- Source: House of Alvensleben
The House of Alvensleben is an ancient, Low German (niederdeutsch) noble family from the Altmark region, whose earliest known member, Wichard de Alvensleve, is first mentioned in 1163 as a ministerialis of the Bishopric of Halberstadt. The family name derives from Alvensleben Castle (today Bebertal, district of Börde in Saxony-Anhalt). They are one of the oldest extant German aristocratic families.
History
The family line begins with Gebhard von Alvensleben, probably Wichard's son, mentioned between 1190 and 1216. The Alvenslebens were hereditary seneschals (Erbtruchsessen) of the Bishopric and Principality of Halberstadt from the 12th century. In the beginning, they served as Burgmannen in the bishop's castle of Alvensleben. Around 1270 they acquired their own family estate, Erxleben Castle, and, around 1324, Kalbe Castle.
Friedrich von Alvensleben (c 1265-1313) was master of the Knights Templar in their German and Slavic districts. His elder brothers founded two branches, the white and the black Alvenslebens, whereas the red branch died out in 1553.
The family acquired many further estates, some located in the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Brunswick. Gebhard XIV. von Alvensleben (mentioned 1393–1425) was part of the noblemen's opposition against Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, the first Hohenzollern to rule Brandenburg, but was later subdued by him.
The family generated two catholic bishops of Havelberg in the 15th and 16th centuries, but then became Lutheran Protestants. Joachim I. von Alvensleben (1514-1588) promoted the reformation in the Altmark region. The family provided many heads of government in this province, as well as a number of ministers, generals and diplomats in different Northern German states. Several lines of the family were made Prussian counts, beginning in 1798, and the family received a hereditary seat in the Prussian House of Lords. Most of their properties were expropriated in 1945 in communist East Germany. Their main family estates were:
Coat of arms
The family coat of arms shows in gold two red fesses, the upper one emblazoned with two, the lower one with one silver roses. On the helmet with its red and gold mantling there is an upright, gnarled branch in red and gold, two branches to the right and one to the left, crowned with a silver rose.
Personalities
Achaz Henry of Alvensleben (1716–1777), Prussian general
Albert, Count of Alvensleben (1794–1858), Prussian minister of finance
Albert, Count of Alvensleben-Schönborn (1848–1928), member of the Prussian House of Lords
Alkmar II of Alvensleben (1841–1898), lieutenant general and commandant of Breslau
Alkmar of Alvensleben (1874–1946), German doctor
Andrew of Alvensleben (died 1565), castellan
Anna Maria of Alvensleben (1659–1724), eldest daughter of Gebhard Christopher of Alvensleben at Erxleben I
Armgard of Alvensleben (1893–1970), abbess of Heiligengrabe Abbey and managing director of the German Evangelical Railway Mission
Berthold I of Alvensleben, Bishop of Hildesheim
Busso of Alvensleben
Christian of Alvensleben (born 1941), German photographer
Constantine of Alvensleben (1809–1892), Prussian general
Edward of Alvensleben (1787–1876), Landrat
Frederica of Alvensleben, née von Klinglin (1749–1799), actress
Frederick of Alvensleben (urk. 1301–1308), last Master of the Order of the Templers in Alemannia and Slavonia
Frederick Joachim of Alvensleben (1833–1912), Landrat
Frederick John, Count of Alvensleben (1836–1913), ambassador
Ferdinand, Count of Alvensleben (1803–1889), landowner and member of the Prussian House of Lords
Gebhard XIV of Alvensleben (erw. 1393–1425), castellan at Gardelegen and governor (‚‘Landeshauptmann‘‘)
Gebhard XVII of Alvensleben (died 1541), governor (Landeshauptmann)
Gebhard XXIII of Alvensleben (1584–1627), Governor (‚‘Landeshauptmann‘‘) Beeskow uns Storkow
Gebhard XXV of Alvensleben (1618–1681), statesman and historian
Gebhard John I of Alvensleben (1576–1631), lord of the manor and builder of an observatory
Gebhard Charles Ludolf of Alvensleben (1798–1867), Prussian general
Gebhard John Achaz of Alvensleben (1764–1840), landowner
Gebhard Nicholas of Alvensleben (1824–1909), senior master forester
Gustav of Alvensleben (1803–1881), Prussian general
Gustav Hermann of Alvensleben (1827–1905), Prussian general
Gustav Konstantin von Alvensleben (1879–1965), businessman in Vancouver, Canada
Hans Bodo, Count of Alvensleben-Neugattersleben (1882–1961), landowner and President of the German Gentleman's Club
Hermann of Alvensleben (1809–1887), Prussian general
Joachim I of Alvensleben (1514–1588), scholar and reformer
John Ernest, Count of Alvensleben (1758–1827), cathedral dean and Brunswick minister
John Frederick II of Alvensleben (1657–1728), Hanoverian minister, builder of Hundisburg Castle
John Frederick Charles of Alvensleben (1714–1795), British-Hanoverian minister
John Frederick Charles II of Alvensleben (1778−1831), Prussian general
John Louis Gebhard of Alvensleben (1816–1895), lord of the manor and musician
Charles Augustus I of Alvensleben (1661–1697), privy councillor in Hanover and Canon of Magdeburg
Kathleen King von Alvensleben, architect
Kuno of Alvensleben (1588–1638), Canon of Magdeburg
Ludolf of Alvensleben (1844–1912), Prussian major general and lord of the manor
Ludolf X of Alvensleben (1511–1596), statesman
Ludolf Augustus Frederick of Alvensleben (1743–1822), royal Prussian major general, commandant of Glaz Fortress and Inspector of the Silesian Army
Ludolf-Hermann of Alvensleben (1901–1970), Nazi Reichstag MP and lieutenant general in the Waffen SS
Ludolf Udo of Alvensleben (1852–1923), county deputy and Prussian politician
Ludwig von Alvensleben (1800-1868), author
Louis Charles Alexander of Alvensleben (1778–1842), Prussian officer and literary figure in Theodor Fontane's novel Schach von Wuthenow
Louis of Alvensleben (1805–1869), landowner and member of the Prussian House of Lords
Louis of Alvensleben (playwright) (1800–1868), German playwright
Margarethe of Alvensleben (1840–1899), abbess of Heiligengrabe Abbey
Oscar of Alvensleben (1831–1903), German landscape artist
Phillip Charles, Count of Alvensleben (1745–1802), Prussian state and cabinet minister
Professor Reimar von Alvensleben (born 1940), agrarian economist
Rudolf Anthony of Alvensleben (1688–1737), Hanoverian minister
Udo Gebhard Ferdinand of Alvensleben (1814–1879), landowner and member of the Prussian House of Lords
Udo III of Alvensleben (1823–1910), landowner and author
Udo von Alvensleben from Wittenmoor (1897–1962), German art historian
Sophia of Alvensleben (1516–1590), abbess of Althaldensleben Abbey
Valentine of Alvensleben (1529–1594), castellan at Gardelegen and Erxleben
Werner II of Alvensleben (erw. 1428–1472), castellan at Gardelegen, Electoral Brandenburg councillor and court marshal (Oberhofmarschall)
Werner VIII of Alvensleben (1802–1877), Prussian general
Werner, Count of Alvensleben-Neugattersleben (1840–1929), landowner and businessman
Werner von Alvensleben (1875–1947), merchant and politician
Wichard von Alvensleben (1902–1982), farmer and forester, officer
Wichard von Alvensleben (Go player) (1937–2016), lawyer, Go player, Chess player
Sources
Siegmund Wilhelm Wohlbrück: Geschichtliche Nachrichten von dem Geschlecht von Alvensleben und dessen Gütern. 3 Bände, Berlin 1819–1829. Band I, Band II, Band III
George Adalbert von Mülverstedt: Codex Diplomaticus Alvenslebianus. Urkundensammlung des Geschlechts von Alvensleben. 4 Bände, Magdeburg 1879, 1882, 1885, 1900.
Hellmut Kretzschmar: Geschichtliche Nachrichten von dem Geschlecht von Alvensleben seit 1800. Burg 1930
Udo von Alvensleben-Wittenmoor: Alvenslebensche Burgen und Landsitze. Dortmund 1960.
Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Vol. 53, 1972, Adelslexikon
See also
List of German nobility
References
External links
Internet page of the House of Alvensleben
House of Alvensleben in the Wildenfels castle archive
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- House of Alvensleben
- Wichard von Alvensleben
- Ludolf von Alvensleben
- Ludolf Jakob von Alvensleben
- Busso VII von Alvensleben
- Werner von Alvensleben
- Von Alvensleben
- Kathleen King von Alvensleben
- Gustav Konstantin von Alvensleben
- Udo von Alvensleben