Otto Johann Witte

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Otto Johann Witte ; since 1674 Otto Johann von Witte (* 1615 in Harburg ; † October 11, 1677 ) was a German politician.

Life

Otto Johann Witte is presumably the son of the lawyer Michael Witte († June 27, 1619), who served the Harburg Guelph Dukes as Chancellor from 1613 .

After he was matriculated at the University of Rostock in 1634 , he studied law and continued this course at the University of Jena after he was matriculated there in 1638. In Jena he probably heard lectures from the constitutional lawyer Johannes Limnäus , who founded the status mixtus doctrine, which the imperial constitution described as a mixture of monarchical and aristocratic elements and which later influenced Witte's political thought. No information is available about his time in the Thirty Years War and where he obtained his doctorate in law.

He was named Dr. jur. accepted into the civil service in the house of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , in which his father-in-law Johann von Drebber († 1647) was already active as Chancellor of the last Duke of Harburg.

In 1651 he was secret chamber secretary and shortly afterwards court advisor to Duke Christian Ludwig of Braunschweig-Lüneburg ; from 1657 to 1665 he ran the Duke's affairs in Frankfurt am Main in order to take part in the negotiations that he led for the House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and signed on August 14 and 15, 1658, so that the House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg joined the Rhine Confederation in 1658 joined. Since that time he was represented as a representative of the Principality of Lüneburg in the Rheinbundrat and moved with this to Regensburg in 1662 ; there he represented his master at the opening of the Reichstag in January 1663 .

In connection with the Princely Association, to which the three Guelph dukes merged in 1662 with the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Darmstadt as well as the Dukes of Württemberg and Palatinate-Neuburg , Witte wrote an expert opinion in which he advocated a strong and active Princes' alliance pronounces in order to be able to wrest concessions from the electors .

When, after the death of Duke Christian Ludwig in March 1665, there was a coup d'etat in which his younger brother Johann Friedrich von Braunschweig-Calenberg preceded the older brother Georg Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Lüneburg in taking possession of the Principality of Lüneburg in Celle , Witte supported the younger brother and claimed for this seat and vote in the Imperial Council . When Johann Friedrich ascended the throne of the Principality of Calenberg in Hanover after he had to give up the Principality of Lüneburg in the Treaty of Hildesheim , he took Witte over from the civil service and in 1665 appointed him from Regensburg to Hanover as a Privy Councilor and court judge .

In 1669, after the death of Chancellor Heinrich Langenbeck , Witte was appointed Vice Chancellor and in 1670 entrusted with the management of the entire judicial system; Johann Friedrich still entrusted him with various political missions.

His autobiographical records are an important source for the Guelph and general history of the 17th century because of their precision and the way they are presented.

When he died, Ludolf Hugo succeeded him as Vice Chancellor.

Otto Johann Witte was married to the daughter of the Chancellor Johann von Drebber. The names of his children are known:

Awards and honors

Otto Johann Witte was raised to the nobility by Emperor Leopold in 1674 .

Fonts (selection)

  • Gottfried Fibig ; Heinrich Bessel ; Georg Frantzke ; Otto Johann Witte: Collegii Legalis Publici Disputatio Secunda: Qua in alma LL. nutrice Salana Non modo Dn. Georgii Frantzki [i] Totam Exercitationem Secundam hic brevißime saltem una cum Vindiciis enucleatam, Sed & Semidecadem aliarum quaestionum illustrium ad Pandectas pertinentium Praesidente Dn. Godofredo Fibigio In Auditorio ICtorum ad January . Jena.
  • Johann Michael Dilherr; Otto Johann Witte: Hexas Exercitationum Historicarum . Jena 1639.
  • Christoph Joachim Bucholtz ; Otto Johann Witte; Peter Lucius : Decas quaestionum juris, quam praeside dn. Christophoro Joachimo Bucholtz the 21st Martij proponet Otto Joannes Witte . Rintelii: Typis exscripsit Petrus Lucius, typ. Acad., 1649.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Urban Friedrich Christoph Manecke: Biographical sketches of the chancellors of the dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg who were legal scholars: in particular the biography of the chancellor Klammer . S. 16. Herold et al. Wahlstab, 1823 ( google.de [accessed November 8, 2019]).
  2. Otto Iohan Witte (1634 Ost.) @ Rostocker matriculation portal. Retrieved November 8, 2019 .
  3. 1658 VIII 5_15 First Rhine Confederation, expansion to include France - IEG - Institute for European History Mainz - Institute of European History Print. Retrieved November 8, 2019 .
  4. List of those electors like the same found on the Reichstag written out by Leopoldo to Regenspurg in 1662 and accustomed to it in 1695 . 1695 ( google.de [accessed November 8, 2019]).
  5. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Boldewin Ferdinand von dem Knesebeck: Historical paperback of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hanover . S. 303. Hahn, 1840 ( google.de [accessed November 8, 2019]).