House of Alvensleben

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Coat of arms of Alvensleben

The House of Alvensleben[1] is a Low German aristocratic family of the Altmark region, whose earliest known member is Wichard de Alvensleve 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).

History

Alvensleben Castle

The agnatic line of the family 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 burgmanns 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 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 later subdued to 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. In the 19th century several branches were created Prussian counts, 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

Sources

See also

References

  1. ^ Williams, Gerhild Scholz. Ways of Knowing in Early Modern Germany. Oxford: Routledge, 2017. p. 44.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alvensleben.
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