Otto von Schwerin (diplomat, 1616)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Otto Freiherr von Schwerin, excerpt from the painting Allegory of the founding of Oranienburg.
Otto Freiherr von Schwerin

Otto Freiherr von Schwerin (* March 8th July / March 18, 1616 greg. In Western Pomerania ; † November 4 July / November 14, 1679 greg. In Cölln an der Spree ) was Hofmann, diplomat and from 1658 First Minister of the Electorate of Brandenburg .

Life

Otto von Schwerin came from the Pomeranian aristocratic Schwerin family and was born as the second son of the Pomeranian district administrator and governor of Ueckermünde Otto von Schwerin. He first attended education in Stettin and then studied at the University of Greifswald . In 1637 his father sent him together with his brother Bogislaus von Schwerin to Königsberg in Prussia . There he was accepted into court service by the Brandenburg Electress Elisabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz and appointed chamberlain by Elector Georg Wilhelm von Brandenburg in 1638 .

After returning from a study trip to the Netherlands, England and France, he was taken over in 1640 in the service of the young Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , who sent him on a diplomatic mission to the Swedish governor in Stettin in early 1641. On April 29, 1641 he was appointed to the council at the court and chamber court in Berlin and soon afterwards sent to Margrave Ernst von Brandenburg , who used him for various diplomatic missions.

On April 22nd, 1642, he married Elisabeth Sophie von Schlabrendorff in Königsberg and moved to Berlin with her a few weeks later. Friedrich Wilhelm appointed him a member of his secret council on October 13, 1645 and took him to Kleve , where he took part in the negotiations between the elector and the estates. A short time after the elector's wedding with Luise Henriette von Oranien , he was appointed court master of the new elector. He also took part in the Elector's negotiations with the Netherlands and on the Peace of Osnabrück . Even before the peace agreement, he was on March 24, 1648 by Emperor Ferdinand III. raised to the imperial baronage. In Kleve he played a major role in the conclusion of a contract with the estates that was passed on October 9, 1649.

In the following years he worked with Georg Friedrich von Waldeck , who had entered the service of Brandenburg , on a reform of the financial system. In 1652 he was appointed General Postal Director. During the Second Northern War he distanced himself from Waldeck's policy, which was oriented towards the Swedes, and instead advocated negotiations with Poland. These finally led to the attainment of Prussia's sovereignty in the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657 .

On September 9, 1658, the elector appointed him First Minister and Chief President of the Secret Council and all civil authorities. In the further course of the Second Northern War, Otto von Schwerin accompanied the Elector on his campaigns against the Swedes to Jutland and Western Pomerania. In 1660 he was elected provost of the Brandenburg cathedral chapter on the proposal of the elector. He held the prebend until his death. In 1661 and 1662 he negotiated with the estates in order to persuade them to make concessions to the elector. At the end of the summer of 1662 he was ordered back to Berlin at his own request. There, Friedrich Wilhelm appointed him tutor to the seven-year-old Prince Elector Karl Emil and, from 1665, also to Friedrich, who was two years younger than him . He kept a diary of upbringing and corresponded with the Electress when his parents were absent. In addition, the new regulation of the credit system in the Mark Brandenburg was assigned to him. In addition, he had the task of mediating between Lutherans and Reformed , and also led the less successful Berlin Religious Discussions 1662–63. Between 1663 and 1669 he was one of the most influential politicians at the Brandenburg court. He directed foreign affairs and was in contact with the ministers of foreign countries. During the Anglo-Dutch War in 1666 he was involved in the negotiations for the Peace of Kleve. The cautious policy of the elector during the war of devolution is said to go back to his influence .

In 1669 Otto Freiherr von Schwerin fell seriously ill, which meant that he was unable to conduct any official business for about six months. After his incomplete recovery he asked the elector to be released, but he did not approve. In 1671, in a report prepared jointly with other state councilors, he recommended the Brandenburg elector to accept the Jews expelled from Austria .

During his political career in the Brandenburg government, he was, among other things, Real Secret State Councilor (Minister of State), Ober-Hofmeister and ore treasurer of the Kurmark.

In 1648 he was accepted into the Fruitful Society under the name The Righteous .

Schwerin was a devout Protestant. He composed the well-known death song Jesus, my confidence ( EG 526). The evening song Die Sonn has turned with its shine (EG 476) probably also came from his pen.

He was buried in the Schwerin family crypt in the Marienkirche in Altlandsberg .

family

Otto von Schwerin was married three times. On April 22nd, 1642 he married Elisabeth Sophie von Schlabrendorff . His son Otto Graf von Schwerin also became a secret councilor and diplomat. The daughter Louisa Hedwig (1644–1700) married the Brandenburg diplomat Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal .

His second wife was Helene Dorothee von Kreytzen (* March 20, 1620; † August 26, 1677) widow of Baron Fabian Truchseß von Waldburg (* May 23, 1610; † April 17, 1644). The two had a daughter: Amalie Henriette (* December 3, 1658; † September 30, 1699), she married General Friedrich Wilhelm von Wittenhorst-Sonsfeld (1644–1711) on February 14, 1678 .

On March 26, 1679 he married for the third time: Dorothea von Flemming (* 1643; † February 16, 1717) widowed von Schlieben . She was the daughter of Ewald Joachim von Flemming auf Rippertow and widow of Colonel Bodo von Schlieben auf Papitz and Klützow. The marriage remained without children. The widow then married the Brandenburg General Field Marshal Alexander von Spaen .

Bust in the Siegesallee

Otto von Schwerin, copy of the Siegesallee bust ( Schlossplatz Oranienburg , 2010)

For the former Berliner Siegesallee , the sculptor Fritz Schaper designed a marble bust of Otto von Schwerin as a side figure of monument group 25 to the central statue for the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg , unveiled on March 30, 1901. The bust shows the privy councilor in middle age, fashionable beard and with a document that he unrolls with his right hand.

Three copies of the bust were made in 2009:

literature

Web links

Commons : Otto Freiherr von Schwerin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In the literature there are different details about the place of birth. See the discussion .
  2. ↑ Samuel Lentzen: Diplomatic Stifts-Historie von Brandenburg, in which the bishops who stood at this high collegiate church from the beginning bit to the end described from written customers and reliable scribes, and the cathedral provosts, deans and cathedral lords, so much of the same for this purpose, to be made known, explained with various, as yet unprinted, diplomatic buses. 116 p., Johann Andreas Bauer, Halle 1750, p. 102 ( online at Google Books ).
  3. ↑ Expert opinion of the Secret Councils regarding the Jews expelled from Austria. Kölln, May 14, 1671. In: Selma Stern: The Prussian State and the Jews . 1. Volume, Tübingen 1962, pp. 10-12 ( restricted preview ).
  4. ↑ Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the Siegesallee. Réclame Royale. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-496-01189-0 , p. 192.
  5. ↑ Page about the Vorwerk Bülowssiege
personal data
SURNAME Schwerin, Otto von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwerin, Otto Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian politician, Minister of Brandenburg-Prussia
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1616
PLACE OF BIRTH Western Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1679
Place of death Cölln