )
  • Otto Eugen Friedrich (born November 13, 1706; † 1722)
  • Karl Ernst (born December 29, 1707) initially a Prussian lieutenant and in 1735 Knight of St. John, then an imperial captain, died as a French major
  • Johann Georg (January 16, 1709; † February 10, 1777), Prussian district administrator ⚭ 1730 Gertrud Gottliebe von Troschke (* December 30, 1706: † September 3, 1776)

From the marriage with Luise Juliane von Kanitz survived:

  • Otto Friedrich (* May 8, 1712; † 1753) heir to Reyten and Keilhof, Prussian lieutenant colonel ⚭ Louise Beate von Prömock, widow of Ernst Heinrich von Weyssel on Reyten
  • Christoph Ludwig (born July 4, 1713) went to Livorno in 1744 and from there to Corsica and died unmarried as an imperial colonel
  • Marie Katharina Luise (* August 10, 1714 - November 1755) ⚭ Joachim Erdmann von der Groeben adH Schrengen (* September 23, 1702)

Honors

In Berlin-Kreuzberg , the Gröbenufer was named after Otto Friedrich von der Groeben from 1895 to 2009 . The street name was erased on the grounds that Groeben was a slave trader.

The Navy named its clearance boat companion Von der Groeben after him.

Fonts

  • Oriental travel description, the Brandenburg pilgrim Otto Friedrich von der Gröben: In addition to d. Brandenburg shipping to Guinea and performing to Morea, under her title . Reiniger, Marienwerder 1694.
  • The memorable life and love story of noble Bergone and his virtuous Areteen. For the benefit and pleasure of noble minds ... which derived the customs and traditions of many peoples and a detailed description of Italy, the saints and others. other countries can see. Simon Reiniger, Danzig 1700.
  • First name Scheepsogt Van Jonkheer Otho Fridrich van der Greuben, Brandenburg's Edelman, Na Guinea, Met 2 Keur-Vorstelijke Frigatten, Gedaan in het Jaar 1682 ...: Negotiators ... de occasional theeden van verscheyde Zee-Kusten in Africa ... the Greyn -kust, Tand- of Quaqua-kust, Goud-kust ..., en des Reysiger's Togt van daar na Terra Nova in America: Als mede den Aart, Zeeden, Gewoontens, ...; Door den Reysiger selfs opgeteeknet en nu ... uyt het Hoogduyts vertald; Met ... Register en Konst-Printen ... contained in: Johan Lodewyk Gottfried, D e Aanmerkens-waardige Voyagien Door Francoisen, Italiaanen, Deenen, Hoogduytsen en other Vreemde Volkeren gedaan Na Oost- en West-India ... Het 2 .Stuk . Suffering 1706.

literature

  • Ulrich van der Heyden : The first German-language description of the Großfriedrichsburg fortress by Otto Friedrich von der Groeben and the reception of his travelogue to the present day. In: Leipziger Jahrbuch zur Buchgeschichte, Vol. 24, Wiesbaden 2016, pp. 11–38.
  • Ulrich van der Heyden: On the history of the edition and the significance of Otto Friedrich von der Groeben's travelogue. In: Otto Friedrich von der Groeben: Oriental travel description of the Brandenburg noble pilgrim Otto von der Gröben: In addition to the Brandenburg shipping to Guinea, and the service to Morea, Marienwerder 1694. Olms, Hildesheim, Zurich, New York 2013.
  • Ulrich van der Heyden: New finds to supplement the edition history of Otto Friedrich von der Gröben's "Oriental Travel Description". In: Leipziger Jahrbuch zur Buchgeschichte, Vol. 25., Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 269–272.
  • Ulrich van der Heyden, Joachim Kundler: Otto Friedrich von der Groeben - adventurous traveler, writer and controversial namesake of the Groebenufer on the Spree. In: Berlin in the past and present. Yearbook of the Berlin State Archives . Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3786126027 , pp. 7-32.
  • Ulrich van der Heyden: Red eagles on Africa's coast. The Brandenburg-Prussian colony Großfriedrichsburg in West Africa . Selignow, Berlin, 2001, ISBN 3-933889-04-9 .
  • Hans Huth: Otto Friedrich von der Groeben's adventure in Africa. On the first German colonial foundation under the Great Elector . In: Walter Hoffmann-Axthelm , Walther G. Oschilewski (Ed.): The Bear of Berlin. Yearbook of the Association for the History of Berlin. Twenty-fifth episode, 1976 . Westkreuz, Berlin 1976.
  • Kurt Forstreuter:  Groeben, Otto Friedrich von der. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , p. 106 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 1, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632764 , p. 41 f., No. 65.
  • Friedrich Ratzel :  Groeben, Otto Friedrich from the . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 706 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New edition edited by M. Ullmann, Texts on Brandenburg-Prussian Colonial History: Otto Friedrich von der Gröben, Guinean Travel Description , Book 3, 1992.
  2. ↑ http://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/150418.groeblicher-rufmord-an-von-der-groeben.html
personal data
SURNAME Groeben, Otto Friedrich from the
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brandenburg-Prussian military and explorer in the service of the Great Elector
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1657
PLACE OF BIRTH Napratten, Warmia
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1728
Place of death Marienwerder