Schlitz (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the von Schlitz gen. Von Görtz

The full name of the older Hessian line of the family, which belongs to the high nobility, is Reichsgrafen von Schlitz called von Görtz (also Goertz), that of the younger Lower Saxon line Count von Schlitz called von Görtz and von Wrisberg . The family has its headquarters in the Hessian Schlitz .

Because of the double naming (see also named name ) it often comes to wrong sorting under the name of Goertz or Görtz. The family of the Hessian "von Schlitz called von Görtz" should not be confused with the medieval " Counts of Görz ", who were resident in the southern Alps and Friuli .

history

Schlitz (Vogelsbergkreis)

Ermenoldus de Slitese was the first of the Lords of Schlitz to appear in a document in 1116 as Ministeriale of the Imperial Abbey of Fulda . In this year, the Fulda fiefdom of today's city of Schlitz near Fulda , which had previously belonged to the Counts of Ziegenhain , came to the family that was now named after the place. Over the centuries, it expanded this fiefdom into an imperial dominion. At the Hochstift Fulda the gentlemen von Schlitz held the position of hereditary marshal .

The sex was widespread throughout the Rhön region during the 12th to 14th centuries . The well of the family von der Tann assigned name Erminold , Gerlach and Irminger fall into aldermen books and death registers to trace back to the 8th century, but one is genealogical connection undetectable.

From 1404 they called themselves "Schlitz von Görtz" (in documents also: Gurz or Görz). After the introduction of the Reformation in 1563 and as a result of the Thirty Years' War , they broke away from the feudal rule of the Reichsstift Fulda. Since the 16th century they were members of the Frankish knighthood in the knightly canton of Rhön-Werra . In 1677 they became imperial barons and in 1726 imperial counts . 1806 came the rule under the grand ducal Hesse-Darmstadt suzerainty. Although the family only had imperial knightly rank in the Holy Roman Empire (and not imperial class with their own seat and voting rights in the Reichstag ), they were subsequently awarded this status by the German Confederation in 1829 with the predicate of exaltation and were thus accepted among the noblemen and in Gotha with the royal houses of the Second Department.

In the 18th century, the sex was divided into two lines, the older (since 1829 stately gentry) in Schlitz and the younger in Braunschweig and Hanover, called "Görtz-Wrisberg" (see below). Rüdiger-Maria Graf and Herr von Schlitz, known as von Görtz (* 1939), are the boss and only male representative of the older, noble line of Schlitz .

Johann Eustach von Schlitz (1737–1821), a younger son from Schlitz, adopted his future son-in-law Hans von Labes (1763–1831), landlord of Karstorf, who then took over the family name and at the same time was raised to the rank of count by the king. He built near the Mecklenburg Hohen Demzin the Burg Schlitz .

The Schlitzer castles

The city of Schlitz was a kind of medieval large castle (hence the term citizen ), surrounded by a city ​​wall , to which numerous residential houses were built on the inside, including several high stone houses as knight seats for von Schlitz. The city wall is still partially visible today. The individual “castles” so called today are therefore not independent defenses, but knightly residences with defensive functions within the framework of the city fortifications. In addition, there were three smaller castle complexes in the area around Schlitz, which were supposed to defend the city and its surroundings more widely.

Vorderburg

The Vorderburg was the main castle of Schlitz and was probably built in the 13th century in the north-western part of the medieval Schlitz at the latest. Only the lower part of the residential tower-like, formerly Romanesque keep , the foundations of which date from before 1181, remains of the castle . The older part is on the upper gate side. The eastern castle building, which flanks the tower with its Welschen dome, was added on three floors in 1565. The west wing was built around 1600.

Until the early 18th century, the Vorderburg remained the seat of the senior of the Ganerbegemeinschaft of the Vorderburger, Hinterburger, Schachtenburger, Ottoburger and Hallenburger lines. In 1720, after the male line of the Vorderburg line had died out, it came to the Hallenburg line with all of its ownership. Their senior, Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlitz called von Görtz , was the Hanoverian Chamber President and Minister of State and was appointed by Emperor Karl VI in 1726 . raised to the rank of imperial count .

Back castle with back tower

The back tower is a 36 m high keep that dates back to the 14th century. The keep served as a guardroom, and the dungeons were located below the high entrance . The rear castle was first mentioned in 1493 . The residential building next to the tower was rebuilt from 1561 to 1565 as a three-storey building and contained the official apartments of count officials and the rentier. Since 1950 it has housed a retirement home of the Graf Görtzische Foundation.

Ottoburg

The Ottoburg was founded in two construction phases on the medieval city ​​fortifications . A corner tower dates from the Middle Ages. In 1653 Otto Hartmann von Schlitz built today's early Baroque Ottoburg Castle. For this purpose, the battlements of the castle were demolished, part of the moat was buried and houses adjoining the city wall were demolished, which led to tensions with the citizens. Ottoburg was given its present form in 1681 by Philipp Friedrich von Schlitz and his wife Juliane Elisabetha von Minnigerode , whose double coat of arms is located above the portal of the main entrance. The castle served as a youth hostel for a long time and is now home to private condominiums.

Schachtenburg

The Schachtenburg was built in 1557 by the widow Elisabeth von Schachten, daughter of Junker Werner von Schlitz, and was not part of the medieval city fortifications.

Hallenburg

The Hall Castle is located just outside the city and was in the Middle Ages a fortified manor house, surrounded by a moat. Freiherr Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlitz called von Görtz, who had been Reich Count since 1726, had the baroque palace built on the site between 1706 and 1712. The plans came from Louis Rémy de la Fosse . In 1755 the castle burned down and was renovated. Around 1800, Count Karl Heinrich had the mansard roof removed and the building increased, which gave it its current classical appearance. In 1954, the count's family donated the castle and park to the town of Schlitz; today the State Music Academy of Hesse is located there .

Niederschlitz Castle

The castle Niederschlitz is a castle stable about 900 meters northeast below the old town of Schlitz. The small tower castle was probably built in the 12th century by the von Schlitz family as a locking bolt on the old Hersfelder Landstrasse. The castle was in 1261 as part of a pin feud against Abbot Heinrich von Hersfeld and Count Gottfried von Ziegenhain from Fulda abbot Berthon II. Of Leibolz destroyed and not rebuilt.

Seeburg

The Seeburg is the ruin of a moated castle in the Hartershausen district of the city of Schlitz. Presumably the Seeburg was built in the 12th century to protect the possessions of the Fulda Monastery. In addition to the Hartershausen settlement , the villages of Hemmen and Üllershausen in this valley are likely to have belonged to the castle district . The destruction of the hilltop castle in the 13th century can also be attributed to Abbot Bertho II von Leibolz.

Görtz-Wrisberg line

Rittmarshausen Castle
Wrisbergholzen Castle

Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlitz auf Schlitz (1647–1728), the builder of Hallenburg Castle in Schlitz, was President of the Chamber of Hanover and acquired the Rittmarshausen estate in the Hanoverian Principality of Calenberg-Göttingen . There he had a new castle built in 1714–1716. While his older son Johann (1683–1747) succeeded him as baron (from 1726 Reichsgraf) zu Schlitz, Wegfurth (today Ober- and Unter-Wegfurth ) and Rechberg, the younger, Ernst August (1687–1720), inherited the Rittmarshausen estate .

His son Karl Friedrich Freiherr von Schlitz called von Görtz (1715–1750) married Katharina Eva Sophie Freiin von Wrisberg (1721–1769 ) in 1737 , the heiress of Wrisbergholzen Castle with Brunkensen , Wesseln and Irmenseul . Their grandsons Plato, Werner and Moritz were raised to Count von Schlitz in 1817, called von Görtz and von Wrisberg . This line, which also acquired the Limmer manor in 1840 , was mostly called von Goertz-Wrisberg and was divided into the branches Wrisbergholzen with Rittmarshausen and Limmer (1986 in the male line, the goods passed on in the female line) and Brunkensen (still blooming, the Well sold by Albrecht Graf von Goertz ).

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows two black bars that are pinned on top and diagonally to the right. On the helmet with black and silver covers there is a closed flight, as the shield is called.

Name bearer (selection)

Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlitz called von Görtz (1647–1728), Brunswick-Lüneburg Chamber President, 1726 Reich Count
Johann Eustach von Görtz Monument in Regensburg
∞ Eugenie, Countess von Görtz-Wrisberg, b. von Staff (1790–1847), indicted in 1832 and wanted for treason

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cord Ulrichs: From the feudal court to the imperial knighthood structures of the Franconian lower nobility at the transition from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period . Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-515-07109-1 .
  2. ↑ Bavarian Landbötin: Countess Wrisberg, the exiled woman ... has escaped. The police department in Braunschweig promises a reward of 1000 Thalers ... , 1832

literature

Web links

Commons : Schlitz called von Görtz  - collection of images, videos and audio files