Prosper Devens

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Prosper Caspar Leonard Devens (born August 4, 1834 at Welheim Castle near Bottrop , † February 27, 1882 in Cologne am Rhein) was a Prussian civil servant, district administrator in Kleve and Saarlouis , member of parliament and government councilor in Koblenz . With his height of 205 cm he had a stately appearance.

Career

Prosper Caspar Leonard Devens 1873
Baron Emma von Langenmantel-Rosenberg 1873

Devens was born on August 4, 1834 as the eleventh child of the Royal District Administrator Friedrich Carl Devens (1782–1849) and his wife Antoinette Francisca Gertrude, née Billmann (1796–1863) at Welheim Castle near Bottrop / Westphalia. The Devens family had leased the Kommende Welheim , a former manor, and administered it for the Teutonic Order until 1879. The Knippenburg family also belonged to the family from 1821 to 1885. His godparents were Duke Prosper Ludwig von Arenberg (1795–1861) and his wife Maria Ludmilla Rosa Duchess of Arenberg, née Princess von Lobkowitz (1798–1864). As a godparent gift, the Duke dedicated two tall three-armed candelabra and a magnificent grandfather clock to the person to be baptized from his castle in Brussels.

Like his siblings, Devens received a very careful upbringing on a deeply religious basis at home. He grew up with his three years older brother Friedrich Leopold Devens (1831-1894) at Welheim Castle. The two brothers were given the first scientific lessons by the local chaplain Meyer, the father took over the scientific and physical education until he started school at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Cologne in 1847 at the age of 13 .

Cholera broke out in Cologne in 1849 , and at the request of his mother, Prosper switched to the Paulinum Gymnasium in Münster , where he graduated from high school in the summer of 1852 with distinction, best knowledge of Latin, Greek and French, and exceptionally good knowledge of mathematics, philosophy and physics duration.

Study and job

In autumn 1852 he began studying law with his brother Leopold in Heidelberg . In 1853 he moved to Göttingen, where he was active in the Corps Saxonia from Michaelis (29 September 1852) until Easter 1854 . The first legal examination in Münster on September 26, 1855 was followed by activity as an auscultator . After training at the courts of first instance in Essen, Berlin and Wetzlar, he began his work as a government trainee with the government in Düsseldorf on December 3, 1858 .

In 1862 he did military service as second lieutenant in the 4th Landwehr-Reiter Regiment. He was promoted and performed his officer training with the 4th Westphalian Cuirassier Regiment every year .

After passing the state examination, he became a government assessor in Düsseldorf in 1863 . In autumn 1864 Devens met Freiin Emma von Langenmantel -Rosenberg (1846–1927) during a stay on Heligoland , a granddaughter of Countess Francisca Eleonore von Batthyany (born around 1748 in Hungary). They married on August 24, 1865 in the St. Michaelis Church in Hamburg. In the war of 1866 Devens was called up as a cavalry officer in his regiment, and the couple moved to Münster.

With a certificate from King Wilhelm I (1797–1888), German Emperor since 1871, he was appointed as assessor on November 14, 1868 as district administrator of the Kleve district in the Düsseldorf administrative district. He held this office until 1874.

The couple bought the Villa Nova on Tiergartenstrasse in Kleve on the Lower Rhine . In 1872 Prosper resigned from military service as Rittmeister of the cavalry and became politically active.

Political career

Marienhof residence in Saarlouis (painting by Wilhelm Gattinger from 1922)

In 1870 he was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives (eleventh legislative period) as a free-conservative member of the constituency of Düsseldorf 7 (Kleve) , but was already a member of the Conservative Party in the second session . The burgeoning conflict between church and state shaped his first legislative period in the unified German Empire . In Berlin he got to know the emperor's “paladins”: Bismarck , Moltke , Roon and others.

As the contradictions and the waves of the Kulturkampf increased and Prosper Devens in advising the School Inspection Act an amendment brought that was no majority, he put before the vote on the May Laws in 1873 from his position on February 20, 1873 down and stepped out of the Free Conservative Party out. He received full public recognition for this. Reich Chancellor Bismarck went to him personally at an evening party on February 1, 1873 in the Reich Chancellor's Palace and paid him respect. Explanatory he said: “Unfortunately I have nothing to do with you; I cannot use catholic district administrators now, any more than a general in the mountain district can use the cavalry. "

On December 1, 1874, Devens was transferred to Saarlouis as provisional district administrator at his own request , and from February 1, 1876, he was given permanent employment in the Saarlouis district . An old French manor - called Marienhof - on the outskirts of Saarlouis became his residence. He maintained friendly relationships with the owners, the Boch family and other families from Saarlouis. Since there were only community schools and no higher schools in Saarlouis at that time, the family decided in 1879 to move to Düsseldorf in order to ensure a proper education for the children. Prosper Devens managed his activities in Saarlouis from here. As part of his activities, he was invited to the inauguration of Cologne Cathedral in 1880 because of his services .

With the Highest Cabinet Order (AKO) of April 8, 1881 and rescript of April 19, 1881 Prosper Devens was appointed to the council of the district government in Koblenz . Here he fell ill with kidney disease and died after an operation on February 27, 1882 in Cologne at the age of only 47. On March 2, 1882, he was buried in the family crypt in Bottrop next to his parents and other family members.

family

Prosper Caspar Leonard Devens and his wife Emma nee von Langenmantel-Rosenberg had five children:

  • Ferdinand Anton Eduard Devens (1866–1939)
  • Magdalena Devens (1868–1868)
  • Maximilian Devens (1869-1925)
  • Prosper Ludwig Emil Devens (1872–1944)
  • Edmund Prosper Devens (1874-1935)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.porto-club.de
  2. ↑ Kösener Corps Lists 1910, 85, 116
  3. ↑ Wolfgang v. der Groeben: Directory of the members of the Corps Saxonia zu Göttingen 1844 to 2006 . Düsseldorf 2006, No. 116
  4. ↑ H.Romeyk, The leading state administrative officials of the Rhine Province 1816-1945. Düsseldorf 1994, Bottrop City Archives.
  5. ^ A b c Bernhard Mann (with the collaboration of Martin Doerry , Cornelia Rauh and Thomas Kühne): Biographical manual for the Prussian House of Representatives 1867–1918 . In: Hans Booms , Rudolf Morsey (ed.): Handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties . On behalf of the Commission for the History of Parliamentarism and Political Parties. tape 3 . Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-7700-5146-7 , p. 105 .
  6. ↑ Almanac Dr G. Hirth 1871/74, Korthkampf Verlag 1832-1894
  7. ^ Elberfelder Zeitung of March 9, 1873
  8. ^ Rolf Jehke, Herdecke: Territorial changes in Germany and German administered areas 1874 - 1945
  9. ↑ Notes of his son Prosper Edmund Devens, Berlin

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Devens, Prosper
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Devens, Prosper Caspar Leonard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian civil servant, district administrator, member of parliament, councilor
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH Welheim Castle near Bottrop
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1882
Place of death Cologne