Waldenfels (noble family)

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Coat of arms according to Scheibler's book of arms
The reconstructed keep of Lichtenberg Castle
Tomb of Heinrich v. Waldenfels (+ 1562) and his wife Katharina v. Rabenstein in the church of Rugendorf
Tomb of Philip von Waldenfels (1606–1679) and his wife Susanna Sibilla von Watzdorf in the church of Röslau (1607–1676)
Weißenstein castle ruins
Röthenbach Castle near Arzberg
Coat of arms above the portal to the stair tower with the Schirnding / Waldenfels alliance coat of arms and building inscription from 1559
Property in courtyard
Burial place of the von Waldenfels family in the Bayreuth cemetery

The Waldenfels (also: Waldenfels zu Wartenfels and Lichtenberg , Wallenfels ) are an old Franconian noble family . The family comes from the ministry of the Counts of Andechs and Meranien , was first mentioned in 1248 and later elevated to the status of baron . She belonged to the Frankish imperial knighthood in the knightly canton of Gebürg .

history

origin

The Waldenfels were originally a ministerial family at Waldenfels Castle, which gives it its name . This stood on the Schlossberg northeast of the church in Wallenfels . Probably the castle was from 1213 to 1244 by the Diocese of Bamberg in Nordgau (Bavaria) to protect the bambergischen manorial built and in 1195 by Bishop Otto II. His nephew, the Duke Berthold of Andechs-Meran to fief given. With the ministerial "Eberhard de Waldenvels" (I.1), who testified in 1248 a donation from his feudal lord, Duke Otto II of Meranien to the monastery of Banz , the name "von Waldenfels" was first mentioned in a document. Presumably, the family of a tribe is the Förtsch von Thurnau family .

Middle Ages and early modern times

It is not known where the first members of the von Waldenfels family lived after the Dukes of Andechs-Meranien died out in 1248. What is certain is that in the settlement of the Meran succession dispute in the Langenstadt Treaty of 1260, Eberhard von Waldenfels (I.1) was among the arbitrators and must probably be attributed to the ministerials of the Counts of Orlamünde . Reiwin von Waldenfels (III.1), probably a grandson of Eberhard (I.1), acquired Burghaig Castle near Kulmbach in 1316 from the possession of the Teutonic Order . Around the same time, Reiwin built Wartenfels Castle on behalf of the Bamberg Bishop , which was supposed to secure the Bamberg property in the Franconian Forest against the encroachment of the Burgraves of Nuremberg into this area, and received it from him as a fief.

In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries the family divided into a number of lines, which, however, except for the Burghaiger and Lichtenberger lines, became extinct again by the time of the Thirty Years War.

Burghaiger line

Reiwin's grandson Albrecht (V.5) was the founder of the Burghaiger line. In the division of the estate with his uncle Heinrich (IV.1), Albrecht had received two thirds of the “Feste zum Haug” and took up residence there. In 1372 he gave the previous property to the burgrave Friedrich V of Nuremberg as a fief. Hans von Waldenfels (V.1), the son of Heinrich, followed the example of his cousin and in the following year also converted his third of Burghaig into a fiefdom of Nuremberg. This third was passed on in the Lichtenberg line of the von Waldenfels family. The holdings of the Burghaiger line also extended to Rugendorf and the castle Grünwehr in Kulmbach. In 1605 Georg Christoph (XI.33) and Rudolf (XI.30) von Waldenfels sold the manors Burghaig and Grünwehr to the margravial chancellor Friedrich Hilderich von Varell for 30,000 guilders .

Katschenreuther line

Heinrich von Waldenfels (V.8) zu Stadtsteinach had received the "dwelling under Katzenreuth, umbfangen with water" through his marriage to Anna von Dietersheim before 1407. This seat at Katschenreuth near Kulmbach was a castle-counts-Nuremberg fief; it was the ancestral seat of the Katschenreuther line of the von Waldenfels family, which died out in 1637 with Christoph Soldan (X. 38) von Waldenfels in the male line. The castle was demolished around 1856.

Forest adult line

When Hans von Waldenfels (VI.1), a great-grandson of Reiwin (III.1), acquired the seat of Waldsachsen near Rödental , northeast of Coburg, around 1410 , he founded the Waldsachsen line of his family. The castle, which burned down in 1822, was a fiefdom of the dukes of Saxony ; Klaus von Waldenfels (VIII.5), a grandson of the buyer, sold it in 1496 and bought Schmölz Castle for it . In the next generation, the line with Wilwolt von Waldenfels (IX.12) died out in the male line around 1633.

Lichtenberger line

By far the largest coherent property of the von Waldenfels family was the Lichtenberg domain . Kaspar (VI.2), the brother of Hans von Waldenfels (VI.1), had probably acquired it in 1428 from Count Sigismund von Orlamünde . Kaspar von Waldenfels, who founded the Lichtenberg line of the family, held the influential office of the margravial Brandenburg captain in Hof. He had brought Lichtenberg into his possession as free property; Only as a result of the Waldenfels feud did his sons Hans (VII.5) and Fritz (VII.6) recognize the Brandenburg fiefdom over Lichtenberg in 1446. Hans' sons, Heinz (VIII.9) and Kaspar (VIII.12), shared the paternal inheritance in 1481. Kaspar received the Wartenfels Castle, Heinz the rule of Lichtenberg. Kaspar's son Wolf Adolf (IX.18) was forced to sell his Wartenfels property in 1574 due to his heavy debt. Lichtenberg suffered the same fate for two generations: Heinz 'great-grandsons Hans Rudolf (XI.6) and Christoph (XI.7) sold the Lichtenberg estate in 1618 for 160,000 guilders to Prince Janusz Radziwiłł , a brother-in-law of Margrave Christian von Brandenburg-Kulmbach . The new seats of the still existing Lichtenberg line were Gumpertsreuth Castle near Hof , Oberröslau Castle and Unterhöchstädt Castle near Wunsiedel . In 1827 the Röthenbach Castle near Arzberg was added.

Fischbacher line

The eponymous seat of the Fischbacher Line was in the village of Fischbach, about five kilometers southeast of Kronach . As a result of the unfortunate course of the Waldenfels feud , the previously free ownership share of the brothers Hans (VII.5) and Fritz (VII.6) von Waldenfels zu Lichtenberg had to be assigned to Margrave Albrecht Achilles of Brandenburg as a fief. Before 1449, the Lichtenberg brothers sold this leasable share to their cousin Hans von Waldenfels (VII.1) zu Knellendorf , who already had free property in Fischbach. Since 1460, Hans no longer named himself after his seat in Knellendorf, but after Fischbach and thus founded the Fischbach line of his family. In 1502 Hans' son Balthasar (VIII.2) gave the previously free property of Fischbach to the Bamberg diocese as a fief. The line died in 1618 with Georg Christoph (X.2) from Waldenfels; the Fischbach manor came into the possession of the von Guttenberg family.

The von Waldenfels supported the notorious robber baron Hans Thomas von Absberg , which in 1523 called the Swabian Federation to the scene, which destroyed many small knight castles of the accomplices.

distribution

Another possession

Personalities

Related families

coat of arms

The coat of arms of the von Waldenfels shows a silver jumping unicorn on a blue background. The helmet is crowned, from which the unicorn grows. The ceilings are silver and blue.

The coat of arms can be found in the coat of arms of various Franconian communities. It is not in Siebmacher's coat of arms book from 1605. The von Wallenfels coat of arms is probably incorrectly assigned to the von Wällenhofer family .

See also

literature
Part 1: Sequences of genealogies with documentary evidence from 1248 to the middle of the 16th century (1952)
Part 2: Sequences with documentary evidence from the 16th century to the end of the 30th year. War. (1956)
Part 3: Sequences of records with documentary evidence from the end of the 30th year. War to the present. (1959)
Part 4: Property History (1966)
Part 5: 18 biographies (1970)

Web links

Commons : Waldenfels (noble family)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The numbers in brackets refer to the numbering within the work Die Freiherrn von Waldenfels by Otto Frhr. v. Waldenfels
  2. ↑ See Wandereisen woodcuts from 1523
  3. ^ Feud of 1444 ( Memento of February 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Obituary [1]
  5. ↑ Abendblatt.de
  6. ↑ Prof. Dr. Ruprecht von Waldenfels. Retrieved June 4, 2020 .