Sparneck (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the von Sparneck family from Siebmacher's book of arms

The von Sparneck family was an old Franconian-Vogtland noble family . It was named after the place of the same name Sparneck . The Knights of Sparneck are documented in the period from 1223 to 1744 with possessions in what is today Upper Franconia , in the Upper Palatinate and in Bohemia .

Origin and variants of the name

Thomas von Sparneck, wooden epitaph in Trausnitz
Office building in Sparneck , built on the remains of the eponymous seat of the von Sparneck family

The von Sparneck came as followers of the Diepoldinger from Haidstein near Cham into the Fichtelgebirge . At first it was customary to name oneself after the place where one lived and later on with a fixed name. During the settlement policy that had begun in today's Upper Franconian and Thuringian region, first those of Haidstein, von Waldstein , von Sparnberg , and then those of Sparneck, who at the end mostly called themselves von Sparneck and Weißdorf . One of the last significant Sparneckers signed as Hans Christoph Erdmann von Sparneck and Weißdorf on Reuth , Guttenthau and Püchersreuth .

History of the sex

Up-and-coming ministerial family

As Ministeriale , her task was originally to strengthen the position of the king vis-à-vis the established nobility through imperial direct and initially non-inheritable fiefs and to expand or build new settlements and fortifications on the flowing eastern border of the empire. The sparse Slavic settlements were absorbed in the new power structure. The Egerland , which included today's Sechsämterland and the northern Upper Palatinate, provided for free float as far as Bohemia and it was obvious for Rüdiger von Sparneck , albeit a daring step, to place himself under the protection of the Bohemian crown in some areas. For centuries, the ancestral home of the Sparneck family corresponded to the former Münchberg district with castles and palaces in Sparneck , am Waldstein , Weißdorf , Uprode , Bug , Stockenroth , Stein , Hallerstein and Gattendorf . For a short time they also owned part of the Rehau castle stables and the residence in Unterkotzau , in the 16th century Plößberg and Schönkirch . Settlement History they played in the deserted village Gettengrün , Dipoldsgrün and the deserted village of Saaldorf below Oppen Roth a role.

  • Area of ​​influence with heartland

  • Southern area with property from the late period

Feuds and armed conflicts

The Sparnecker were involved in the following local conflicts:

Destruction of the family castles in 1523

→ Main article: Wandereisen woodcuts from 1523

With the strengthening of the cities and the increasing influence of large dynasties such as the Bailiffs of Weida or the Burgraves of Nuremberg , the influence and function of those of Sparneck declined. In 1523, thanks in particular to the support of Thomas von Absberg , who housed hostages with his allies, the Swabian League appeared with a huge army and destroyed almost all the important castles in the Sparneck area. Of the five main lines of those von Sparneck, namely Gattendorf , Hallerstein , Sparneck, Stein and Weißdorf, the Gattendorfer line with its branch in Bohemian areas and the Weißdorfer line with tendency to the Upper Palatinate to Trausnitz, Reuth and Püchersreuth survived this time. Although the Stein line had nothing to do with robber baronism, it lost its castle due to other disputes in 1484 and became extinct in the male line almost at the same time (last link 1566). This is also the time of arson and debts. To describe the Sparnecker as robber barons is controversial; in general, the small nobility hardly had any political instruments at their disposal in this unstable time to assert themselves efficiently. The main responsible persons in 1523 had to accept severe losses of their property and could no longer hold themselves permanently in their heartland around Sparneck. Their few children themselves had no male descendants as namesake.

Possessions

Late heyday in the Upper Palatinate

The remaining von Sparneck had a heyday at Trausnitz Castle in the valley , Reuth Castle and Püchersreuth and finally with the inheritance of the Dörflas and Bernstein castles from the Bohemian line, which was also extinct due to smallpox , among other things . Churches and castles were expanded or rebuilt. B. can be read in Püchersreuth.

Religious affiliations

Individuals from the von Sparneck family are known as members of orders of knights or similar associations, e.g. B. the Unicorn Society , the Bear Society , the Swan Order , the German Order and the Red Eagle Order . But there is hardly any information that goes beyond mere names or coats of arms with decorations.

coat of arms

family

The coat of arms shows two red rafters on a silver background. The crest is crowned by two silver wings with red rafters. There are several slight variations. The coat of arms can still be found today as an element in some municipal coats of arms.

Derived municipal coat of arms

  • Coat of arms of the municipality of Sparneck with a symbolized flight and rafters

  • Former coat of arms from Bernstein, today part of Wunsiedel

  • Former coat of arms of Korbersdorf, now part of Marktredwitz

Related noble families

Marriages often sealed family alliances that were also of local political, financial and territorial importance. According to Alban von Dobenck 1905/1906, the von Sparneck are directly related to the following noble and middle-class families:

Aufseß , Baum von Baumsdorf , Berg , Bibra , Brandt (Brand), Brandenstein , Donndorf , Erlbeck zu Trausnitz, Feilitzsch , Förtsch , Freudenberg , Gravenreuth , Guttenberg , Hirschberg , Hundt (dog), Koller , Künsberg (Kindsberg), Lichtenstein , Lochner , Lüchau , Machwitz , Mistelbach , Nanckenreuth , Pappenheim , Pergler , Pfreimder, Plassenberg (Blassenberg), Reitzenstein , Rudusch, Ritschl von Hartenbach (Rütschel), Sack , Satzenhofen , Schaumberg , Schott von Schottenstein , Schuß von Keilstein , Seckendorff , Trautenberg , Truchseß from Wetzhausen , Unruh , Waldenfels , Wallenrode (Wallenrodt), Watzdorf , Wiesenthau , Wildenstein , Wildstein and Zedtwitz (also Zedwitz, Zettwitz).

Connections with the Eckersberg , Mengersdorf and Notthracht families have been added through more recent research .

Alban von Dobenck was able to take further family connections from the genealogies of other families, but could not integrate them into the system of his family tree of Sparneck and must therefore be considered unsecured. This also includes the marriages of daughters, some of whose names have remained unknown. These include the Berlichingen , Dobeck , Egloffstein , Forstmeister, Fuchs von Walburg , Heßberg , Hilsen-Dedeck, Kotzau , Müffling known as Weiß , Neuberg , Neuenreuth, Rabensteiner zu Döhlau , Roder, Vasmann and Zellner families. Dobenck also described the von Weißelsdorf family , with whom he assumed a tribal relationship.

Due to the historical context, the Sparnecker family are of greater importance for the following families: Absberg , Feilitzsch , Redwitz , Rorer , Rosenberg , Schirnding , Streitberg , Taufkirchen , Thüngen and Wirsberg .

Personalities

research

The genealogist Johann Gottfried Biedermann also dealt with those of Sparneck in the context of his publications of family trees in the 18th century, but these are only mentioned as individuals in the family trees of related noble families. On the one hand, Biedermann's work is regarded as an important, relatively early source, but on the other hand it is also known for its susceptibility to errors. At the beginning of the 20th century, Alban von Dobenck published the first largely complete family tree. This appeared in two essays at the Historical Association for Upper Franconia . According to the way of working at the time, sources were not named in detail, which makes it impossible to verify some statements. On the other hand, he still had access to the Dresden archive, which was destroyed in World War II. Karl Dietel , who dealt extensively with the history of the Münchberg area , went into many of his works on the Sparnecker. It was structured less according to family relationships and more according to the development of places and castles. Elisabeth Jäger continued working on the family tree, her focus being on the family elders, who were fiefdoms according to the seniority principle .

The so far unanswered questions about the history of those von Sparneck include the family classification of Canon Arnold von Sparneck or Christoph Eitel von Sparneck, whose epitaph in the Weißdorf Church indicates the year of his death as 1542. A wooden epitaph of Anna von Sparneck was on the Cadolzburg until the museum there was destroyed at the end of the Second World War . The central motif was the burial of Christ. No image has appeared yet. The location of Weytzendorff Castle, shown on a wood engraving by Hans Wandereisen when it was destroyed by the Swabian Federation , is so far unknown, despite various theories and important background information.

literature

  • Peter Braun: The gentlemen from Sparneck. Family tree, distribution, brief inventory . In: Archive for the history of Upper Franconia . Volume 82, Bayreuth 2002, pp. 71-106.
  • Peter Braun: Order affiliations of the Lords of Sparneck . In: Yearbook 2004 of the BDOS - German Society for Ordenskunde eV 2004. pp. 14-16.
  • Peter Braun: The knight family of the von Sparneck in Kulmbach, Bayreuth and Wunsiedel . In: Local calendar for the Fichtelgebirge, Franconian Forest and Vogtland , Helmbrechts 2018. P. 101–108.
  • Alban Freiherr von Dorbenck : History of the extinct family of the von Sparneck . In: Archive for the history of Upper Franconia . Volume 22, Issue 3, 1905, pp. 1-65 and Volume 23, Issue 1, 1906, pp. 1-56. Reprint: ISBN 978-3-8370-8717-8 .
  • Annett Haberlah-Pohl: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . Francs. Münchberg - The Altlandkreis (Series I, Volume 39). Munich 2011. ISBN 978-3-7696-6556-7 .
  • Annett Haberlah-Pohl: Noble rulers as a disruptive factor in the expansion of the Principality of Kulmbach-Bayreuth? . In: Aristocratic Seats - Aristocracy - Noble Representation in Old Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia . Neuburger Kollektaneenblatt Volume 160, 2012. pp. 437-464. ISBN 978-3-89639-897-0 .
  • František Kubů: The Staufer Ministry in the Egerland ; trans. Bohus Wallisch; (Sources & discussions / Otnant Society for History and Culture in the Euregio Egrensis 1), Bodner, Pressath 1995; ISBN 3-926817-28-3 .
  • Reinhardt Schmalz: History of the noble family von Sparneck . Krumbach 2013.
  • Reinhardt Schmalz: The Franconian War 1523 and the guilt of the Sparnecker . In: Archive for the history of Upper Franconia . Volume 85, 2005, pp. 151-158.

Web links

Commons : Sparneck  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eckard Lullies: The feud of Guttenberg against the bailiffs and the feud of the nobility against Eger . Friends of the Plassenburg eV December 1999. ISBN 3-925162-19-4 .
  2. ↑ For detailed considerations, see Wandereisen-Holzschnitte from 1523 - Woodcut No. 19.