Peltzer (family)

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Origin coat of arms of the Peltzer

Peltzer (Pelzer, Pelser) is the name of a family from the Aachen area , from whose ranks numerous lay judges , councilors and mayors were elected and whose Stolberg branch was one of the most important copper master families in the region.

Origins

The progenitor of the extensive family described here is the wool merchant and cloth maker Jakob Kremer (Var .: Cremer, Cremerius) (* 1435) from Aachen. He married Margarethe (Greitgen) Peltzer, whereupon his sons initially chose the name Kremer, known as Peltzer , as their family name . Only from the next generation did the name Peltzer finally establish itself, but depending on the family branch and region, it was written both Pelzer and Pelser .

Among the children of Jacob, three sons are of particular importance: Jakob, the younger Kremer, called Peltzer (* 1461), cloth maker and ancestor of the line from Pelser-Berensberg , who was ennobled from 1766 , Matthias Cremer (ius) , called Peltzer (1465–1557) , Theologian and rector of the University of Cologne as well as Hermann Kremer, called Peltzer (1466–1537), wool merchant and Greve (chairman) of the Wollenambacht ( guild of wool merchants) of the Free Imperial City of Aachen.

After the Lutherans had gradually gained acceptance in Aachen from the middle of the 16th century , many families joined this new religion, including the Peltzer family. Due to the disadvantages and stalking associated with this, however, several family members saw themselves forced during the time of the Aachen religious unrest to build their future in other regions at an early stage under the aspect of freedom of religion and freedom of work, especially after the imperial ban against reformed citizens and office holders in the 1598. Among the group of people willing to emigrate, Mathis (1555–1602), a son of the Aachen councilor and mayor Matthias Peltzer (1508–1591) and grandson of Greven Hermann, is of particular importance the neighboring Stolberg moved and thus founded the influential and widely ramified Stolberg Peltzer dynasty there. Two of his cousins, on the other hand, were drawn into the distance: Jordan (1503–1607) settled as a copper master in Frankenthal (Palatinate) and Martin (1542–1615) as a wool merchant in Kassel .

Aachen lines

In the course of the next three generations, the first family of cloth merchants, Jakob Kremer, which was initially based in Aachen, developed into two separate Aachen main lines, each of which, however, held influential positions above all on the local political level.

On the one hand, the descendants of Jakob Kremer's first son, Jakob the Younger Kremer, called Pelzer (* 1461), relocated their headquarters to the neighboring Spanish Netherlands , where they are located in the towns of Eys, Vijlen , Wylre and Valkenburg aan de Geul and Lemiers acquired goods, but continued to actively participate in local political events in Aachen. Since that time, this branch of the family has mostly been spelled “Pelser” and developed into the first Aachen line. After the founding of the United Netherlands in 1581, an Isaak Pelser (1610–1676) was appointed Reichspostminister for the provinces of Holland and Zeeland , as was his son Johann Pelser (1634–1688), who was also bailiff years later von Vijlen and Schultheiss von Wylre. A son of this Johann, Issak Lambert Pelser (1664-1731), was a lawyer and lay judge in Aachen and was raised in 1702 to the Spanish nobility of a hidalgo . His son Johann Friedrich (1702–1771) acquired in addition to his Dutch headquarters at Genhoes Castle in Valkenburg aan de Geul the house, court and inheritance of Gut Beulardstein in Laurensberg and Berensberg Castle along with the Berensberg near Aachen. Since then, the family has had the double name Pelser-Berensberg. Johann Friedrich von Pelser-Berensberg was also a lay judge in Aachen and appellate judge and was raised to the hereditary nobility of letters by Emperor Joseph II in 1766 for his services . His son Leonhard Friedrich von Pelser-Berensberg (1740-1832), the last Aachen aldermen of this branch of the family, was granted the Dutch nobility by patent from August 10, 1822, and on September 16, 1829 he was enrolled in the Dutch aristocratic class.

His son Friedrich Frans Josef Maria Anton (1778–1861) later became mayor and honorary mayor of Vaals . His wife brought Lemiers Castle into the marriage, which could be passed on for two generations. After his death, Otto von Pelser-Berensberg , grandson of the mayor, left his wife's castle, which was confiscated by the Dutch state in 1945 as enemy property. His son Horst Friedrich Wilhelm Hans was able to buy back the castle, which was badly damaged in the war, in 1953, but sold it four years later because of the high restoration costs.

This branch, which still exists today, later spread to Cologne and Düsseldorf .

  • Former possessions

  • Genhoes Castle, Alt-Valkenburg

  • Lemiers Castle

  • Berensberg Castle

  • Gut Beulardstein

The second Aachen line was founded on the two sons of the mayor of Aachen, Matthias Peltzer, who had emigrated to Stolberg, Heinrich (1556–1591) and Peter (1559–1632), who did not make their father's move and stayed in their hometown, whereas the firstborn son Mathis (I.) (1555–1602) continued the Stolberg line. Peter Peltzer, merchant and councilor in Aachen, had only one son named Abraham (1603–1667), who, as a merchant and banker, also ran several calamine mines in Aachen, but whose branch has died out with him in the male line. On the other hand, Heinrich's line, which now mainly spelled "Pelzer" and which had partly returned to Catholicism and settled in the Aachen suburb of Burtscheid , continued to develop for a few generations. This line included some Burtscheider aldermen but also the two Aachen mayors Arnold Edmund Pelzer (1801–1874) and Ludwig Pelzer (1835–1915), who were also members of the Prussian House of Representatives for their respective parties . With Ludwig Peltzer, however, this branch also died out.

Stolberger Line (copper master family)

Johann Peltzer (1641–1716), builder of the Kupferhof Steinfeld

The Stolberger Linie is probably the most economically successful part of the Peltzer family, which benefited particularly from the marital connections with the Schleicher , Hoesch , Prym , Lynen, von Asten and others families, who were also highly respected and successful in the Stolberg area . This constellation made Stolberg one of the most important centers of the copper industry in Europe for a period of more than 200 years.

The history and influence of the Stolberger Line began with Mathis Peltzer (I. of the Stolberger Line), first-born son of the Aachen Mayor Matthias Peltzer, who leased the Ravensmühle and the Ellermühle in 1587 . In 1592 he bought property in the valley of the Inde from the abbot of the imperial abbey Kornelimünster , where he built the hammer mill in the same year . He also founded the Ichenberger copper mill in neighboring Eschweiler . His son Mattheis (II.) (1581–1657) initially took over together with his brother Heinrich (1593–1645), the Ellermühle and in 1625 put on the Neumühle , a brass smelter, which was later called Jordanmühle and lasted for five generations until 1799 Family property remained. Said Heinrich also built the Roderburgmühle and had a new manor house built on the associated site. The eldest son of Mattheis (II.) Was in turn Mattheis (III.) (1610–1679) and inherited the Ellermühle , the Jordanmühle and later the Hammermühle . Another Mattheis Peltzer (IV.) (1635–1697), son of Mattheis (III.), Around 1660 rebuilt the copper mill near Langerwehe an der Wehe , then called Schönthal , which was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War . He later acquired shares in the Steinfeld copper yard built by his brother Johannes (1641–1716) as well as other land adjacent to it, which his son Hermann (* 1672) expanded and used as a double yard .

Kupferhof Steinfeld

This Johannes, co-owner of the Jordan mill, built the Steinfeld copper yard in 1679 above the Vichtbach , which he named because of the stony ground. The farm remained in family ownership for four generations until Johann Peltzer (1759–1836) co-founded the St. Johannis-Hütte glassworks at Hammerfeld in 1790 . But just two years later he had to transfer his glassworks to Gebr. Siegwert & Co and he then concentrated again exclusively on brass production. As a result of the gradual decline of the brass industry, he let the company run out and appointed his daughter Maria Luisa (1810-1852) as liquidator on November 22, 1833. Finally, the Catholic community of the city of Stolberg bought the Steinfeld facility, which had the Stolberg Bethlehem Hospital built there in 1863 . In 1816 Johann Peltzer published a memorandum under the pseudonym of a hermit with the title: Memories of Stolberg and the neighboring area , which contains, among other things, a detailed list of copper yards, hammer mills and Galmeimühlen of that time.

In 1683 the latter Mattheis (IV.) Was given a plot of land on Styrenbend for a long lease , where he first built a small copper mill. His son Mattheis (V.) (* 1662) decided in 1699 to build a copper yard on that Styrenbend in the green valley . This then called Kupferhof Grünenthal was completed in 1703 and remained in the possession of the Peltzer family until 1772.

Peltzer works

A grandson of the last mentioned Johann Adolf Peltzer, Johann Adolf Felix (1821-1891), founded the company Walchenbach & Peltzer in 1861 together with Henry Walchenbach . In the 1880s, they moved the company headquarters from Steinweg to the current location in Prattelsackstraße in Stolberg. Moritz Kraus also joined the company as a partner. Kraus, Walchenbach & Peltzer have been known for decades as manufacturers of zinc ornaments . In 1909, when the brothers Julius (* 1862), Karl (* 1863) and Ernst Peltzer, sons of Johann Adolf Felix, took over all of the shares from Henry Walchenbach and Moritz Kraus, the company came completely into the possession of the Peltzer family. An impending bankruptcy was averted in the early 1990s and after considerable investment and organizational changes. Today the medium-sized company with almost 100 employees and an annual turnover of 10 million, mainly on the German market, offers molded parts, housings and cabinets in sheet steel as well as non-ferrous metals and other products.

In addition, other family members were involved in various other start-ups or takeovers of copper yards. For example, Abraham Friedrich Peltzer (* 1697), son of Mattheis (V.), was the founder of the Sonnental copper farm . The Blankenberg copper yard was built by another Johann Peltzer (1645 – after 1704), whom he then bequeathed to his son Simon (* 1685). His brother Theodor Diederich (1684–1738) acquired the Kupferhof Weide , which his son Heinrich (* 1710) took over after him, as well as the Stöck farm . In addition, Theodor Diederich was also mayor of the city of Stolberg. Another Theodor Peltzer, born in 1644 on the Roderburgmühle , acquired the copper yard Unterster Hof , but it was unprofitable in the long run and had to be leased again by his son Johannes. In addition, he was the owner of the Gedau copper farm in the Tatternsteine ​​nature reserve with valley floodplain , which remained in the family until at least 1757.

Stolberger Linie (family of cloth manufacturers - the majority emigrated)

  • Peltzer cloth factory in Verviers before 1890

  • Former Cloth factory, Verviers (2005)

Château Peltzer in Verviers

After the operation of copper yards had become unprofitable during the period of industrialization and the associated mass production by steam engines , some branches of the family adapted to the situation and, as was the case in the early days of the family in Aachen, again became cloth manufacturers. To do this, they moved to the most important trading centers, where they set up their plants. In this context, Johann Heinrich Peltzer (1763–1809) moved to Verviers , Belgium, in 1785 , where he started a cloth dyeing factory in the Hodimont district in 1790 and, a few years later, the multi-generation cloth factory Peltzer & Fils with branches in Buenos Aires , Brussels , and Eupen Czestochowa founded. In 1961 this company merged with SA Iwan Simonis in Verviers.

Johann Heinrich's descendants achieved a high reputation in the province of Liège and were represented there several times in the city and state parliaments. The great-grandson of Johann Heinrich, senator and industrial engineer Henri Édouard Alexandre Peltzer (1859–1934), bequeathed his family property to the province of Liège after his death with the condition that the building be converted into a new learning workshop for young girls. This school still exists after the demolition of the old castle and the new building in 1963 as Institut provincial d'enseignement secondaire de Verviers to this day. In addition, a street in Verviers was later named after him and his wife Anna Clermont. The family owned another magnificent castle in Verviers, which today serves as a luxury hotel under the name of Château Peltzer .

A cousin of this branch of Verviers emigrated from the son of the mayor of Stolberg Hermmann Matthias Peltzer (1698–1755) via Elberfeld to Antwerp, where their descendants were active in the wholesale trade. Of these, the three brothers Armand (1843–1885), Léon (1847–1922) and James Peltzer (* 1850) caused a sensation when they were involved in a murder case in the context of the “ Peltzer judicial case ” in which Léon was responsible Mord and Armand had been sentenced to death on charges of aiding and abetting, which was reduced to life imprisonment; James Peltzer was acquitted. This affair was recorded and filmed several times.

The merchant Johann Gerhard Peltzer (1773–1826), a great-nephew of the Stolberg mayor Theodor Diederich, moved back to Aachen, where he settled down as a cloth merchant. His grandson Otto Victor (1836-1894) founded the Peltzer & Pastor cloth factory in Aachen-Steinebrück in 1868 together with Karl Pastor , which existed as Otto Peltzer & Co until the 20th century after Pastor left .

Other members of the Stolberg line emigrated to Russia for economic reasons. So also a grandson of the last owner of the Jordan Mill and son of businessman and Weisweiler mayor Johann Wilhelm Peltzer (1770-1849), Napoleon Peltzer (1802-1899), located in St. Petersburg , Moscow and Narva settled as a textile manufacturer and the Tsar high was decorated. His son Eduard (1837–1909) became the director of his father's cloth factory in Narva and was raised to hereditary nobility by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in 1897 for his services . Napoléon Peltzer is considered to be the progenitor of a successful and respected Russian line of the Peltzer family, some of whose descendants later returned to Germany.

coat of arms

The coat of arms shows three green sea leaves in silver. On the helmet with green-silver covers a green sea leaf between the open silver flight on the right and green flight on the left.

Well-known personalities (selection)

Literature (selection)

  • Johann Adolf Peltzer: Memories of the Stolberg and the neighboring area, especially in regard to its brass factories. Written in 1816 by a hermit. Beaufort, Aachen 1816.
  • HF Macco : History and genealogy of the Peltzer families (= contributions to the genealogy of Rhenish aristocratic and patrician families. Volume 3). Georgi, Aachen, 1901 ( keneman.com ).
  • Maria Wilhelm August Otto von Pelser-Berensberg: To the history of the family of Pelser-Berensberg. 2 volumes. Driessen, Aachen 1908.
  • Rudolph Arthur Peltzer: History of the brass industry and the artistic work in brass (Dinanderies) in Aachen and the countries between the Meuse and the Rhine from Roman times to the present. In: Journal of the Aachen History Association. Volume 30, 1908, ISSN  0065-0137 , pp. 235-463.
  • Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The lay judges of the Royal See of Aachen from the earliest times until the final repeal of the imperial city constitution in 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 50 , 1928, pp. 1-596 ( rootsweb ).
  • Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The Aachen mayors from 1251 to 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 55, 1933/34 , pp. 41-77 ( aachener-geschichtsverein.de [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).
  • Genealogical manual of the noble houses (= Genealogical manual of the nobility. Volume 17). Series B, Volume 3. Strong, Limburg 1958.
  • Hans-Joachim Ramm:  Peltzer, family. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , pp. 168-170 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Peltzer Family  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Lindau: The murder of the lawyer Bernays , on eblox.bplaced.net