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The Counts Von DegenfeldThe Villages of Vollmerz, Ramholz, and Hinkelhof comprised the Grafshaft (county of) Degenfeld. To this day the people who live there are called Degenfelder. This name comes from one of the oldest German families that owned from 1671 to 1852 the seat of Ramholz. The roots of this family began at Tagerfeld, County Aargau, Switzerland, and is documented from the 8th century. In the eleventh century there was a Bishop Von Degenfeld in Zurich. In 1280, a von Degenfeld was owner of the Swabian village of Degenfeld. In 1300 Konrad Von Degenfeld became guardian of the Duke of Swabia. The von Degenfelds were interested in the art of war and owning land. They soon became some of the better off Knights of Swabia. Their Patrimony became Hoheneybach near Geislingen. In 1624, an inheritance contract between brothers Christoph Wolf, Christoph Wilhelm, and Christoph Martin von Degenfeld partitioned their lands. The youngest brother became a famous riding Colonel in the Thirty years war and fought under Tilly and Wallenstein. He entered the Swedish service and fought under Gustav Adolf near Nurnberg and Lutzen. 1645 found him in the service of the Republic of Venice. He died in 1653 in Hoheneybach. Several of his sons died a soldiers death. One, Hannibal, died as Field Marshall of Venice in the fight against the Turks. By this time the days were gone when the Lords lived in big Castles and enjoyed farming in a big way. The Degenfelds owned better homes in locations other that Ramholz, which was taken care of by overseers and administrators. Maximilian von Degenfeld's father in law, Karl von Landas held high offices in the court of the Kaiser and because of Von Degenfelds energy he too soon held all sorts of titles and was given assignments in Frankfurt, Kassel, and Vienna. He married twice. After the death of Amalie von Landis he married Margarethe Hellene von Cannstein and died in Frankfurt 2/5/1697. There were no children of the first marriage, and of the five children of the second, two sons survived him. The first son served the Swedes and later as secret advisor (Geheimer Rat) in Hesse - Kassel. He died, 1750 in Kassel, buried with his saber and spurs. His heart was buried in Hoheneybach. The second son Christoph Martin served as a Colonel in the cavalry. Emperor Karl the VI promoted him to Count of the Reich. Then he made an opportune marriage to a wife in whose veins flowed the blood of English Kings. In England he married Marie, the Countess of Schonberg and Mertola. Her father was Meinhard, Duke of Schonberg and of Leinster, Grand Duke of Portugal, Count von Langor, Coubert and Mertola. She could trace her linage to Jacob I and Maria Stuart. Beginning in of 1727 the Counts of Ramholz called themselves von Degenfeld - Schonburg. Christoph Martin advanced like a comet. (there follows too many titles to bore the reader with). His son Friedrich Christoph was born in Frankfurt in 1722. The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I was his godfather. Through his wife he inherited of all the Schonburg's property. He spent the last years of his life in the Court in Frankfurt. His wife died in the spring of 1762 and he died in August 1762. Of his sons the first became a Major General in the service of Holland, Then ambassador from the Netherlands to Vienna. He died unmarried in 1781. His second son was on of the few Counts of Ramholz who did not play a roll in either the civil service or the Army. He married a Baroness von Riedesel. (And if I remember my American History, a Baron Riedesel was the Commander of the Hessian Soldiers in the American Revolution!). He lived mainly in Stuttgart and Hoheneybach and died in 1814. It is his coat of arms combined with that of his wives that is emblazoned on the Lordships Stall in our Church at RAMHOLZ. Count Friedrich Christoph, the first and last of the counts who lived for some time at the Ramholz Palace, is also the only one buried at Ramholz according to his wishes. He was born in 1769 at Stuttgart and entered the Austrian miliary service. He became a Major General and Court Officer winning several decorations. He then left the service to spend the second half of his life in Ramholz. He died at the age of 79 in 1848. His wife Ludovica, Countess Erbach, had died in 1830. (Bear in mind that he was the Pfeiffer's overlord during the last 40 years that they lived in Hinkelhof and until they emigrated in May, 1837.) He cared about the peoples welfare and introduced the rasing of fruit to better their economy. The grafts from his holdings in Hungary took and soon the area was well known for its fruit. Count Friedrich Christoph liked to be present when his district administrator Hildenbrand held court. The trials were handled informally and delinquents were handed over to the court usher Link to incarcerate in the Counts jail. Once a merchant jew, fined, didn't stop complaining about the amount he had to pay as punishment. The Count hollered, "Moses, if you don't shut up, I'll send you out of my jurisdiction." Moses answered, " What is your name? If I turn a few somersaults, I'll be out of your Land." That this Grafshaft (county) was so small was always a joke among the German Nobility. What the Count was telling the jew was that if he kept on complaining the Count would withdraw his protection because in those days the Jews paid to be left alone. Vollmerz had a sizeable jewish community because of the protection offered by Count von Degenfeld. The Jew was telling the Count his Grafshaft (County) was so small a few somersalts would take him out of the Counts jurisdiction. In 1852 the Von Degenfelds who inherited the Ramholz Grafshaft sold it to Prince Ernst Casimir von Isenburg - Budingen. However, for a long time the sons of the Count, especially Adolph, who lived in Hungary, were interested in the place where they had spent a part of their youth. The von Degenfeld-Schonburg's are still living in Wurtemburg and in Hungary. In the year 1944 the Prussian province of Hessen Nassau (Prussia came into th picture in 1848) was divided up into the electorate of Hessen consisting of the administrative district of Kassel, and Nassau. The Kriese (administrative district) of Schluchtern, Gelnhausen and the urban and rural districts of Hanau which up to that time had belonged to the electorate of Hessen, became part of the newly formed province of Nassau. To end the story after the colapse of the HItler regime the present Land (member state of the federation) Hessen was formed. It consists of Kurhessen ( the old Prussian province of Hessen Nassau) and Nassau and parts of "Rhenish Hessen on the right side of the Rhine, plus some other areas. So since 1945 you have a new geographical area for Hesse. Hans Moeller went on my behalf to Budingen and attempted to look up in their repository of records more information on the Pfeiffer 90 acres at Hinkelhof but unfortunately the Counts Overseer was uncooperative and Hans was not allowed to inspect their archives. There rests a storehouse of information about our Degenfelders. Contributed by: This page was last updated on: ,
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