Wolfgang Dietrich zu Castell-Remlingen

Wolfgang Dietrich on an engraving, Ludwig Christoph Glotsch 1709

Wolfgang Dietrich Graf and Lord of Castell-Remlingen (born January 6, 1641 in Remlingen ; † April 8, 1709 in Castell ) was ruler of the Grafschaft Castell- Remlingen, regional portion of Castell , from 1668 to 1709 . He shared the rule with his brother Friedrich Magnus . He also held other offices in the Margraviate of Ansbach and in the Electoral Palatinate .

The county before Wolfgang Dietrich

Since the end of the 13th century the ancestral seat of the counts, the village of Castell was divided into two owners. When the line from the Lower Castle became extinct at the end of the 14th century, one of the parts came into the hands of the Margraviate of Ansbach , who established their Castell office here. The castle, which was the official residence of the margraves, was destroyed in the Peasants' War of 1525 and was left to decay.

In addition, the county was divided again in the course of the 16th century when the lines Alt-Castell-Rüdenhausen and Castell-Remlingen split. The Counts of Remlingen sat in Castell and Remlingen, while the other line resided in Wiesenbronn and Rüdenhausen . The Thirty Years War did not spare the county in the first half of the 17th century either; many parts of the country were in a ruinous state.

Life

Laying of the foundation stone of the New Palace, detail of the copper engraving

Wolfgang Dietrich was born on January 6, 1641 as the second son of Count Wolfgang Georg I and his wife Sophia Juliana, née Countess zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Pfedelbach, in Remlingen, Franconia . His older brother Georg Ludwig had died before he was born. He grew up with the siblings Juliane Dorothea, the only older sister, Sophie Luise, Friedrich Magnus and Eberhard Friedrich. Three other brothers died in childhood. The brothers' informator was at times the evangelical clergyman and poet Johann Heinrich Calisius .

The young count was sent by his parents to the University of Tübingen and studied there for a few years. He then went on a so-called cavalier tour through Europe, which took him to England, France and the Netherlands. On July 7th 1667 he married Elisabeth Dorothea Schenkin zu Limpurg. After the death of his father in 1668 he became the ruling Count zu Castell, but shared this task with his younger brother Friedrich Magnus. He received the national portion of Castell, but initially took up a few offices with other princes of the Holy Roman Empire .

In 1672 Wolfgang Dietrich came into the service of the Margrave of Ansbach. He was appointed to the Privy Council and, as governor of the Unterland, played a key role in the politics of the margravate. For this purpose, the count moved his residence from Castell to Neustadt an der Aisch . In 1678 he became Grand Chamberlain, Privy Councilor and Burgrave of Alzey in the service of Elector Karl Ludwig von der Pfalz .

Here he proved himself as a politician. Among other things, he regulated the succession of the electoral dignity and excluded King Louis XIV of France from being elected emperor. After the Limpurg taverns died out , the count, who had married into this family, hoped to receive the imperial fief of this family, but failed. In the Palatinate, Wolfgang Dietrich then also served under the Electors Karl II. And Philipp Wilhelm . It was not until 1687 that he resigned from his office in order to devote himself more to the government of the County of Castell.

The first act was the exchange of the Ansbach part of the village of Castell. Thus, after several hundred years, the county’s residence was again completely in the hands of the counts. With the village, Wolfgang Dietrich also received the ruinous " Lower Castle ". Following the baroque understanding, the count then had the new castle built in the village of Castell. It was moved into in 1691. In the same year the wife Elisabeth Dorothea died and was buried in Castell.

On March 7, 1693 Wolfgang Dietrich married again, Countess Dorothea Renate von Zinzendorf and Pottendorf. From 1689 to 1695 the count also held the office of director of the Franconian counts' college. Wolfgang Dietrich Graf and Herr zu Castell-Remlingen died on April 8, 1709 and was buried in the Johanneskirche in the residence. On the occasion of his funeral sermon, Ludwig Christoph Glotsch made an engraving that was supposed to symbolize the count's deeds.

Marriages and offspring

On July 7, 1667, Count Wolfgang Dietrich married Elisabeth Dorothea Schenkin zu Limpurg in Remlingen in Obersontheim . He had six children with her, but only four of them reached adulthood. Karl Friedrich Gottlieb was established as his successor.

• Sophie Dorothea (born June 21, 1668 in Remlingen, † December 25, 1732 in Castell)
• Christiana Theodora (born June 12, 1669 in Remlingen; † August 15, 1674 in Neustadt an der Aisch)
• Charlotte Juliane (born September 14, 1670 in Castell; † February 5, 1696 in Rüdenhausen)
• Luise Florina (born April 16, 1672 in Castell; † July 27, 1676 ibid)
• Christiana Elisabeth (born June 21, 1674 in Neustadt; † March 16, 1717 in Neuenstein )
• Karl Friedrich Gottlieb (born April 16, 1679 in Mannheim ; † May 9, 1743 in Hamburg )

After the death of his wife, Wolfgang Dietrich married Dorothea Renate von Zinzendorf and Pottendorf on March 7, 1693. The marriage had eight children.

• Eleonore Auguste Amalie (* December 27, 1693 in Castell; † May 25, 1712 ibid)
• Wolfgang Georg (* December 20, 1694 in Castell; † September 22, 1735 ibid)
• Charlotte Luise Renata (born January 24, 1696 in Castell; † January 6, 1699)
• Ludwig Theodor (born November 2, 1698 in Castell; † December 11, 1698 ibid)
• Karoline Friederike Luise (* May 15, 1702 in Castell; † February 17, 1748 in Rehweiler )
• Sophie Theodora (born May 12, 1703 in Castell; † January 8, 1777 in Herrnhut )
• August Franz Friedrich (born July 31, 1705 in Castell; † May 16, 1767 ibid)
• Ludwig Friedrich (born February 23, 1707 in Castell; † June 22, 1772 in Rehweiler)

literature

• Max Domarus: The portraits in Rüdenhausen Castle . In: Friends of Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte e. V. (Ed.): Mainfränkische Hefte. Issue 46 . Volkach 1966.
• Wilhelm Engel: House u. Reign of Castell in Franconian history . In: Society for Franconian History (ed.): Castell. Contributions to the culture and history of home and dominion. New Year's Sheets XXIV . Würzburg 1952. pp. 1-19.
• Otto Meyer: The Castell house. State and class rule over the centuries . In: Otto Meyer, Hellmut Kunstmann (ed.): Castell. State rule - castles - status lordship . Castell 1979. pp. 9-53.

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Dietrich zu Castell-Remlingen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 27 f.
2. ↑ Angelfire.com: Castell family tree , accessed on March 5, 2015, English .
3. ↑ ^{a b} Domarus, Max: The portraits in Rüdenhausen Castle . P. 35.
4. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 28.

predecessor	Office	successor
Wolfgang Georg I.	Count of Castell-Remlingen 1668–1709	Karl Friedrich Gottlieb Wolfgang Georg II. August Franz Friedrich Ludwig Friedrich