Werner von Haxthausen

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Werner von Haxthausen with the medal insignia of the Sovereign Order of Malta

Werner Moritz Maria Graf von Haxthausen (born July 18, 1780 in Bökendorf near Brakel in the prince-bishopric of Paderborn ; † April 30, 1842 in Würzburg ; pseudonym: Sigurt Albrock ) was a German civil servant, landowner and philologist. He was an older brother of August von Haxthausen and an uncle of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff .

Life

Werner von Haxthausen was one of eight sons of the Drosten of the Paderborn Office of Lichtenau , Werner Adolph Freiherr von Haxthausen , Lord of Thienhausen, Bökendorf, Abbenburg and Bellersen (near Brakel ), and the baroness Marie Anne von Wendt -Papenhausen. He also had nine sisters.

Youth, studies, wars of liberation

Haxthausen was raised from 1799 to 1801 in the family of the poet Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg in Münster , with whom his half-sister Therese, married Droste zu Hülshoff, had contact within the district of Münster . He studied law and medicine at the University of Münster and from 1801 in Prague ; he lived in Bohemia from 1803/1804. After temporarily taking over the Dompräbende in Osnabrück , he turned to studying Oriental Studies in Paris , Göttingen and Halle . As a member of the " Tugendbund " around Wilhelm von Dörnberg , in whose conspiracy against the French rule in the Kingdom of Westphalia he was involved in 1810, he had to flee to England, where he under the code name "Dr. Albrock ”worked as a doctor and took part in the war of liberation as an adjutant to General Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn . In Paris and at the Congress of Vienna he came into contact with Ernst Moritz Arndt , Sulpiz Boisserée , Joseph von Laßberg and Joseph Görres , among others . At the Congress of Vienna he and Lassberg were among the founders of the secret chain of nobility . In 1825 he married Elisabeth (Betty) von Harff- Dreiborn (Schleiden) , with whom he initially lived in Cologne . Their inheritance enabled him to financially rehabilitate the family estates, which he then took over management.

Public work in Prussia

In 1815 Haxthausen was appointed Prussian government councilor in Cologne and entrusted with organizational tasks in the new Prussian Rhine province . In 1825 he was dismissed by the Prussian government after helping the brothers Grimm and Josef Görres in persecuting demagogues . In the Westphalian provincial parliament in 1833 he was chairman of the committee for the rural hereditary farm law . From this emerged his ultra-conservative work “On the foundations of our constitution”, which was influenced by Karl Ludwig von Haller and which led to Haxthausen's brief arrest because of its violent criticism of the Prussian government. Even his peers then distanced themselves from him. This experience contributed to Haxthausen's relocation to Bavaria.

Public work in Bavaria

In 1837 Haxthausen acquired Salzburg Castle and Neuhaus Castle in Bad Neuhaus near Bad Neustadt an der Saale , which he had got to know during a spa stay in Bad Kissingen . The Bavarian King Ludwig I raised Werner von Haxthausen to the rank of count . He died in Würzburg in 1842 , a year after he and King Ludwig I of Bavaria had laid the foundation stone for a chapel in neo-Byzantine architecture at his Salzburg Castle and was buried in the family crypt of Count Schenk von Stauffenberg . After his death, his widow managed this entire property, where she founded the spa business, until her death on January 21, 1862. The countess had chosen her eleven-year-old grandson Otto von Brenken as heir. Otto's parents managed the estate with the castle for their son and were also able to acquire the remaining shares in Salzburg. The couple also expanded the Neuhaus private baths founded by the Countess and built a Swiss-style guest house there.

Work as a philologist and art collector

As a philologist - particularly fluent in language - Werner von Haxthausen edited a collection of modern Greek folk songs (published posthumously in 1935 by Karl Schulte-Kemminghausen and Gustav Soyter), about which Goethe expressed his praise. In addition, he, his brother August von Haxthausen , other siblings and his niece Jenny von Droste zu Hülshoff were involved in the fairy tale collection of the Brothers Grimm , with whom he was a close friend.

Like his friend Sulpiz Boisserée , Haxthausen also put together an important collection of paintings, the traces of which have been lost, and during his time in Cologne he worked with him to complete the Cologne Cathedral .

family

progeny

His marriage to Betty von Harff-Dreiborn had an only daughter, Maria (1826–1880), whom Hermann von und zu Brenken married. From this marriage came four sons and four daughters who found their spouses in the families Walderdorff , Rottenhan , Boeselager , Heereman von Zuydtwyck , Korff , Mylius and Merveldt . Her second son, Otto von und zu Brenken (1852–1884), who died early, inherited the Bad Neuhaus estate from his mother . His widow, Maria Countess von Rottenhan (1860–1945), brought the estate and the spa, which later became the Rhön Clinic , into her second marriage to Karl-Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (the elder, 1854– 1904) a.

Relatives to Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

As a pupil of the poet Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg in Münster and during his studies there, Werner often stayed in Burg Hülshoff , with his eldest (step) sister Therese, the mother of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff . He gave her advice on proper reading for the passionate young genius. He also wrote poems in the style of Johann Heinrich Voss , about which Goethe expressed himself disparagingly. In 1825/1826 his niece Annette lived in his house in Cologne for a long time and helped to organize his library. However, Annette felt hurt by her uncle's behavior. Although she recognized his brilliant talents, she also later judged his achievements critically. Through Werner von Haxthausen, Annette's sister Jenny met his friend Joseph von Laßberg , whom she married in 1834. The couple's residences, Eppishausen Castle and Meersburg Castle on Lake Constance , became the poet's “second home”.

See also

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Werner von Haxthausen  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Haxthausen, Werner von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Haxthausen, Werner Graf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil servant and philologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH Bökendorf near Brakel , Principality of Paderborn
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1842
Place of death Wurzburg