Westphalen (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the von Westphalen

Westphalen is the name of an old East Westphalian noble family . The Lords of Westphalen appeared for the first time in the middle of the 13th century and belonged to the primeval nobility in the originally Engersche landscapes. Branches of the family still exist today.

No relationship is to the 1764 ennobled , 1906 in the male line extinct family of Westphalia to the Philipp von Westphalen (grandfather), Ludwig von Westphalen (father) and Jenny Marx (nee von Westphalen) and Ferdinand von Westphalen (the children) were, as well as to Ernst Joachim (von) Westphal (en), who was ennobled in 1738 and died childless .

history

The knight Johannes de Westvael is named in documents as the first reliable member of the family from 1249 to 1265 . He belonged to the following of the noblemen of Schalksberg near Minden and the bishop of Minden .

Arnold , Heinrich , Ludolf and Lutbert are mentioned as his sons in the second half of the 13th century . From the beginning to the middle of the 14th century they became castle men and vassals of the Counts of Ravensberg , the noblemen of the Lippe and the prince-bishops of Paderborn and owned extensive land. Headquarters became Lippspringe around 1350 , Heidelbeck from 1370 (today part of the Laßbruch district ) an der Lippe , Herbram in 1405 and Fürstenberg near Büren in 1455 . Other goods were added later, including 1602 Laer (today a district of Meschede ) in the Sauerland , 1790 Gut Rixdorf in Holstein and 1804 Kulm in Bohemia . Because of their possessions they belonged to the knighthood of the Prince Diocese of Paderborn and the Duchy of Westphalia .

The Counts of Westphalen zu Fürstenberg are the largest private forest owners in the Paderborn region . The Laer estates in Sauerland and Rixdorf in Ostholstein also belong to the Fürstenberg estates.

In the first half of the 15th century the brothers Johann and Wilhelm von Westphalen, sons of Lubbert the Rich, founded several lines. The Wünnenberg line with the branches to Iggenhausen , Remblinghausen and Scheidingen , which went out in the 17th century, the first Fürstenberg line, which died out in 1773, and the Heidelbeck line, which went out in the second half of the 19th century, come from Johann . Wilhelm founded the second Fürstenberg line or main line Fürstenberg-Laer, which still exists today, and the Herbram line, which was extinguished in 1747.

The Westphalen were inheritance gifts in the Principality of Hildesheim , hereditary chief hunter master in the Principality of Osnabrück and hereditary kitchen master in the Principality of Paderborn .

From the Fürstenberg-Laer line, Friedrich Wilhelm von Westphalen (* 1727, † 1789) became Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim and coadjutor of his uncle, the Paderborn Prince-Bishop Wilhelm Anton von der Asseburg, in 1763 . In 1782 he himself took over the office of Prince-Bishop of Paderborn. His nephew, Clemens August von Westphalen , became an imperial count in 1792 . In 1854 the family acquired the hereditary seat in the Prussian manor house and in 1911 the hereditary seat in the Austrian manor house .

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows a red crossbar in silver, raised by a five-legged black tournament collar . On the helmet a red hat, the silver brim of which is studded with two silver feathers, which are covered with the tournament collar. The helmet covers are red-silver.

Name bearer

Friedrich Wilhelm von Westphalen (1727–1789), Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim and Paderborn

literature

Web links

Commons : Westphalen family  - collection of images, videos and audio files

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Document book of the Diocese of Minden, Book 2, No. 518
  2. ↑ Hohmann 1975