Georg Wolf of Kotzau, nicknamed ''the rich'' (died 1560) was an

Imperial Knight The Free Imperial knights (german: link=no, Reichsritter la, Eques imperii) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility (''edelfrei'') and the ministeri ...

and ''

Amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...

'' and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Georg Wolf of Kotzau was a member of the ancient knightly family of

Kotzau The House of Kotzau was a local noble family in Franconia. The House of Kotzau took its name from the village of Kotzau, today called Oberkotzau and it is located in the district Hof in Upper Franconia. Famous members of the family were abbess i ...

. According to the genealogists Alban of Dobeneck, Georg Wolf of Kotzau was a son of Hans von Kotzau, who was ''

'' of

Münchberg Münchberg is a small town in Upper Franconia (Bavaria), Germany. It is sometimes referred to as the ''Textile Town of Bavaria''. Its sister city is Jefferson City, Missouri, United States. Geography The town districts History The first set ...

and who bought Oberkotzau Castle, Fattigau Castle and Burgstall Haideck from his brothers. Georg served Margrave Albert II Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach as ''

'' at

Epprechtstein Castle Epprechtstein Castle (german: Burg Epprechtstein) is a former hill castle on the mountain of the same name, the Epprechtstein, which rises above the village of Kirchenlamitz. History An ''Eberhardus de Eckebretsteine'' was first mentioned in ...

and later in

Rehau Rehau is a Town#Germany, town in the Hof (district), district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. The first documented name of Rehau was "Resawe" in the year 1234. Rehau is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, 12 km southeast of Hof, Germany, Hof, and 12 ...

. In the

Schmalkaldic War The Schmalkaldic War (german: link=no, Schmalkaldischer Krieg) was the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (simultaneously King Charles I of Spain), commanded by the Duk ...

, he followed the call of his sovereign to defend the

Plassenburg Plassenburg is a castle in the city of Kulmbach in Bavaria. It is one of the most impressive castles in Germany and a symbol of the city. It was first mentioned in 1135. The Plassenberg family were ministerial of the counts of Andechs (later ...

. Later he went into the service of Henry IV of Plauen and was governor of the

Plauen Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...

-Voigtsberg Castle area. At the outbreak of the

Second Margrave War The Second Margrave War () was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, it involved numerous raids, plunderings, and the destruction of ...

, Georg, like most of his peers, refused

knight service Knight-service was a form of feudal land tenure under which a knight held a fief or estate of land termed a knight's fee (''fee'' being synonymous with ''fief'') from an overlord conditional on him as tenant performing military service for his ov ...

to his Margrave; instead he openly joined the other side and, after the Siege of Hof in 1533, he briefly served as governor of Hof. After the defeat of Albert Alcibiades, the

Hohenzollerns The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

made their influence felt and gave the principality of

Brandenburg-Kulmbach The Principality of Bayreuth (german: Fürstentum Bayreuth) or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynas ...

to George Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach. George Frederick burned down some of Kotzau's castles, include the manor at Fattigau, to punish, in his view, the breakaway Georg Wolf, despite the latter holding letters of protection from the Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

and King Ferdinand I of Bohemia. George Wolf died in 1560 and was buried in the St. James Church (St. Jakobs Kirche) in

Oberkotzau Oberkotzau is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe af ...

. His painted tomb shows the knight kneeling before the cross and several ancestral coats of arms as proof of ancestry.

References

* Alban von Dobeneck: ''Geschichte des ausgestorbenen Geschlechtes von Kotzau'', in: ''Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken'', Bayreuth, 1909, p. 89-92. * Kurt Stierstorfer: ''Die Belagerung Hofs 1553'', Hof, 2003, , p. 215 ff * Hans-Ulrich Zeidler: ''Fattigau - eine Ortsgeschichte'', in: ''Heimatkalender für Fichtelgebirge, Frankenwald und Vogtland 2011'', Hof, 2010, p. 84 ff {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotzau, Georg Wolf of 1560 deaths Year of birth unknown Imperial Knights 16th-century German people