English Abstracts
Monika Gussone und Hans-Werner Langbrandtner: Bibliotheken und Musikalien als Spiegel adliger Bildung. Auf Spurensuche in rheinischen Adelsbibliotheken und -archiven, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
By means of selected examples this contribution tries to show which sorts of primary sources may reveal information on the book property of individual persons or even hole families of the early modern Renish nobility. While the early book collections can be tapped primarily by relief fixtures, since the implementation of entailments several library assets were preserved over the generations. There is discussion in how far the number of books in a noble household permits conclusions on the educational background of the particular family and in which cases the books possessed may be drawn as a source for the biography of their owners. Furthermore, the different functions of libraries in a noble ménage will be traced: Often there were only few books needed in everyday life, some of the libraries were a mirror of the professional work of their owners, others predominantly served the children's education and only the biggest point to additional literary or scientific interests. Finally, the reconstruction of noble music culture with the help of contemporary music supplies, bills and inventories as well as relevant, but meanwhile disposed papers listed in auction catalogues will be addressed.
Maria Rößner-Richarz: Selbstzeugnisse als Quellen adliger Lebenswelten in der Sattelzeit. Eine Bestandsaufnahme, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
On the basis of ego-documents of nobles like biographies, diaries, travelogues, letters, testaments, philosophical texts, prayers and poems this article tries to determine the noble living environment. The primary sources were taken without exception from the family-archives of the Renish nobility. Focal points are family life, the noble mansion, cultural life, religion and piety and, lastly, the dealing with death. With the help of those references one might be able to asset in how far the nobility under the influences of the enlightenment, the French Revolution and the following wars and political upheavals began to reflect its own role more intensively.
Christian Reinicke: Quellen zur adligen Lebensgeschichte. Beobachtungen an Personenstandsquellen des 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhunderts, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
The nomination of nobles in church books and marital status registries of the Rhineland between 1750 and 1850 mirrors the political and social changes characterizing these decades. The pre-revolutionary church books mention nobles accordingly to social conventions as persons of rank. However, a precise reconstruction of noble genealogies with the help of church books is hampered by the fact of frequently changing residencies and habitations of the noble families. Occasionally, the church books try a reuniting genealogy for the particular family. In the marital status registries of the French Departements on the left bank of the Rhine, nobles, according to the revolutionary law, lost their titles after 1798. Probably just shortly after 1800 one returned to the old titles of rank, but this does not count for a re-strengthening of the noble families' political and social positions. It might rather indicate Napoleon's changed attitude towards the nobility and the beginning of a distinctive nobility-policy. The French laws regarding separation and their effects on Renish society, especially on noble families, eminently between 1798 and 1803, form a huge problem which is still to investigate.
Roelof Braad und Peter K. Weber: Das erste Adelsarchiv vollständig im Netz. Das Archiv der gräflichen Familie von und zu Hoensbroech auf Schloss Haag mit Quellen vom 13. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
After years of intensive preparation a cross-border archival project witnesses its final phase. The archive of the comital family von und zu Hoensbroech at Haag castle close to the Lower Renish city of Geldern (Germany) is of tremendous importance for the history of the nobility, but also for the regional and local history of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. In cooperation with the centre for archival advisory and advanced training of the regional authority of the Rhineland (Archivberatungs- und Fortbildungszentrum des LVR) and the Hoensbroech castle museum, the cultural centre 'Rijckheyt, centrum voor regionale geschiedenis' (Abundance, centre for regional history) in Heerlen ordered hundreds of thousands of printed pages from the archive of the comital family von und zu Hoensbroech to be digitalised. They will soon be available for research, but also to the historically interested public, at first via Intranet, later also via worldwide web. The project forms a cornerstone of international archival teamwork, not least because it permitted, probably for the first time, to make a noble family's archive in private ownership completely accessible via internet.
Wolfgang Bockhorst: Westfälische Adelsgeschichte in der französischen Zeit, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
Westphalia with its prince-bishoprics, imperial convents and prince-provostries but its relatively few secular territories exhibited a predominantly catholic imprint within the Holy Roman Empire. The ecclesiastical states were dominated by the long established local nobility which provided the chapters and forming the knighthood was also represented at the diets. Secularisation and French influence destroyed the power base of the nobility afore capable of joining the chapters. The nobility had to reorientate. Different examples show how individual nobles arranged themselves in these times of upheaval. The spectrum ranges from ingratiation over a cautious convergence to a wait-and-see attitude and also to strict refusal. In general, there was the awareness that the old positions were irretrievably lost. This is not contradicted by the fact that after 1815 one used one's best endeavors to regain the old appointment as the societies leading group.
Ingeborg Schnelling-Reinicke: Westfälischer Adel im Königreich Westphalen. Quellen zur Erforschung des westfälischen Adels im Geheimen Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Die westphälische Titelkommission und der Orden der westphälischen Krone, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
Taking the Kingdom of Westphalia (1807-1813) as an example, the article presents possibilities to draw on public records for research on the history of the nobility. The focus lies on two sub-stocks of records of the higher Westphalian administration, kept in the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, so far little noticed: the records of the Westphalian commission for titles (Commission du Sceau des Titres) as well as those of the order of the crown of Westphalia (Ordre de la Couronne de Westphalie). Both institutions were clear emulations of French prototypes. Besides biographical aspects and the examination of a nobility-policy following French patterns, these primary sources may shed light on a purposeful shaping of corporate feeling in a heterogeneous state composed of a multitude of former sovereign territories.
Oliver Schulz: Zwischen revolutionärer Herausforderung, unternehmerischem Interesse und Loyalität zu Preußen: Annäherungen an den Adel in der Grafschaft Mark um 1800 am Beispiel der Familie von Elverfeldt, in: zeitenblicke 9 (2010), Nr. 1.
The nobility of the county of Mark around 1800 depicts a remarkable "blank spot" on the map of the regional history of southern Westphalia. Comprehensive studies have not yet been submitted. Regional studies, which until now were strongly orientated towards economic history, mostly concentrated on the metal-working commerce of the Märkisches Sauerland and the groups of the Reidemeister and merchants. Accounts on the history of the Westphalian nobility often focused on the Münsterland so that it was nearly exclusively the catholic nobility which grabbed attention. Characteristics which, like the noble entrepreneurship in mining and pre-industrial metal-working, are typical for the county of Mark and at the same time are in discrepancy to the widespread picture of the noble great land owner and agricultural enterpriser need further analysis, particularly regarding the objectives and incitements of entrepreneurial action. The archive of the regional important noble family von Elverfeldt is, in view of its size and the diversity of the primary sources kept in it, predestinated to form a basis for these fields of research and the development of new perspectives for future investigation.