The House of Vincke is the name of an old

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

n noble family.

History

First recorded in 1223 in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

, their name derives from the zoonym ''

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

'' (

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

'). They acquired estates in the present communities of

Melle Melle may refer to: People * Basil Melle (1891–1966), South African cricketer * Gil Mellé (1931–2004), American artist, jazz musician and film composer * John van Melle (1887–1953), Dutch-born South African author * Melle Mel (born 19 ...

(''Gut Ostenwalde'') and

Rödinghausen Rödinghausen is a municipality in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Rödinghausen is situated on the southern slope of the Wiehengebirge, approx. 20 km north-west of Herford and 25 km north of Biel ...

(''Haus Kilver'') in the 14th century, and in the 18th to 19th centuries further possessions in Rödinghausen and other parts of Westphalia, as well in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

(Kilver line). In the 19th century,

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

granted the habitual right to the title ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

'' (baron); the predicate ''von'' was used only by parts of the family (''Freiherren Vincke'' vs. ''Freiherren von Vincke''). Notable member of the Olbendorf line (Kilver line) of the family was the Prussian politician Carl von Vincke.

Ludwig von Vincke Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Philip Freiherr von Vincke (23 December 1774 – 2 December 1844) was a Prussian statesman. Born as a member of an old Westphalian noble family and educated at three universities in a broad variety of subjects, he ...

, of the Ostenwalde line (1774–1844), served as president of the Prussian

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 ...

. His sons were the politician

Georg von Vincke Georg von Vincke (5 May 1811 – 3 June 1875) was a Prussian politician, officer, landowner and aristocrat of the Vincke family. As a political figure he was associated with the Old Liberals. Biography He was born in Hagen. He was the son of Ludw ...

, known for fighting a pistol duel with

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

in 1852, and Gisbert von Vincke (1813–1892), Prussian official, poet and Shakespeare-researcher. ''Gut Ostenwalde'' with the nearby ''Diedrichsburg'' is yet a property of the Vincke family, whereas ''Haus Kilver'' had to be sold in the 1820's by economic reasons. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

''Gut Ostenwalde'' was confiscated by the British Army as residence for the commanders of the British occupation zone in Germany, Field Marshall

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and t ...

and his successors Marshall

Sholto Douglas Sholto Douglas was the mythical progenitor of Clan Douglas, a powerful and warlike family in medieval Scotland. A mythical battle took place: "in 767, between King '' Solvathius'' rightful king of Scotland and a pretender ''Donald Bane''. The vic ...

and General Brian Robertson.

Gallery

File:Gut Ostenwalde.jpg, ''Gut Ostenwalde'' File:Diedrichsburg.jpg, ''Diedrichsburg'' File:Haus Kilver.jpg, ''Haus Kilver''

References

{{commonscat, Vincke family *''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Adelslexikon'' vol. XV (vol. 134), C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2004.

External links

Gut Ostenwalde : History
(in German) Westphalian nobility German noble families