The family (von) Pflug(k)
Please note: This page was machine-translated. If anything is unclear, the German version is authoritative.
The origins in Bohemia
During the reign of King Otakar II, the name of Dominus Ulricus dictus Aratrum de Saaz, i.e. Lord Ulrich (I) Pflug, was mentioned for the first time in a document relating to the Teutonic Order (Deutscher Orden) in 1267. This document is kept in the Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden (Saxon State Archives Dresden) (Aratrum [Latin] = plow; de Saaz = from the district of Saaz).
H.-J. Pflug, Adelebsen, writes in his remarks on Ulrich Pflug: "According to current knowledge, the progenitor of all Bohemian and Saxon Pflugs. He belongs to the nobility and could originate from a group of immigrant Franconian noblemen."
Around the year 1300, King Johannes von Böhmen sold the Herrschaft Rabenstein to the son of the aforementioned Ulrich (I). This son also bore the name Ulrich (II) and belonged to the Bohemian nobility.
In the decades that followed, the Pflug family produced several chamberlains and privy councillors, a number of chancellors, a governor of Bohemia, burgraves and high-ranking clergy (bishops, canons). The Pflugs resided not only in Rabenstein, but also in Petschau and Egerland. Having amassed wealth, among other things through tin and silver mining around Schlaggenwald, they had built and magnificently decorated churches throughout the region.
Their influence extended from central and southern Bohemia, from (Upper) Lusatia to the Upper Palatinate.
However, how did the Pflugs come to Saxony?
Ulrich (II) Pflug was an advisor to Bishop Gerhard of Merseburg and managed the finances (as treasurer) at the bishop's court in Merseburg. This is documented in records from 1295 and 1296. He also had properties near Merseburg. The knight Ulrich (II) Pflug had a son, Otto (I) (born around 1270). This Otto (I) is said to have owned Strehla as early as 1289, but there is no clear evidence that he lived in Strehla.
Otto (I) had three sons: Otto (II), Heinz, and Nickel.
The possessions of Knight Otto (II) Pflug (c. 1330–1366) in Knauthain included Kitzschen, Zschocher, Seifertshain, Rohrbach, Mockau, and Naundorf.
Knight Heinz Pflug (mentioned in documents in 1349) resided in Möckern and Dösen.
Knight Nickel (mentioned in documents from 1377 to 1428) owned Frauenhain.
Otto (II) had three sons: Tham (Dam), Heinrich (Henze), and Otto (III).
Tham's son Nickel (died around 1440) was considered the progenitor of the Osterland line, while Heinrich's son Otto (IV) (died 1438) was considered the progenitor of the Meissen line of the Pflug family.
Otto (III)'s son Johann (Hans) was the progenitor of the older line of Eitra (Eythra), which died out after only three generations in 1478.
The two main lines of the Plug family in Saxony—the Osterland line and the Meissen line
To better distinguish between the widely ramified Pflug family in Saxony, it is divided into two main lines according to their estates or ancestral seats—the Osterland line and the Meissen line. These two main lines are in turn subdivided into several secondary lines (branches, houses).
The Osterland line
The Osterland was originally the land between the Saale and Mulde rivers north of the Fichtelgebirge mountains, later extending to Torgau and Belgern, i.e., the historical landscape in the wider vicinity of Leipzig. The Osterland main line began with Nickel Pflug (died 1440) in Knauthain and Zöbicker.
The Meissen line
The Meissen line of the Pflug family was divided into the following lines
- Strehla, with - Strehla-Görzig (older house), Posterstein, Heukewalde, Zabeltitz and
- Strehla-Trebnitz, Lampertswalde (near Oschatz), from which the line
- Strehla-Görzig (younger house) emerged
- Frauenhain, Kottewitz,
- Tiefenau
The Meissen line began with Knight Otto (IV) Pflug, who came from the Osterland line. He was first mentioned in 1384 in connection with the Rittergut Strehla (manor). At that time, the Strehla manor included the town of Strehla and the villages of Görzig (near Strehla), Trebnitz, Bobersen, Oppitzsch, Fichtenberg, Zaußwiz, parts of Forberge, Lichtensee, Pulsen, and Pocha.
Otto (IV) Pflug acquired further estates (Güter), partly through purchase, but also as fiefdoms. Thus, in 1392, Frauenhain, in 1397, Zabeltitz, in 1423 (1425), Tiefenau, in 1437, Lampertswalde (near Oschatz), and in 1440, Kottewitz (near Riesa) came into his possession.
In the latter case, it is no longer possible to clarify whether Otto (IV) himself, who died in 1426, was able to acquire the Kottewitz estate or whether this was only done by his son Otto (V). Other sources also state that Otto (IV) Pflugk is said to have purchased the Zabeltitz estate from Heinrich von Herstein (husband of Otto's sister Katharina) and Hans von Köckeritz as early as 1381.
Upon Otto's (IV) death in 1426, his large property was divided among his sons, and they received:
- Otto (V) (killed in action in 1438): Strehla-Trebnitz and half of Lampertswalde,
- Ritter Heinz (died 1471): Zabeltitz, Kottewitz,
- Ritter Nickel (died 1476): Frauenhain,
- Dam (died 1454): Tiefenau,
- Jurge (Georg / Jürgen?, died between 1492 and 1495): Strehla-Görzig, the other half of Lampertswalde and Merzdorf.
This division of the inheritance (1438) gave rise to the following lines
- Strehla-Trebnitz (Otto (V)), - Zabeltitz (Heinz), - Frauenhain (Ritter Nickel),
- Tiefenau (Dam) and - Strehla-Görzig (Georg / Jurge),
In the following centuries, parts of these lines reunited (Strehla-Görzig and Strehla-Trebnitz, Strehla and Tiefenau) or branched out again (Zabeltitz-Gauernitz).
Authors: H.-J. Pflug, Adelebsen; D. Enge, Treugeböhla
Photographies: Dietmar Enge, Treugeböhla
Photo captions (in order of appearance):
Bild 1: strehla-1
Schloss Strehla, Postkarte Verlag K. Funke, Strehla, Nr. 5034, um 1900, Sammlung D. Enge, Treugeböhla
Bild 2: frauenhain-2
Schloss Frauenhain, Schloss Frauenhain, Postkarte, Verlag Otto Rost, Dresden-A., Sammlung K. Bredemann, Zabeltitz
Bild 3: IMG 25341
Palais Zabeltitz, Foto: D. Enge. Treugeböhla
Bild 4: tiefenau-1
Schloss Tiefenau, Hofseite, um 1930, Postkarte, Verlag Wilhelm Klettner, Gröditz, Sammlung D. Enge, Treugeböhla