Office Löcknitz

The Office of Löcknitz was a princely-Brandenburg domain office that was formed in 1684 from the lordship of Löcknitz as a lapsed fief. The lordship of Löcknitz was a territory that initially belonged to Pomerania in the 13th century and was conquered in 1468 by the margraves of Brandenburg, centered around Löcknitz Castle or the castle settlement of Löcknitz, in today's district of Vorpommern-Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Löcknitz Castle was a table estate of the Bishop of Cammin in the 13th/14th century. However, the extent of the lordship at that time is unclear. The lordship of Löcknitz was very likely not affected by the territory cession from the Treaty of Landin, as the middle of the Randow Marsh was established as the boundary, and Löcknitz lies to the east of it. In the land book of Emperor Charles IV, Löcknitz is listed under Uckermark as being owned by the Bishop of Cammin. By 1385 at the latest, Duke Swantibor III of Pomerania-Stettin had acquired the lordship of Löcknitz from the Bishopric of Cammin. The Pomeranian dukes then granted it to the von Buch family before 1433. In 1433, the lordship was sold from the von Buch family to the von Heydebrecht family, who held it until 1468. In 1468, Löcknitz Castle was conquered by the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich II in the context of the Stettin Succession War; since Pentecost 1468, Werner von der Schulenburg was appointed as bailiff of the castle and the Vogtei of Löcknitz. In 1478, Duke Bogislaw X of Pomerania was able to briefly recapture Löcknitz Castle. However, only four weeks later, the Brandenburg Elector successfully recaptured Löcknitz. Bogislaw X was initially forced to accept a ceasefire until June 1479. In the summer of 1479, Bogislaw X had to agree to a peace treaty negotiated in Prenzlau and Tangermünde. In 1479, Werner von der Schulenburg received hereditary rights over the castle and the Vogtei of Löcknitz. In 1482, he had the castle rebuilt and heavily fortified in Löcknitz. In 1505, he purchased the lordships of Lübbenau and Neu Zauche in Lower Lusatia. In 1515, his two sons Richard II and Jacob I followed him, who were also able to acquire the lordship of Lieberose in Lower Lusatia in 1519. In 1526, the two brothers received the village of Schmölln from the Brandenburg Elector Joachim Nestor as a fief of the lordship of Löcknitz. Jacob I likely died in 1561. He had only one son, Georg, who died in 1560 without leaving any children. Richard II had already died in 1536 in Stettin. He had a son, Joachim, who inherited the entire estate of the two brothers after the death of his cousin Georg and his uncle Jacob. He was considered one of the richest men in Germany at the time and had the nickname "the Rich." In 1578, he was able to acquire the lordship of Straupitz from Caspar Burggraf von Dohna for around 45,000 thalers, with which he was formally invested on November 8, 1578. He died in 1594. He was succeeded by his son Richard. However, the lordship complex of Joachim I must have been heavily indebted, as he had to relinquish the lordship of Löcknitz to creditors. Apparently, he was still able to retain possession of Löcknitz. He died in 1600 and left his properties to his only son Joachim VII. This son also died young in 1619, leaving behind his still underage son Heinrich Joachim. Initially, his mother Maria Hedwig Burggräfin von Dohna took over the management of the estates. In the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War, they lost their possession of Löcknitz, which was confiscated by the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf in 1631. In 1643, Maria Hedwig Burggräfin von Dohna transferred the heavily indebted estates to her son Heinrich Joachim. This had to initially hand over the lordship of Löcknitz to his creditors. The Great Elector considered the lordship of Löcknitz as a lapsed fief due to leasing errors and appointed a sovereign administrator over the lordship on August 8, 1650. This led to a lengthy fief process, which the von der Schulenburg family ultimately lost with the final verdict of April 17, 1684. Thus, the lordship of Löcknitz had definitively become a sovereign office. The seat of the office was the castle in Löcknitz. The Office of Löcknitz was under the Kurmark War and Domain Chamber in Berlin until 1808/9, and then under the Royal Kurmark Government in Potsdam.

Wikipedia