Dalberg
Encyclopedia
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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...
noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle (now in ruins) of Dalberg or Dalburg near Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
. In the 14th century the original house of Dalberg became extinct in the male line, the fiefs passing to Johann Gerhard, chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
of the see of Worms, who married the heiress of his cousin, Anton of Dalberg, about 1330. His own family was of great antiquity, his ancestors having been hereditary ministerials of the bishop of Worms since the time of Ekbert the chamberlain, who founded in 1119 the Augustinian monastery of Frankenthal
Frankenthal
Frankenthal is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.- History :Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, after the founder, as the Erkenbertruine — still stand today in the town...
and died in 1132. By the mid 15th century the Dalberg family had grown to be of such importance that, in 1452, the German King Frederick III
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...
granted them the honor of being the first to receive knighthood at the coronation; this part of the ceremonies being opened by the herald asking in a loud voice Ist kein Dalberg da? ("Is no Dalberg present?"). This picturesque privilege the family enjoyed till the end of the Holy Roman Empire
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...
. The elder line of the family of Dalberg-Dalberg became extinct in 1848, the younger, that of Dalberg-Herrnsheim, in 1833. The male line of the Dalbergs is now represented only by the family of Hessloch, descended from Gerhard of Dalberg (c. 1239), which in 1809 succeeded to the title and estates in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
of the extinct counts of Ostein.
The following are the most noteworthy secular members of the family:
- Johann von Dalberg (1445–1503), ChamberlainChamberlain (office)A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
and afterwards bishop of Worms, son of Wolfgang von Dalberg. He studied at ErfurtUniversity of ErfurtThe University of Erfurt is a public university located in Erfurt, Germany. Originally founded in 1379, the university was closed in 1816 for the next 177 years...
and in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where he took his degree of doctor utriusque juris at FerraraUniversity of FerraraThe University of Ferrara is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 500 students, was the best attended of the free universities in Italy...
and devoted himself more especially to the study of GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. Returning to Germany, he became privy councillor to the elector palatine PhilipPhilip, Elector PalatinePhilip the Upright, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach from 1476 to 1508....
, whom he assisted in bringing the University of Heidelberg to the height of its fame. He was instrumental in founding the first chair of Greek, which was filled by his friend Rudolph Agricola, and he also established the university library and a college for students of civil lawCivil law (legal system)Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
. He was an ardent humanistHumanismHumanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, was president of the Sodalitas Celtica founded by the poet Konrad Celtes, and corresponded with many of the leading scholars of his day, to whom he showed himself a veritable Maecenas. He was employed also on various diplomaticDiplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
missions by the emperor and the elector. - Wolfgang von DalbergWolfgang von DalbergWolfgang von Dalberg was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1582 to 1601.-Biography:Wolfgang von Dalberg was born in 1538, the son of Friedrich Kämmerer von Worms alias von Dalberg , and his wife Anna von Fleckenstein Wolfgang von Dalberg (1538–1601) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1582...
(1538–1601), archbishop-elector of Mainz from 1582 to 1601. - Karl Theodor Anton Maria von DalbergKarl Theodor Anton Maria von DalbergKarl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Regensburg, primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand-Duke of Frankfurt.-Biography:...
(1744–1817), archbishop-elector of Mainz, arch-chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, and afterwards the only ever prince-primate of the Napoleonic Confederation of the RhineConfederation of the RhineThe Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
and grand-duke of FrankfurtGrand Duchy of FrankfurtThe Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishops of Mainz along with the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt itself....
. - Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg (1750–1806), brother of the above. He was intendantIntendantThe title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
of the theatre at MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, which he brought to a high state of excellence. His chief claim to remembrance is that it was he who first put Schiller's earlier dramas on the stage, and it is to him that the poet's Briefe an den Freiherrn von Dalberg ("Letters to the Baron of Dalberg", Karlsruhe, 1819) are addressed. He himself wrote several plays, including adaptations of Shakespeare. His brother, Johann Friedrich Hugo von Dalberg (1752–1812), canonCanon (priest)A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Worms and SpeyerSpeyerSpeyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
, had some vogue as a composer and writer on musical subjects.
- Emmerich Joseph, duc de Dalberg (1773–1833), son of Baron Wolfgang Heribert. He was born at MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
on 30 May 1773. In 1803 he entered the service of BadenBadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, which he represented as envoy in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. After the Treaty of SchönbrunnTreaty of SchönbrunnThe Treaty of Schönbrunn , sometimes known as the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at the Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna on 14 October 1809. This treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars...
(1809) he entered the service of Napoleon, who created him a duke and councillor of state in 1810. He had from the first been on intimate terms with Talleyrand, and retired from the public service when the latter fell out of the emperor's favor. In 1814 he was a member of the provisional government by whom the Bourbon kingsHouse of BourbonThe House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
were recalled, and attended the Congress of ViennaCongress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, with Talleyrand, as minister plenipotentiary. He appended his signature to the decree of outlawry launched in 1815 by the European powers against Napoleon. For this his property in France was confiscated, but was given back after the second RestorationBourbon RestorationThe Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, when he became a minister of state and a peer of France. In 1816 he was sent as ambassador to TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. The latter years of his life he spent on his estates at Herrnsheim, where he died on 27 April 1833.
The duc de Dalberg had inherited the family property of Herrnsheim
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
from his uncle the arch-chancellor Karl von Dalberg, and this estate passed, through his daughter and heiress, Marie Louise Pelline de Dalberg, by her marriage with Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet
Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet
Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet was a British baronet.He was born in Sicily where his father Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet, a former Prime Minister of Naples, had been forced to flee in 1806. His mother was the eldest daughter of his father’s brother, General Joseph Edward...
(who assumed the additional name of Dalberg), to her son the historian, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton.
Sources
- K. Morneweg, Johann von Dalberg, ein deutscher Humanist und Bischof (Heidelberg, 1887).
- Karl von Beaulieu-Marconnay, Karl von Dalberg und seine Zeit (Weimar, 1879).