Welczeck (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the Counts of Welczeck

Welczeck or Welczek is the name of an old Silesian noble family. The barons and counts of Welczeck belong to the ancient nobility of Upper Silesia .

history

For a long time the origin of the family was not clear. On behalf of Count Welczeck, the family researcher Josef Pilnáček found out in the 1930s that the family emerged from the tribe of the Rassycz family as the von Dubensko family in the earliest times. A branch of the family settled in the small village as early as the 13th century. Documented records appear the family 1239–1246 with Egid in Opole and 1306 with Egid von Dubensko , who often stayed at the court of the Dukes Przemislaus and Lestko von Ratibor , was already a permanent official at the court. The uninterrupted line of trunks begins with Welczek von Dubensko , born around 1306. For example, representatives of the family only bore the name Welczek or Welczeck since the 14th century . In the 20th century in particular, the theory developed that this epithet came from a maternal line of the “Wilczek” family. Various members of the von Welczek family served as notaries, crown chancellors or judges at the court of the Dukes of Ratibor . The descendants served the crown of Bohemia for centuries and from 1526 the Habsburg family .

Johann von Welczek (* 1593) was a noble boy in the service of the Archduke, later Emperor, Matthias . In 1637 he became chancellor of the principalities of Opole and Ratibor . On October 7, 1646, Johann von Welczek became administrator of the provincial governorate. He was councilor to Prince Karl Ferdinand of Poland. A special award was the hereditary imperial baron status on November 8, 1656. He steadily supported the church and monasteries in Gliwice materially and made the construction of the Gliwice Franciscan monastery possible . He built the family crypt in the Gleiwitz Kreuzkirche. He died on February 10, 1670. A grave slab in the Gleiwitz Kreuzkirche commemorates the well-known donor and dignitary. He and his wife had eight children.

His sons included the Maltese knight Karl Leopold von Welczek, the archdeacon of Opole Franz Josef Ignaz von Welczek, the senior official Georg Bernhard von Welczek as well as the chief judge of the principalities of Opole and Ratibor Christof Freiherr von Welczek, who with Maria Eufemia Countess Praschma von Bilkau was married.

Franz Rudolph von Welczek was raised to the rank of count in 1709. He had been a student in Leuven and owned various estates. As chief regent in the principality of Teschen he was widely respected. His older brother, Johann Bernhard, inherited Dubensko. In 1704 he was the founder of a hospital in Laband, which he still subsidized 30 years later. He was married to Maria Josepha Dorothea Countess von Berchthold . One of his grandchildren was the district administrator of the Groß-Strehlitz district , Gustav Josef Johann Berchthold Freiherr von Welczeck. His descendants lived in Upper Silesia until the end of the Second World War , mostly as civil servants or soldiers in state services.

One of the descendants of Johann Bernhard von Welczeck was the member of the Prussian manor, Bernhard Freiherr von Welczeck , who was raised to hereditary count on November 19, 1894.

His son was the diplomat Johannes Graf von Welczeck . He died in Marbella , Spain in 1972 .

Former possessions

Josef Pilnáček's genealogy shows that the family owned the towns of Dubensko , Ridultau , Niepaschitz, Petersdorf, Ellguth, Przyschowka, Pschow , Ornontowitz , Ober-Schwirklan, Grzibowitz, Alt-Gleiwitz and Kandrzin, among other estates . In the knee of 1830, the lords of Neudorf, Czuchow and Czechowitz can still be found .

The Laband reign near Gleiwitz OS later became the family headquarters.

coat of arms

Coat of arms of the barons of Welczeck
  • Family coat of arms : divided lengthways in red, in front a gold crowned double-tailed lion with a sword, behind a silver wall with two towers.
  • Baron coat of arms 1656: the family coat of arms, but the lion holds a lance with a white pennant; two crowned helmets, the right one with the two towers, the left one with a growing armless man in a red cloak with a white collar and a red cap with a white cuff hanging to the left.
  • Count's coat of arms 1894: like the baron's coat of arms, but the lion holding a laurel-wrapped sword in the pank. Left helmet ornament: a growing bearded man in a gold tied red skirt with a gold collar and a gold cuff on his cap.

Known family members

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Codex diploma. Siles. VII, / 1, p. 197, no. 529
  2. ↑ Codex diploma. Siles. II, p. 114
  3. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Adelslexikon Volume XVI, 2005, pp. 54–55
  4. ↑ (Steinhaus - Zwierlein) . Voigt, 1870 ( google.de [accessed on April 3, 2019]).
  5. ^ Journal of the Association for the History of Silesia . F. Hirt, 1874 ( google.de [accessed April 3, 2019]).
  6. ^ Rolf Straubel: Biographical handbook of the Prussian administrative and judicial officials 1740-1806 / 15 . Walter de Gruyter, 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-44130-1 ( google.de [accessed on April 3, 2019]).
  7. ^ Journal of the Association for History and Antiquity of Silesia . 1874 ( google.de [accessed April 4, 2019]).
  8. ^ Johann G. Knie: Alphabetical-statistical-topographical overview of the villages, spots, cities and other places of the royal family. prussia. Province of Silesia: together with the attached evidence of the division of the country . Grass, Barth, 1845 ( google.de [accessed on April 3, 2019]).
  9. ^ Goods address book Silesia 1873 / Tost-Gleiwitz - GenWiki. Retrieved April 3, 2019 .
  10. ^ Felix Triest: Topographisches Handbuch von Oberschlesien . Korn, 1865 ( google.de [accessed on April 3, 2019]).
  11. ^ Augustin Weltzel: History of the city of Ratibor . Self-published, 1861 ( google.de [accessed on April 3, 2019]).
  12. ↑ Silesian Provincial Papers . Korn, 1866 ( google.de [accessed on April 3, 2019]).