Urff (noble family)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of arms of those from and to Urff

Urff is the name of an old Hessian noble family . The family, some of whose branches still exist today, belong to the primeval nobility in Niederhessen . The gentlemen von und zu Urff have been enrolled in the Althessian Knighthood since its foundation in 1532.

history

origin

Palas (ruins) of Niederurff Castle (2016)

The family is first mentioned in a document in 1160 and 1193 with Johann von Urff . The uninterrupted line of the family begins with the knight Heinrich von Urff , who is mentioned in documents between 1256 and 1310.

According to the yearbook of the German nobility , the family appears in a document with Konrad von Urff as early as 1160 . Konrad is named in the document as a witness to Count Gottfried I von Ziegenhain .

The ancestral seat that gave its name was Niederurff Castle , then probably called Urff Castle, above the Urff in Niederurff , today part of the Bad Zwesten community in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse. The castle is first mentioned as castrum in 1272 , but was probably built much earlier.

Spread and personalities

In 1309 the Lords of Urff gave Niederurff Castle to Count Heinrich IV of Waldeck as a fief and promised him the opening of the castle, but not in the event of a possible feud against the Landgrave of Hesse . Heinrich von Urff opened his Niederurff castle to Landgrave Heinrich II of Hesse in 1352 . In 1408 the von Urff agreed with Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse to open their castle, but not in disputes against the Counts of Waldeck and the neighboring von Löwenstein family, who were related to them .

The great-grandson of the progenitor Heinrich von Urff, Simon von Urff, appears in a document from 1388. He became bailiff of the Counts of Ziegenhain zu Neukirchen . His son Hans VIII von Urff died in 1448 as pledge holder of the castle and office of Neukirchen and as the chief bailiff of the county of Ziegenhein. He was married to Anna Diede zum Fürstenstein . Heinrich and Hartwig von Urff fell during the siege of Neuss in 1475 . In 1490 the von Löwenstein-Westerburg and von Löwenstein-Schweinsberg are named as Mitburgmannen zu Urff. The long building of Niederurff Castle was built around 1500 .

Gertrud von Urff was the last matron, i.e. the monastery superior, of the Augustinian convent in Fritzlar , which was closed in 1530 . As compensation, she received the district of the village that had previously belonged to the monastery, but had already been burned down in 1443 by the feudal knight Reinhard von Dalwigk and his cronies Friedrich IV von Hertingshausen and since the desolate village of Berningshausen .

The manor house at Niederurff Castle

Christoph von Urff, a descendant of Hans VIII and his wife Anna in the fourth generation, died in 1585 as a bailiff in Laubach. His great-grandson Ludwig Wilhelm von Urff became a major in the cavalry in Hessen-Kassel . In 1672 he married Margarethe Elisabeth von und zu Gilsa . Their son, Wilhelm von Urff (1673–1762), was in 1736 head of the hospitals and noble monasteries in Hesse. At that time he was the only lineage holder of the family. In 1739 the manor house was built immediately east of the castle in Niederurff. From Wilhelm's marriage to Marie Elisabeth Schenck zu Schweinsberg (1675–1765) came the son Johann Wilhelm Rudolph von Urff (1702–1766), who died as a lieutenant general in Hessen-Kassel . He married Wilhelmine Treusch von Buttlar (1720–1803) in 1750 . Wilhelm Georg Ludwig Kasimir and from Urff (1753-1834), the son of Johann Wilhelm Rudolph and Wilhelmine, was Kurhessischer lieutenant general and died as Governor of Kassel . His marriage to Amöne Antoinette Marie Friederike von Dalwigk zu Schauenburg (1770-1858) in 1797 resulted in three sons and a daughter. Of the sons, Wilhelm von Urff (1799–1855) became a major general in Hesse . Most recently he served as commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade. In 1827 Wilhelm Christian Ernst married Louise Friederike von Borch (1801–1880) in Zwesten . The couple had five sons and four daughters. The eldest son Wilhelm von und zu Urff (* 1828) was a Prussian major and legal knight of the Order of St. John . He last served in the 4th Magdeburg Infantry Regiment No. 67 . His youngest brother Moritz von und zu Urff (1841–1889) last served in the 3rd Rhenish Infantry Regiment No. 29 and died as a Prussian major out of service .

Ernestine Friederike Karoline von und zu Urff (1801–1831), a sister of Wilhelm Christian Ernst, married the Electorate Major General Julius von Langenschwarz († 1852) in 1821 . Her younger brother Friedrich von Urff (1805–1873) died out of service as a district administrator in Hesse. In 1836 he married Auguste Karoline Longine von Heeringen (1808–1848) and left behind a son and a daughter. Amoene to and from Urff (* 1839), the daughter of the couple, married in 1867 in Kassel the Prussian chamberlain and artistic director of the Royal Court Theater to Kassel Charles Albert Buderus of Carlshausen († 1874).

Niederurff Castle and the adjacent park are still owned by von und zu Urff. The main building and the defensive wall of the castle have been preserved. There are still walls from the west wing, an adjoining tower and the keep . The moat built as a dry moat is also preserved.

coat of arms

Family coat of arms

The coat of arms shows two black eagle heads turned away from each other in gold . On the helmet with black and gold helmet covers, a gold column with three natural peacock feathers on top, between an open gold flight , each covered with a black eagle head turned away .

Coat of arms history

Coat of arms of those von Urff zu Oberurff (†)

The coat of arms appears on imprints of seals . In Johann Siebmacher's book of arms. Plate 140 (1605) the family appears as von Urff among the Hessians. In the blazon of the book of arms, the column on the helmet is described as a stem. Christian Friedrich August von Meding describes the coat of arms in his messages of noble coats of arms. Volume III, page 693 (1791) after Siebmacher and a seal impression showing the helmet bulged . Also Ledebur in his describes Adelslexikon the Prussian monarchy . Volume 3, page 47 (1858) the Urff coat of arms after Siebmacher.

At Kneschke the coats of arms of the German baronial and noble families. Volume 1, page 433–434 (1855) reads the blazon : “In the golden shield two juxtaposed, outward-facing, black eagle heads with necks flapping red tongues. On the shield is a helmet, which carries a golden column, topped with three (2 and 1) peacock feathers, between an open, golden eagle flight, each of whose wings is covered with an eagle's head and neck, as in the shield. The helmet covers are black and gold. "

According to the Year Book of the German Nobility , Volume 3, Pages 667–670 (1899), the gold coat of arms shows two black eagle heads turned away. On the helmet with black and gold helmet covers, a gold column with three peacock feathers on top between an open gold flight covered with a black eagle head turned away on both sides.

The older (Heinrichs-) tribe on Oberurff , which became extinct in 1581 in the male tribe , had a different crest . According to the coat of arms depiction from 1888, as can be seen in the register of the Old Hessen Knighthood , the helmet of this tribe wore a black eagle head with a neck.

Known family members

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Diplomat. hassiacum and Collect for the Hessian nobility. in the Kassel State Library
  2. ↑ a b c Genealogical manual of the nobility . Nobility Lexicon. Volume XV, Volume 134 of the complete series, pp. 155-156.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g von und zu Urff . In: Marcelli Janecki , Deutsche Adelsgenossenschaft (Hrsg.): Yearbook of the German nobility . Third volume. WT Bruer's Verlag, Berlin 1899, p. 667-670 ( dlib.rsl.ru ).
  4. ↑ a b c Niederurff Castle in the State Historical Information System of Hesse
  5. ↑ a b New General German Adels Lexicon Volume 9, Page 348
  6. ↑ a b The coats of arms of the German baronial and noble families. Volume 1, pp. 433-434 ( books.google.de ).
  7. ↑ Noble dictionary of the Prussian monarchy. Volume 3, p. 47 ( reader.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  8. ↑ Rudolf von Buttlar-Elberberg: Studbook of the Althessian Knighthood, containing the genealogical tables of the families belonging to the Althessian Knighthood residing in the former Electorate of Hesse. Gustaf Clauning Hofbuchhandlung, Kassel 1888 ( illustration of the above-mentioned coat of arms graphic )