Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights
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The Grand Master (German: Hochmeister, literally High Master) was the holder of the supreme office of the Teutonic Knights. It is equivalent to the Grand Master of other military orders and the Superior general in non-military Roman Catholic religious orders. Hochmeister is only used in reference to the Teutonic Order, as Großmeister ("Grand Master") is used in German to refer to the leaders of other orders of knighthood.
An early version of the full title in Latin was Magister Hospitalis Sancte Marie Alemannorum Jerosolimitani. Since 1216, the full title Magister Hospitalis Domus Sancte Marie Theutonicorum Jerosolimitani ("Master of the Hospital House of St. Mary of the Germans at Jerusalem") was used.
The Grand Masters were most powerful during the Knights' Northern Crusades in the Baltic and their militarized monastic state (Ordenstaat) which lasted nearly 300 years until 1525.
From 1530-1929 the leader of the Teutonic Order was known as the Hoch- und Deutschmeister after the combining of the titles Hochmeister and Deutschmeister by Emperor Charles V; for centuries the "Jägerregiment Wien" of the Military of Austria was known as the "Hoch und Deutschmeister Regiment".
The Teutonic Order is still led by a Grand Master, although the organization is now a clerical Roman Catholic religious order.
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[edit] List of Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order
[edit] Leaders of the early Brotherhood, 1190-1198
The Teutonic Order as a hospice brotherhood in Outremer:
- 1190 Meister Sibrand
- 1192 Gerhard
- 1193/94 Heinrich, prior
- 1195-1196 Ulrich
- 1196 Heinrich, preceptor (probably identified with Heinrich Walpot von Bassenheim)
[edit] Grand Masters of the Order, 1198-1525
The Teutonic Order as a spiritual military order:
- 1198–1200 Heinrich Walpot von Bassenheim
- 1200–1208 Otto von Kerpen
- 1208–1209 Heinrich von Tunna
- 1209–1239 Hermann von Salza
- 1239–1240 Conrad of Thuringia
- 1240–1244 Gerhard von Malberg
- 1244–1249 Heinrich von Hohenlohe
- 1249–1252 Günther von Wüllersleben
- 1252–1256 Poppo von Osterna[1]
- 1256–1273 Anno von Sangershausen
- 1273–1282 Hartmann von Heldrungen
- 1282 or 1283 –1290 Burchard von Schwanden[2]
- 1290–1297 Konrad von Feuchtwangen
- 1297–1303 Gottfried von Hohenlohe
- 1303–1311 Siegfried von Feuchtwangen
- 1311–1324 Karl von Trier
- 1324–1330 Werner von Orseln
- 1331–1335 Luther von Braunschweig (Lothar)
- 1335–1341 Dietrich von Altenburg
- 1342–1345 Ludolf König
- 1345–1351 Heinrich Dusemer
- 1351–1382 Winrich von Kniprode
- 1382–1390 Conrad Zöllner von Rothenstein
- 1391–1393 Konrad von Wallenrode
- 1393–1407 Konrad von Jungingen
- 1407–1410 Ulrich von Jungingen
- 1410–1413 Heinrich von Plauen
- 1414–1422 Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg
- 1422–1441 Paul von Rusdorf
- 1441–1449 Konrad von Erlichshausen
- 1449 or 1450–1467 Ludwig von Erlichshausen[3]
- 1467–1470 Heinrich Reuß von Plauen
- 1470–1477 Heinrich Reffle von Richtenberg
- 1477–1489 Martin Truchseß von Wetzhausen
- 1489–1497 Johann von Tiefen
- 1497–1510 Friedrich of Saxony
- 1510–1525 Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Albert of Prussia)
[edit] Hoch- und Deutschmeister, 1530-1929
Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach converted to Lutheranism and turned the Ordenstaat into the secular, Lutheran Duchy of Prussia in 1525. The Teutonic Order retained its holdings in Germany and autonomous Livonia, however. Due to being limited to their possessions in other parts of Germany, which were led by the Deutschmeister, the titles were combined during the service of Walter von Cronberg.
- 1527–1543 Walter von Cronberg
- 1543–1566 Wolfgang Schutzbar
- 1566–1572 Georg Hundt von Weckheim
- 1572–1590 Heinrich von Bobenhausen
- 1590–1618 Maximilian of Austria Habsburg
- 1619–1624 Karl I of Austria
- 1625–1627 Johann Eustach von Westernach
- 1627–1641 Johann Kaspar von Stadion
- 1641–1662 Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
- 1662–1664 Karl Josef of Austria
- 1664–1684 Johann Caspar von Ampringen
- 1685–1694 Ludwig Anton of Palatinate–Neuburg
- 1694–1732 Ludwig Franz of Palatinate–Neuburg
- 1732–1761 Clemens August of Bavaria
- 1761–1780 Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
- 1780–1801 Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria
- 1801–1804 Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria
- 1804–1835 Anton Viktor of Austria (office becomes hereditary to Imperial House of Austria)
- 1835–1863 Maximilian of Austria–Este
- 1863–1894 Wilhelm Franz Karl of Austria
- 1894–1923 Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard of Austria (end of hereditary status)
- 1923–1933 Dr. Norbert Klein
[edit] 1929 - present-day
Time of the Teutonic Order as a clerical Roman Catholic religious order
- 1923–1933 Dr. Norbert Klein
- 1933–1936 Paul Heider
- 1936–1948 Robert Schälzky
- 1948–1970 Dr. Marian Tumler
- 1970–1988 Ildefons Pauler
- 1988–2000 Dr. Arnold Othmar Wieland
- 2000–present Dr. Bruno Platter
[edit] Notes
- ^ The pretender Wilhelm von Urenbach (1253-1256) was chosen in opposition to Poppo von Osterna.
- ^ Burchard von Schwanden's first year in office is given as 1282 on the Teutonic Order's German site and 1283 on the Austrian site.
- ^ Ludwig von Erlichshausen's first year in office is given as 1149 on the Teutonic Order's German site and 1450 on the Austrian site.
[edit] References
Deutscher-Orden.de. Die Hochmeister. Retrieved on 2007-03-31. (German)
Deutscher-Orden.at. Die Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens. Retrieved on 2007-03-31. (German)
