Adam, Count of Schwarzenberg
Encyclopedia
Adam Graf von Schwarzenberg (26 August 1583 – 14 March 1641) was a German
official who advised George William, Elector of Brandenburg
, during the Thirty Years' War
and served as the Master of the Johanniterorden, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John (1625−41).
from Franconia
n Seinsheim
. The family was first documented in 1172 and elevated to the status of Reichsgraf in 1599. His mother was Margaretha Freiin Wolff von Metternich.
In 1600 Schwarzenberg inherited the title and lordship of his father, who died fighting the Ottoman Empire
. In 1609, he supported Elector John Sigismund
's claims to Jülich
and Cleves.
Schwarzenberg married Margaretha Freiin Hartard von Pallant in 1613, but his wife died two years later while giving birth to his second son, Johann Adolf. Rather than remarrying, Schwarzenberg entered the Johanniterorden, becoming Heermeister in 1625, the first of such not from Brandenburg's House of Hohenzollern
.
's Rhenish
territories. He also used his stature in the Bergisches Land
to secure the elevation of his Gimborn homeland to the reichsunmittelbar Lordship of Gimborn-Neustadt. Schwarzenberg reached the height of his power during the reign of Elector George William
. Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg
was predominantly Lutheran
and its prince was Calvinist
, the Roman Catholic
Schwarzenburg advocated the imperial
interests of Austria
's Catholic Habsburg Monarchy
.
George William pursued a policy of neutrality for Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War
. Schwarzenberg's pro-imperial tendencies were opposed by the pro-Protestant faction led by the privy councilors Levin von Knesebeck and Samuel von Winterfeld. Schwarzenberg succeeded in having Winterfeld expelled in 1626 when the imperial cause loomed strong. When Sweden
became involved in the war, the Calvinist chancellor Sigismund von Götzen
gained control and forced Schwarzenberg to retire to Kleve
in 1630. When the imperial cause regained momentum in 1634−5, Schwarzenberg returned to Berlin
. He wanted to raise an army of 26,000 troops to expel the Swedes and enforce George William's claim on Pomerania
, but he was only able to raise 11,000 undisciplined soldiers.
in the Duchy of Prussia in 1638, Schwarzenberg became the virtual dictator of Brandenburg from 1638−40. To finance the war, Schwarzenberg imposed new taxes, restricted the powers of the provincial estates, and suspended the Privy Council in favor of a War Council. Although Schwarzenberg had initially been supported by the estates for his cautious neutrality at the beginning of the war, the estates resented his attacks on their rights. He was seen as a traitor and agent for Austria and Habsburg Spain
, profiting from the war while Brandenburg suffered. More often than not, the mercenaries he hired did more harm to the people of Brandenburg than to the Swedish troops, whom they were unable to expel. By the time of George William's death in 1640, Brandenburg-Prussia was on the verge of dissolution.
acceded to Brandenburg's throne in 1640, he began curtailing the powers of Schwarzenberg, assuming them himself or granting them to Götzen. The new elector demoted the Rhinelander to Governor of Brandenburg. Frederick William had long resented Schwarzenberg, believing that the minister had tried to poison him in 1638 when the prince was ill with measles
.
Schwarzenberg died unexpectedly in 1641, allegedly from fright caused by his rioting mercenaries. Although his administration of Brandenburg's meager resources was largely unsuccessful during the Thirty Years' War, it marked the beginning of the state's curtailment of the estates, a process continued by Frederick William, the "Great Elector". Schwarzenberg's successor as Governor of Brandenburg, Samuel von Winterfeld, negotiated the peace treaty with Sweden.
Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch designed a bust
of Schwarzenberg for Berlin
's Siegesallee
; along with a bust of Colonel Konrad von Burgsdorff, the statue of Schwarzenberg flanked that of Elector George William. The memorial was unveiled on 23 December 1899.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
official who advised George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William of Brandenburg , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War...
, during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
and served as the Master of the Johanniterorden, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John (1625−41).
Early life
Schwarzenberg was born in Gimborn in the County of Mark. He was the son of Adolf, Count of Schwarzenberg, and a member of the House of SchwarzenbergHouse of Schwarzenberg
-History:The family was first mentioned in 1172. A branch of the Seinsheim family was created when Erkinger I of Seinsheim acquired the Franconian barony of Schwarzenberg, the castle Schwarzenberg and the title Baron of Schwarzenberg, in 1405–21. At this time, they also possessed some fiefdoms in...
from Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
n Seinsheim
Seinsheim
Seinsheim is a municipality in the district of Kitzingen in Bavaria in Germany. It is best known for its connection with the countly Seinsheim family which died out with the exception of the princely House of Schwarzenberg branch of the family....
. The family was first documented in 1172 and elevated to the status of Reichsgraf in 1599. His mother was Margaretha Freiin Wolff von Metternich.
In 1600 Schwarzenberg inherited the title and lordship of his father, who died fighting the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. In 1609, he supported Elector John Sigismund
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...
's claims to Jülich
Jülich
Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...
and Cleves.
Schwarzenberg married Margaretha Freiin Hartard von Pallant in 1613, but his wife died two years later while giving birth to his second son, Johann Adolf. Rather than remarrying, Schwarzenberg entered the Johanniterorden, becoming Heermeister in 1625, the first of such not from Brandenburg's House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
.
Brandenburg Privy Council
In the following years, Schwarzenberg became a member of Brandenburg's Privy Council, where he quickly acquired a position of prominence, especially regarding Brandenburg-PrussiaBrandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
's Rhenish
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
territories. He also used his stature in the Bergisches Land
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes...
to secure the elevation of his Gimborn homeland to the reichsunmittelbar Lordship of Gimborn-Neustadt. Schwarzenberg reached the height of his power during the reign of Elector George William
George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William of Brandenburg , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War...
. Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
was predominantly Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
and its prince was Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, the Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Schwarzenburg advocated the imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
interests of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
's Catholic Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
.
George William pursued a policy of neutrality for Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. Schwarzenberg's pro-imperial tendencies were opposed by the pro-Protestant faction led by the privy councilors Levin von Knesebeck and Samuel von Winterfeld. Schwarzenberg succeeded in having Winterfeld expelled in 1626 when the imperial cause loomed strong. When Sweden
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
became involved in the war, the Calvinist chancellor Sigismund von Götzen
Sigismund von Götzen
Sigismund von Götzen or Sigmundt von Götz was the Calvinist chancellor of the privy council of George William, Elector of Brandenburg. In 1630, he forced out of office the Roman Catholic Count Adam of Schwarzenberg, who had been in part responsible for the policy of irenicist neutrality that had...
gained control and forced Schwarzenberg to retire to Kleve
Kleve
Kleve , is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Kleve was capital of a county and later a duchy...
in 1630. When the imperial cause regained momentum in 1634−5, Schwarzenberg returned to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. He wanted to raise an army of 26,000 troops to expel the Swedes and enforce George William's claim on Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, but he was only able to raise 11,000 undisciplined soldiers.
Ruler of Brandenburg
After George William fled to KönigsbergKönigsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
in the Duchy of Prussia in 1638, Schwarzenberg became the virtual dictator of Brandenburg from 1638−40. To finance the war, Schwarzenberg imposed new taxes, restricted the powers of the provincial estates, and suspended the Privy Council in favor of a War Council. Although Schwarzenberg had initially been supported by the estates for his cautious neutrality at the beginning of the war, the estates resented his attacks on their rights. He was seen as a traitor and agent for Austria and Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
, profiting from the war while Brandenburg suffered. More often than not, the mercenaries he hired did more harm to the people of Brandenburg than to the Swedish troops, whom they were unable to expel. By the time of George William's death in 1640, Brandenburg-Prussia was on the verge of dissolution.
Later years
When Frederick WilliamFrederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
acceded to Brandenburg's throne in 1640, he began curtailing the powers of Schwarzenberg, assuming them himself or granting them to Götzen. The new elector demoted the Rhinelander to Governor of Brandenburg. Frederick William had long resented Schwarzenberg, believing that the minister had tried to poison him in 1638 when the prince was ill with measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
.
Schwarzenberg died unexpectedly in 1641, allegedly from fright caused by his rioting mercenaries. Although his administration of Brandenburg's meager resources was largely unsuccessful during the Thirty Years' War, it marked the beginning of the state's curtailment of the estates, a process continued by Frederick William, the "Great Elector". Schwarzenberg's successor as Governor of Brandenburg, Samuel von Winterfeld, negotiated the peace treaty with Sweden.
Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch designed a bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Schwarzenberg for Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
's Siegesallee
Siegesallee
The Siegesallee was a broad boulevard in Berlin, Germany. About 750 m in length, it ran northwards through the Tiergarten park from Kemperplatz , to Königsplatz, in which stood the Berlin Victory Column, in its original position in front of the Reichstag The Siegesallee (German for "Victory...
; along with a bust of Colonel Konrad von Burgsdorff, the statue of Schwarzenberg flanked that of Elector George William. The memorial was unveiled on 23 December 1899.