Otto III. (Rietberg)

Count Otto III. von Rietberg († December 18, 1535 ) was Count von Rietberg from 1516 to 1535 .

Otto III. was probably born between 1475 and 1485 as the eldest son of Johann I and Margarete zur Lippe. With his second wife, Onna von Esens, the Reformation came to the Rietberg family. In 1533 Otto III. preach the new teaching of two Lippstadt residents in the parish churches of Rietberg and Neuenkirchen .

Otto III. suffered from open legs and was buried after his death on December 18, 1535 as the last Count of Rietberg in the Marienfeld monastery. On his tombstone in the cloister there in front of the winter refectory it was written in Latin:

In the year of the Lord 1535, December 18th, died

Nobleman Otto, Graff and Herr von Rietberg.

May his soul rest in peace.

Next to it was the tombstone of his first wife:

In the year of the Lord 1523, the day before St. Anthony died

Anna von Sein, Countess in Rietberg.

May your soul rest in peace.

Marriage and offspring

Otto III. was his first marriage, which was concluded before 1515, with Countess Anna von Sayn († January 16, 1523). He had five children with her:

• Otto IV. († around 1552/3), married Katharina Countess Palatine on February 1, 1541, died childless
• Johanna († June 25, 1578), Abbess of Metelen and Dean of Herford
• Ursula, married on March 4, 1538 Philipp Herrn zu Winnenburg and Beilstein. 6,000 gold florins were paid as the marriage fee.
• Ermgart († September 17, 1579), abbess of Vreden and Metelen
• Konrad († before 1523)

After Anna's death Otto III married. On September 26, 1526 Onna (Anna) von Esens († after 1559). She was the daughter of Hero Omken , an East Frisian chief, and the sister of Junker Balthasar from the Attena family. As a result, Otto III. the entitlement to the Harlinger Land. 5 years after the death of Otto III. Onna inherited the Harlinger Land from her brother Balthasar.

From this marriage came:

• Johann II. († 1562), count from 1541 to 1562, last count from the Rietberg family

Otto III. had an illegitimate daughter with Jutte, who later married Johan von Willen, the Drosten of the County of Rietberg:

• Anna

Web links

• Document registers from the Rietberg City Archive / Digital Westphalian Document Database (DWUD)

literature

• Rudolf Böhmer, Paul Leidinger: Chronicles and documents on the history of the Cistercian Abbey Marienfeld (1185-1803). Self-print of the St. Marien parish, 1998, ISBN 3-921961-09-8 , p. 156.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann I.	Count of Rietberg 1516 - 1535	Otto IV.