Philipp Ludwig von Reiffenberg

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Philipp Ludwig von Reiffenberg on the entrance door of the St. Gertrudis Chapel in Oberreifenberg
St. Gertrudis Chapel Oberreifenberg

Philipp Ludwig Freiherr von Reiffenberg (* around 1615; † March 23, 1686 in Königstein im Taunus ) was a cleric , first governor of Erfurt and last knight of Reifenberg from the Wetterau line of the family.

His father was Johann Heinrich Freiherr von Reifenberg , Imperial Councilor and Chamberlain † March 4, 1628. In 1613 Johann Heinrich was transferred to the baron class . His mother was Anna von Reiffenberg (born von Cronberg ).

In 1642 he was accepted into the Mainz cathedral chapter . From 1644 onwards, Philipp Ludwig von Reiffenberg tried to win over his uncle , Archbishop Anselm Casimir Wambolt von Umstadt , to France. After his death in 1647 he hoped to be his successor, but did not succeed.

In 1649 he became provost of the cathedral and a little later also coadjutor of the Archbishop of Trier Karl Kaspar von der Leyen . Due to the contradiction of the Trier cathedral chapter, the archbishop had to withdraw the appointment as coadjutor soon afterwards.

Thereupon Reiffenberg entered the service of the Archbishop of Mainz Johann Philipp von Schönborn , the successor of his uncle Anselm Casimir , as Privy Councilor and President of the Chamber Office . In 1663 he was given the office of city treasurer in Mainz. He won the Elector of Saxony Johann Georg II , who had already been won for France , for Kurmainz . Erfurt was unable to hold out against both powers and capitulated in October 1664. Erfurt's independence ended with the " reduction " . Reiffenberg was the first Elector of Mainz governor in Erfurt from 1664 to 1667 and rector of the University of Erfurt in 1666 .

At the beginning of 1667 Archbishop Johann Philipp deposed him for treason , mismanagement and moral offense and, after his arrest on February 11, 1667, had him incarcerated in the Marienberg Fortress in Würzburg . November 1667 he was transferred to Königstein im Taunus and sentenced on May 18, 1668 to life imprisonment and dismissal of all offices.

Reiffenberg was released after Schönborn's death in 1673. As he broke his promise not to seek restoration to his previous rights with the Pope, he was arrested again in 1676 and imprisoned at Königstein Castle in the Taunus, where he died in 1686.

Philipp Ludwig von Reiffenberg died childless as the last of the Wetterau line of the Reifenberg family. Philipp Ludwig's sister Johanna Walpurgis marries Johann Lothar von Walbott-Bassenheim . The Reifenberger possessions in the Taunus thus become the property of the Counts of Waldbott-Bassenheim . However, Kurmainz also raised claims based on a contract from 1443 on the castle and lordship of Reifenberg. The legal dispute was decided in favor of the Bassenheimers only after more than 30 years. On January 22nd, 1730, 44 years after his death, Philip's remains were transferred from Königstein to Oberreifenberg and finally buried there in the crypt of the Lords of Bassenheim.

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