Statius Speckhan

Statius Speckhan , also Statius Speckhahn and Statio Speckhanen (born May 15, 1599 in Bremen , † October 16, 1679 in Bremen), was Bremen's mayor and later royal Swedish privy councilor . During the armed conflict between Bremen and Sweden in the middle of the 17th century, he was accused of treason several times and was even forced to resign from his office because of these accusations - which remained unproven.

biography

The Speckhansche Haus (right) in a watercolor by George Ernest Papendiek shortly before the building was demolished in 1828

Statius Speckhan came from an old merchant family in Bremen. He studied law at the University of Leipzig and became a lawyer in his hometown. He married a daughter of councilor Wilhelm von Bentheim the elder , sister of the mayor Wilhelm von Bentheim the younger . Speckhan and his family lived in a splendid Gothic town house on Langenstrasse , which later became known as Haus Speckhan .

1639 he was appointed as successor to Nicholas of Rehden  - the mayor was - for alderman elected. Ten years later, in 1649, he became mayor himself, succeeding Heinrich von Kappeln .

Speckhan's relationship with the citizens of Bremen was subsequently strained by several incidents. For example, he was suspected of having got back part of the 70,000  thalers of the Elsflether Weser toll that the city of Bremen had to pay to Oldenburg in 1653 from the count for his private coffers. During the First Bremen-Swedish War in 1654 he was accused of being too hesitant and of secretly betting on a victory for Sweden. In the trial from March to May 1654 against the treacherous parent Burchard Lösekanne , suspicions against him were loud, but not proven. The situation escalated after Bremen had to give up the important position of the Burger Schanze on the Lesum on September 5th of the same year and when the rumor arose that the Swedish troops were already standing in front of the Stephanitor. When Speckhan's daughter was also picked up by the guard when she was about to leave the city, there were riots in front of the town hall and hostility towards Speckhan and his family. On December 5, 1654, he resigned as mayor, although an investigation by the Bremen council had found no evidence of treason.

In 1658, Speckhan was appointed royal Swedish privy councilor by Karl X. Gustav , a surprising occurrence that was seen by many Bremen citizens as evidence of his dubious loyalty, which subsequently aroused resentment, which had meanwhile been almost forgotten. When the conflict with Sweden came to a head in 1666 with the Second Bremen-Swedish War , he fled to Delmenhorst with his wife and daughter before the siege of Bremen began . When his daughter returned to Bremen after the Peace of habenhausen was concluded, the house of Speckhan was stormed and looted by an angry mob. In order not to burden the peace with Sweden, the council issued an order “to bring back the Guht that had been taken away with life and death penalty” , and Speckhan was reimbursed 8,000 thalers for the damage incurred.

Speckhan stayed in Swedish service until 1675, when Swedish sovereignty over the Duchy of Bremen-Verden ended with the Bremen-Verden campaign . After his death in 1679 he was buried in the Liebfrauenkirche .

family

A daughter of his, Elisabeth (* September 18, 1637, † April 8, 1701), was Imperial Baron Johann Georg Seifert von Edelsheim (* 1639; † 1723), Imperial Councilor , Chamber President ("Finance Minister") and Head of Government ( " District President ") of the County of Hanau-Munzenberg married.

See also

• House of Speckhan
• List of Bremen mayors
• History of the city of Bremen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Herbert Schwarzwälder gives October 16 as the anniversary of Speckhan's death (cf. Das Große Bremen-Lexikon , p. 824); 15 October is recorded for Peter Koster (cf. Chronicle of the Imperial Free Imperial and Hanseatic City of Bremen 1600–1700 , p. 159).
2. ↑ Dieter Krieger: Hessisches Wappenbuch, 3rd part family coat of arms, volume 1 . Limburg / Lahn 1999, p. 53 f.

literature

• Alfred Kühtmann : Burchard Lösekanne and Statius Speckhahn . In: Bremisches Jahrbuch , Volume 12, pp. 33 ff and 55 ff, Bremen 1883.
• Herbert Black Forest : The Great Bremen Lexicon . 2nd, updated, revised and expanded edition. Edition Temmen, Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-86108-693-X .
• Herbert Black Forest : Bremen in the 17th century. Glory and misery of a Hanseatic city . Edition Temmen, Bremen 1996, ISBN 978-3861085263 .
• Peter Koster : Chronicle of the Imperial Free Imperial and Hanseatic City of Bremen 1600–1700 . Edited and edited by Hartmut Müller, Edition Temmen, Bremen 2004, ISBN 3-86108-687-5 .