Valentin von Alvensleben

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Gravestone of Valentin von Alvensleben and Anna von Veltheim in the Nikolaikirche in Gardelegen

Valentin von Alvensleben (* 1529 ; † January 8, 1594 in Gardelegen ) was lord of the castle in Gardelegen and Erxleben .

family

Valentin von Alvensleben came from the Low German noble family von Alvensleben . He was the fourth son of Gebhard XIX. von Alvensleben (1491–1554) on Gardelegen and Sophia von Arnim and in 1555 married Anna von Veltheim (* 1532) from Bartensleben , the widow of Friedrich X. von Alvensleben from Rogätz , the last Alvensleben of the Red Line. From this marriage there were five sons and one daughter. Anna von Veltheim died in 1565 at the age of 33. In 1578 Valentin married Sophia von Bortfeld († 1616) for the second time. This marriage remained childless. After his death in 1594, he was buried in the Alvensleben hereditary funeral in the Nikolaikirche in Gardelegen .

Life and personality

Valentin inherited an extensive fortune, the management of which he devoted himself fully and successfully. This initially included the paternal inheritance, the rule of Gardelegen, then after the extinction of the Red Line of Alvensleben, half of the rule of Erxleben. Wohlbrück characterized it as follows:

“Valentin later earned the praise of a sincere devotee of the religion. At least he set a good example for his subjects in his respect for public worship by failing to attend church services in a kind of procession with his children and housemates, who accompanied him in pairs. Riding and hunting were his favorite amusements, but he is also said to have been inclined to the sciences, and especially a friend of history, incidentally an honest man of old faithfulness and faith, of mild character and simple morals. He was in charge of his household as a very good landlord, and he left his goods in the best condition. "

Gravestone and epitaph

Epitaph for Valentin von Alvensleben and his family in the Marienkirche in Gardelegen

After the death of his first wife, Valentin had a tombstone made for himself and his wife, which is still in the Nikolaikirche in Gardelegen. It was described by Hildebrandt (1868) as follows: “... the knight stands on the left, the noble lady on the right of the beholder. In the upper corners are the coats of arms of those v. Alvensleben and v. Veltheim. The inscription - beginning at the top left - reads: ANO 1565 DE 29 JUN IS ASLEEP IN GOT DI ERBARE VD VILTVGETSAE ANA VO VELTE VALTI VO ALVENSL… ELICHE HOUSE FRAW ANO 15 .. IS IN GOT FOREIGN OF THE ERVESTER VND HERBAL VALTIN ​​VO ALVESLEVE. Under the last line on the inner margin: GEBHARTES SELIGER SON. Above the lady's head: YOUR AGE 33. "

The date of Valentine's death was no longer added to the stone - presumably because his sons had a much larger epitaph made for him and his family in 1597 . This is an often praised and extensively described work of art of great importance, created by the Braunschweig sculptor Jürgen Röttger and his son Hans and by an unknown painter from Gardelegen. It survived the destruction of the Nikolaikirche in 1945 and was restored to the Marienkirche. In the lower part there are two panels depicting Valentin, his two wives and his children. On the left Valentin and his five sons, on the right Valentin's first wife Anna von Veltheim, his second wife Sophie von Bortfeld, then his daughter Sophie from his first marriage and his stepdaughter Gertrud from Anna von Veltheim's marriage with Friedrich X. von Alvensleben.

literature

  • Siegmund Wilhelm Wohlbrück: Historical news of the Alvensleben family and their goods . Volume III, Berlin 1829, pp. 69-81.
  • Ad. M. Hildebrandt: The tombstones and epitaphs of aristocratic persons in and near the churches of the Altmark, booklet I. comprising the districts of Salzwedel and Gardelegen . Gardelegen 1868.
  • Paul Pflanz: The inheritance of the von Alvensleben family in the Nicolaikirche in Gardelegen . Monday sheet. Scientific supplement to the Magdeburgische Zeitung, No. 15 of April 13, 1931, pp. 113–115, pp. 126–127.
  • PJ Meier: The sculptor's handicrafts in the city of Braunschweig since the Reformation . Braunschweig 1936.
  • E. Nitter (Ed.): The white Alvensleben in the castle Gardelegen . Reprint from “Heimatbuch Gardelegen”, Volume 3, 1939, pp. 19–27.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Alvensleben, Valentin von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lord of the castle in Gardelegen and Erxleben
DATE OF BIRTH 1529
DATE OF DEATH January 8, 1594
Place of death Guards