Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s Associated Connections with Sovereign Families

In the 19^th century, genealogy became a popular pursuit in America. The goal of many enthusiasts was to connect with a famous persons of the past having the same surname – artists, musicians, industrialists, politicians of renown, and other luminaries. The greatest reward, however, was to find a connection with European nobility. Families of means were more successful than others in this pursuit: The Roosevelts, who were from Dutch nobility, could trace their lineage back to England’s Henry II and III. Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Garfield, Calvin Coolidge, and William Howard Taft were delighted to be descendants of English royalty, as it aligned them with presidents George Washington, John Adams, and Abraham Lincoln, whose lineages had previously been traced back to English kings.

Family historian, Benjamin Franklin Christlieb’s ancestral search was somewhat different, in that he knew through his father and grandfather that his great grandfather, Friedrich Carl Christlieb, “was in some way connected by blood or otherwise, with a reigning family of Germany, the name of which is not carried with the tradition.” B.F.C., The Christlieb Family, pg. 1.

With letter writing as his only resource, Benjamin Franklin Christlieb was unable to identify the reigning family he sought. However, a hundred years later using information found within his writings, coupled with modern research technology, we were able to trace not one, but three sovereign families, who served as God-sponsors at his baptism-conversion at Dürkheim, on May 20, 1742. These sovereigns were: Prince Elector Karl Phillip III, ruler of The Palatinate of the Rhine; Friedrich Magnus, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg; and Christian Carl Reinhard, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heddeshiem.

Prince Elector Karl Philipp III

Prince-Elector Karl Philipp III in full regalia of his office. His presence at Friedrich Carl Christlieb's Baptism-Conversion was one of his last public appearences. He died four months later at age 81.

Without a doubt, the most prestigious of the sovereigns, who endorsed Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s baptism-conversion, would have been Prince Karl Philipp III, a descendant of the House of Wittelsbach. Prince Karl Philipp III was a member of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire.

Since the 13^th century, it was the privilege of the Electoral College to elect the “King of the Romans.” In time, these rulers were called “Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.” The title, “Prince Elector”, carried great prestige and was second only to being King or Emperor.

Friedrich Magnus, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg

Relief Sculpture of Friedrich Magnus, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg

Friedrich Magnus was one of two reigning Counts of Leiningen who witnessed and endorsed Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s baptism and conversion. Present, along with his wife, Countess Anna Christina Eleanore of Wurmbrand-Stuppach, was their son, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen, age 18; Sophie Wilhemine, Countess of Leiningen, age 14, and Karoline Polyxena, Countess of Leiningen, age 1.

Christian Carl Reinhard, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim

Christian Carl Reinhard, Count of Leininger-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim

Christian Carl Reinhard was the other reining Leiningen Count present at Friedrich Carl’s baptism-conversion on May 20, 1742. Accompanying him were his wife, Katharina Polyxene, Countess of Solms-Rödelheim and Assenheim, as well as their daughters, Countess Marie Luise, age 13, and Countess Karoline Felicitas, age 8. These God-sponsors were recorded in the Dürkheim church register as “the entire most noble House of Heddesheim” [sic. Heidesheim].

Unfortunately for the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim, Christian Carl’s only son and heir, Johann Karl Ludwig, died in 1734, some eight years before Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s baptism-conversion. Because there was no male heir, the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim came to an end, when the Count Christian Carl died in 1766. Its assets were transferred to the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg at Dürkheim, whose sovereign was the 42-year-old Count Karl Friedrich Wilhelm, son of Friedrich Magnus.

It should be of interest to know that these two Houses of Leiningen functioned as one well into the 16^th century. Known as Leiningen-Hartenburg, it was divided, in 1560, into the lines of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim, over which Count Christian Carl Reinhard governed and Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg, of which, was ruled by Count Friedrich Magnus whose capital city was Dürkheim.

Joachim Friedrich III von Beust

Until recently, other than his position as Director of the Salt Distillery at Dürkheim, very little was known about Baron von Beust. In fact, his given names, Joachim Friedrich, were unknown.

Before going forward, the following may be helpful for those unfamiliar with our family’s pre-American history to learn the following from our 2013 publication, “Ancestors and Descendants of Friedrich Carl and Anna Catharina Christlieb.”

“As far back as the 12^th century, salt had been extracted from the numerous salt springs in the area. One of the most productive was near the Cloister at Schönfeld. After the monastery was dissolved, Elector Friedrich IV built a saltworks on the spot in 1595; however, all had fallen apart by the end of the Thirty-Years' War. In 1716, a new salt refinery was constructed on the ancient site. The refinery at Schönfeld reportedly took five water wheels to drive the pumps that brought the brine out of the spring and into the six refineries. Known as Philippshall, i.e. Philipp’s Salt, the saltworks was named for Prince Karl Philipp III, Elector of the Lower Palatinate.”

“At some point in the early 18^th century, the management of the salt distillery was handed over to the Baron of Beust from Saxony, who carried the distinguished title, “Lord Privy Chamberlain von Beusten.” Baron von Beust was a witness at the baptism of Gottfried and Anna Catharina’s daughter, Johanna Susanna Elizabetha Bock. His distinguished presence is a positive indication that Gottfried Bock’s position, as salt weigher/auditor at the refinery, was well respected.”

In Friedrich Carl’s baptismal entry, von Beust is referred to as “The Royal Danish and Electoral Palatine Privy Councilor and Baronial Excellency, the Salt-Distillery Director.”

Other Luminaries in Attendance

Other witnesses not mentioned by name in Friedrich Carl’s baptismal entry were the Count’s Chancellery officials, the Mayor of Dürkheim, members of the City Council, as well as “all the Steward and Village Mayors throughout the realm.”

Sovereign Witnesses in the Generation that Followed

In 1742, the 18-year-old son of Friedrich Magnus, Count Karl Friedrich, was also present at Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s baptism-conversion. It is believed that, upon conversion, Friedrich Carl Christlieb adopted, in reverse order, the young Count’s given names.

Karl Friedrich Wilhelm, First Prince of Leiningen and Son of Count Friedrich Magnus of Leiningen.

In 1799, after succeeding his father, Friedrich Magnus of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg, Karl Friedrich was named a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, thus acquiring the title, “Fürst Prinz zu Leiningen”, i.e. “First Prince of Leiningen,” the appellation, Fürst, meaning “of the highest Nobility.”

Countess Marie Luise Albertine

Countess Marie Luise Albertine was the daughter of the aforementioned, Count Christian Carl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim. She was 13 years old when she attended Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s conversion ceremony at Dürkheim in May 1742. Six years later at age 19, she married Prinz Georg Wilhelm (Prince George William), of Hesse-Kassel.

Following George William’s death, Marie Luise assumed her late husband’s role, at Darmstadt, as representative for Prince Louis IV, at Darmstadt, where she bore the somewhat ambiguous nickname, Prinzessin Georg (Princess George).

The forgoing information in this article is meant to serve as a culmination of what is known regarding various highborn witnesses to Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s conversion from Judaism to Christianity. Some may ask, “If we can’t claim a kinship between Friedrich Carl Christlieb and these high-born personages, why bother writing about them at all?”

Although Friedrich Carl was not in any way related to these people by blood, he was related to them through association. Of this he had to have been have been most proud, proud enough to reveal it to his family. Had he not done so, the information that he “was in some way connected by “blood or otherwise", with a reigning family of Germany,” as set down by his great-grandson, Benjamin Franklin Christlieb, would not have been preserved as part of our oral tradition.

Postscript

Fifty years after Simon aus Frankenstein became Friedrich Carl Christlieb, the Palatine was destroyed by the troops of the French Revolution. The castle at Heidesheim and the palace at Dürkheim were destroyed by fire in 1793 and 1794, respectively. The Electors and Counts, who wielded power in earlier generations, were reduced to mere figureheads. However, inasmuch as Karl Friedrich had been named a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1779, the cloister and chapel at Amorbach were given to him in 1803, as reparation for the severe losses suffered as a result of the war. Generations later, in order to preserve its history, the Leiningen Archive at Amorbach was established. It was from this archive that Friedrich Carl’s Jewish background was further validated in 1977.

The destruction of the Palatinate in the late 1790s occurred while Friedrich Carl and Anna Catharina’s sons, Georg, Jacob, and Carl, were safely in America. Had the family not immigrated some thirty years earlier, the sons would most likely have been conscripted into the Army. Every person in Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s family would have been victims of that war, and the American Christlieb family would never have come into being.

– Ned Crislip