Otto Graf von Looz-Corswarem

Otto Graf von Looz-Corswarem (born October 31, 1906 in Höxter , † June 3, 1985 in Koblenz ) was a German historian and archivist. From 1959 to 1971 he was head of the State Archives (now the State Main Archives) in Koblenz.

Live and act

Otto von Looz-Corswarem was the son of the Rittmeister and bailiff Alfons Graf von Looz-Corswarem and his second wife Maria, nee. Snappers. After graduating from high school in Höxter, he studied history, German and English in Münster and Göttingen , where he completed his studies in July 1930 with a doctorate and in December 1930 with the state examination for teaching at high schools. The dissertation dealt with the Spanish humanist, historian and tutor Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (1490–1573).

From 1931 to 1934 he was a scholarship holder of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Spanish archives to record Charles V's diplomatic correspondence . The results are partially published in the "Reports and Studies on the History of Charles V / News from the Society of Sciences in Göttingen " published by his doctoral supervisor Karl Brandi . Because of the foreign exchange management and the beginning of the Spanish civil war , the work had to be stopped. Von Looz-Corswarem then entered the 4th course of the Institute for Archival Studies and Historical Studies in Berlin-Dahlem, which he completed in December 1935 with the archival state examination.

In January 1936 he took up a position at the Prussian State Archives in Koblenz , where he was appointed archivist in September 1939. From 1940 to 1945 he did military service. After his release from Russian captivity, he resumed work at the Koblenz State Archives in 1946, which he headed from 1959 until his retirement in 1971, most recently as chief state archive director. The management of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Archives Administration was also connected with this function.

Von Looz-Corswarem published numerous works on the history of the Rhenish state and church. The advanced editing of the Germania Sacra volume: Stift Münstermaifeld was completed by his son, Clemens von Looz-Corswarem .

He was active in various regional historical organizations, including a. in the Association for the History and Art of the Middle Rhine and in the Association for Church History in the Middle Rhine, of which he was President from 1965 to 1973. After his retirement he was in charge of the Princely Wiedische Archiv in Neuwied until his death in 1985 .

Von Looz-Corswarem was married to the archivist colleague Katharina von Looz-Corswarem, née Weber, since 1941. During the war, and especially in the years 1944 to 1946, she was responsible for the archival documents and art objects at the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress . The marriage had two children.

Fonts (selection)

• Juan Ginés de Sepulveda, dissertation, Göttingen 1931.
• The Roman correspondence of Charles V in Madrid and Simancas (reports and studies on the history of Charles V, XIII), in: Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen (Phil.-hist. Class, Section II, Middle and Modern History NF, Vol. 1, No. 4), Göttingen 1935, pp. 109-190.
• The correspondence of Charles V with Philip and with the reign in Spain (1539–1556) in the archive for Simancas (reports and studies on the history of Charles V, XV), in: Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen (Phil.-hist Class, Section II, Middle and Modern History NF, Vol. 1, No. 7), Göttingen 1936, pp. 227–268.
• with Hellmuth Scheidt (arrangement): Repertory of the files of the former Reich Chamber Court in the Koblenz State Archives (published by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Archives Administration 1), Koblenz 1957
• (Ed.), Emperor and Empire under Emperor Karl V. Documents and files in the State Archives Koblenz (published by the State Archives Administration Rhineland-Palatinate 2), Koblenz 1964.
• On the history of the administration of the Koblenz Moselle Bridge, in: Yearbook for History and Culture of the Middle Rhine and its Neighboring Areas 1, 1949 (1950), pp. 15-20.
• The recent relationships between the parish of Dreis and Echternach Abbey. A contribution to the history of the Rhenish rural communities, in: RhVJbll 19, 1954 (FS for C. Wampach), pp. 90-103.
• From Dierdorf's past, in: Festschrift for the 600th anniversary of the granting of city rights to Dierdorf, 1957, pp. 10–46.
• The oldest view of Trier's main market, in: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch 4, 1964, pp. 14-20.
• The new castle in Bassenheim, in: Jahrb. F. History and Art of the Middle Rhine 15/16, 1963/64 (1964), pp. 73–80.
• The shipping on the Moselle in old times, in: Contributions to the Rhine customer, Issue 19, 1967, pp. 3–10.
• A confirmation journey of the Trier auxiliary bishop Otto von Senheim (1633–1662), in: Festschrift für Alois Thomas, Trier 1967, pp. 259–266.
• The “Disciplina Choralis” of the St. Martin and Severus Monastery in Münstermaifeld, in: Archiv f. Middle Rhine Church History, Vol. 21, 1969, pp. 163–177.
• A draft for a Kurtrierische Landesvereinigung from 1547 and its templates, in: RhVjbll 38, 1974, pp. 225-257.
• Edit together with Udo Liessem, Koblenz. Castle and New Town. Guide and catalog of an exhibition of the construction plans in Sept./Oct. 1975, Koblenz 1975, 60 pp.
• Koblenz around 1800 (Mittelrheinische Hefte 6), Koblenz 1981.
• Completed by his son after his preparatory work: The collegiate monastery St. Martin and St. Severus zu Münstermaifeld (Germania sacra. Third part 10: The dioceses of the Church Province of Trier. The Archdiocese of Trier 12.) On behalf of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. by Clemens Graf von Looz-Corswarem. After preliminary work by Otto Graf von Looz-Corswarem, Berlin / Boston 2015.

literature

• Johannes Simmert, in: Our Archives. Messages from the Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland archives No. 23, May 1986.
• Alois Thomas, in: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History, 38th year 1986, pp. 335–337.
• Franz Josef Heyen, in: Der Archivar Vol. 39, 1986, No. 2, Sp. 252-254.
• Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 14, 1983, Col. 2554.

Individual evidence

• Dissertation: Juan Ginés de Sepulveda, Diss., Göttingen 1931.
• Obituary: Johannes Simmert, in: Our Archives. Messages from the Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland archives No. 23, May 1986.
• Obituary: Franz Josef Heyen, in: Der Archivar vol. 39, 1986, no. 2, col. 252-254.
• Homepage archive https://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/landesarchivverwaltung/landeshauptarchiv-koblenz/geschichte
• http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_de/autoren.php?name=Looz-Corswarem%2C+Otto+Graf+von .
• Mechtild Black-Veltrup, The Germania Sacra and the archive system, in: Hedwig Röckelein (ed.), 100 years Germania Sacra. Church history writing from the 16th to the 21st century (Studies on Germania Sacra, New Volume 8), Berlin / Boston 2018, s. 197-231, p. 228.
• Obituary: Alois Thomas, in: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History, 38th year 1986, pp. 335–337.
• Franz Josef Heyen, in: Der Archivar Vol. 39, 1986, No. 2, Sp. 252-254.
• See Petra Weiß, Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in the 1940s, in: New research on Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, Vol. 2, Regensburg 2006, pp. 149–225.
• Obituary for Dr. Katharina von Looz-Corswarem: Edith Ennen in: Der Archivar 39., May 1986, issue 2., column 250f.