Walther von Cronberg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walther von Cronberg
Epitaph in the Marienkirche Bad Mergentheim
Tomb of sister Katharina von Kronberg married. von Dalberg († 1510), Sankt Martin (Pfalz)
Grand Master's coat of arms of Walther von Cronberg
Belfry stone from 1539 near the church of St. Martin in Sontheim with the coat of arms of the Grand Master

Walther von Cronberg (* 1477 at Kronberg Castle near Frankfurt ; † April 4, 1543 in Mergentheim ) was the 60th German Master from 1526 and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from 1527 until his death in 1543 .

family

He came from the imperial knighthood family Kronberg from Taunus and was born the son of Johann VI. (1426–1488), bailiff of Oppenheim and his wife Margarete von Erlenbach-Wilbach. The brother Philip VI. von Kronberg (1485–1510) also served as bailiff in Oppenheim, while his brother Johann von Cronberg (1487–1505) was canon in Mainz . The sister Katharina von Kronberg († 1510) married Hanns Kämmerer von Worms († 1531) and her elaborate tomb is preserved in the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Martin in Sankt Martin (Pfalz) .

Life

He was accepted into the Teutonic Order in the Kommende Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen on March 27, 1493 , no longer known to be oathers and guarantors for the 16-year-old. On December 16, 1526, after the resignation of his elderly predecessor Dietrich von Cleen, he was elected German master. He moved the German championship seat from Horneck Castle, which was devastated in the Peasants' War, to Mergentheim.

After the previous Grand Master Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach resigned from office in 1525 because he converted to the evangelical faith and had secularized the religious state , Walther von Cronberg, who had been German master since 1526, received the authorization from Emperor Charles V in 1527 to additionally become Administrator of the Grand Master’s Office to call. Later the title was shortened to Hoch- und Deutschmeister .

Through the Imperial Act, the nominal supreme claim to ownership of the former religious state in East Prussia was obtained, and in 1530 Cronberg was enfeoffed with the Land of Prussia at the Reichstag in Augsburg . Since the control but there de facto could not be exercised, he moved the seat of the Grand Master Office of Königsberg to his Mergentheim near Würzburg. In 1532 he obtained the imposition of the imperial ban on Albrecht von Brandenburg. After Cronberg's death, Prussia was given to Cronberg's successor Wolfgang Schutzbar called Milchling in 1544 by Emperor Charles V at the Reichstag .

The determined action and political skill of the high and German master saved the order from ruin and led it relatively safe through the confusion of the Reformation. The Deutschordensballei Franken subsequently developed into the new center of the order.

Walther von Cronberg is buried in the Marienkirche Bad Mergentheim , where his epitaph is also located.

souvenir

In Frankfurt am Main , the Walther-von-Cronberg-Platz in Sachsenhausen was named after him. The little iron hats in the coat of arms of Walther von Cronberg can be found in the city coat of arms of the Teutonic city of Gundelsheim am Neckar.

literature

Web links

Commons : Walther von Cronberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heraldic website with genealogy
personal data
SURNAME Cronberg, Walther von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cronberg, Walter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
DATE OF BIRTH around 1479
PLACE OF BIRTH Kronberg im Taunus
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1543
Place of death Mergentheim