Peter Matthiessen (lawyer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Matthiessen (born July 31, 1720 in Nieblum ; † July 8, 1812 there ) was a German lawyer and administrative officer.

Civil service career

As the grandson of Matthias Petersen, Peter Matthiessen was a son of Peter Matthiessen (* November 4, 1677 in Oldsum ; † October 14, 1752 in Nieblum) and his wife Hedwig, née Lorenzen (* 1687 in Bredstedt ; † 1726). His father worked from 1713 to 1746 as bailiff on Osterlandföhr and until 1742 also on Sylt and from 1713 to 1749 as bailiff on Föhr . His mother was the daughter of Marcus Lorenzen, who worked as royal commissioner in Tondern, bailiff in Schwabstedt and bailiff in Bordelum .

Since Matthiessen's mother died early, his oldest sister took over his upbringing. After home schooling by Peter Cramer, who worked as a deacon at St. Johannis auf Föhr and later as a pastor at Schleswig Cathedral , he studied at the Schleswig Cathedral School until Easter 1740 . In 1741 he enrolled to study law at the Reform University of Göttingen. In addition, he studied philosophy, literature, nature and astronomy. In 1744 he passed the exam and then worked for almost two years as a lawyer in Tondern. In 1746 he changed to Christian Albrecht von Massow as official secretary, who was the bailiff of Aabenraa and Lügumkloster . Since von Massow often took part in the management of official business, Massow gained practical experience in administration and justice.

Von Massow promoted Matthiessens career, which he actually did not want to lose as an employee. In 1753 Matthiessen changed to the Danish ambassador Erhard von Wedel-Friis in Stockholm as legation secretary . He went to Paris in 1754 and brought Matthiessen there in the summer of 1755. Matthiessen tried to ask the interesting work in one of the most important Danish embassies for a job in his home country. One reason for this may have been that his future wife lived in Aabenraa.

In 1759 Matthiessen was appointed governor of Osterlandföhr and Birkvogt of Westerlandföhr and Amrum . His late brother Marcus had previously held these positions. Since Wedel-Friis did not want to do without him during the Seven Years' War , he still had to stay in the French capital. In August 1763, Matthiessen went back to his homeland with his employer. His brother Matthias, who was bailiff on Sylt, took over his offices until he took office in 1764.

As governor, Matthiessen was subordinate to Ulrich Adolph Graf von Holstein , who in 1769 gave the order to link Osterlandföhr. Matthiessen initially rejected this plan, but pushed it through against the permanent contradictions of the farmers. As part of the administrative reforms of Johann Friedrich Struensee , Matthiessen's employer was appointed Chief President of Copenhagen in 1771 . Matthiessen, who in the meantime had become a chancellery, was appointed first mayor of the city in June 1771. His hard work and good knowledge of the Danish language were probably decisive for this. Matthiessen accepted the call only reluctantly, but had already lost his bailiwick in the meantime and therefore had no choice but to accept the office.

Matthiessen moved to the Danish capital without his family, who stayed on Föhr. Until the beheading of Struensee in May 1772 he was the first mayor. The king then released him and granted him a waiting salary of 700 Danish Reichstalers. Since his previous position as governor was occupied elsewhere, he moved his family's residence to Aabenraa. Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann appointed him in 1775 as co-director of the "Royal Altonaische Härings-Fangs Direction" along with Sigismund Wilhelm von Gähler and the accountant Johann Christoph Donner and appointed him to the judiciary.

Change to business

The Herring Trapping Directorate was one of the many state-owned commercial enterprises of the Schimmelmann era and mostly concentrated on herring and whale fishing. Since Matthiessen was more familiar with administration and justice, he did not achieve any notable successes in the commercial area. His old contacts with whalers from his time on Föhr helped him, especially when he received an order from Schimmelmann in 1775/76 to find crews for the whaling ships of the "Kongelige Grønlandske Handel" (KGH). Matthiessen worked from 1775 to 1801 as its corresponding director. In 1776 the crew of seven of eight, in 1777 of twelve of the company's 16 whaling ships consisted of commanders and an additional 200 and 350 crew members from Föhringern. In the years that followed, they made up the majority of the crew. They caught whales near Spitzbergen and in David Strasse until the KHG ceased operations.

In 1782, the KGH became the “Royal Octroyrte Danish, Nordic, Schleswig and Holstein United Trade and Canal Company”. The company's goal was to use the almost completed Eider Canal for trade. Led by a directorate in Copenhagen, an office and an "administrative directorate" were established there, with Matthiessen as the first administrator. From 1792 the Altonaer Kontor worked as an independent "Royal Fishery and Trade Institute".

Matthiessen had a long-lasting eye disease and became blind in the meantime, but still worked well into old age. In 1801 he went into retirement. On this occasion he should be appointed to the budget council, which he allegedly refused. He spent the rest of his life with his daughter in Niebüll.

Matthiessen frequented the highest ranks of the society in Hamburg and Altona and was especially friends with Ulrich Adolph Graf von Holstein and his colleague Joseph Pierre Texier (1738-1818). He regularly exchanged ideas with Johannes Nikolaus Tetens and Josias Lorck .

meaning

Assessing Matthiessen's long-term significance in the historical context is, apart from his time as Mayor of Copenhagen, complicated. The research literature contains little information on this. Documents from the archives relating to the time in Altona were destroyed. Only a few letters from Schimmelmann can be found in the Imperial Archives in Copenhagen.

The available sources paint the picture of a hard-working, conscientious and well-educated administrative officer: however, he showed little originality and initiative to make him appear outstanding compared to many similar officials.

family

In 1764 Matthiessen married Anna Botilde Jessen (born June 17, 1729 in Aabenraa, † April 19, 1805 in Nieblum) in Nieblum. The couple had two daughters and three sons, including:

  • Peter (born March 19, 1767 - † December 15, 1829 in Tondern). He initially worked as a secretary for the Pinneberger Landdrostei and was governor on Sylt around 1790. He then worked as a senior judge in Glückstadt , and from 1816 as a bailiff in Tondern. In 1813 he was made a knight of the Dannebrog.
  • Heinrich (born June 11, 1768 - † January 13, 1834) was the administrator in Segeberg.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 227.
  2. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 227-228.
  3. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 228.
  4. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 228.
  5. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 228.
  6. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 228.
  7. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 228-229.
  8. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 229.
  9. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 229.
  10. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 229.
  11. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 229.
  12. ^ Bar C. Roeloffs: Matthiessen, Peter . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 229.
personal data
SURNAME Matthiessen, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer and administrative officer
DATE OF BIRTH July 31, 1720
PLACE OF BIRTH Nieblum
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1812
Place of death Nieblum