Ernst Magnus Dönhoff ( pl, Ernest Magnus Denhoff; 1581–1642) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

who served the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

and the Polish fief of

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...

. He was born a member of the

Dönhoff The House of Dönhoff (Polish: Denhoff, sometimes also Doenhoff) was an old and influential German nobility, German noble family, which later also became part of the Szlachta, Polish nobility. History It was first mentioned in 1282, in the ...

family, a noble family of

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 ...

n origin (the German family name is Dönhoff). Always referred to as Magnus Ernst by

Marion Gräfin Dönhoff Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) * Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" * Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Ma ...

, who wrote an extensive genealogy and history study of all the family branches, Magnus Ernst Dönhoff was the founder of the eastern Prussian line of the Dönhoff family. He came from Livonia and for services to

George William, Elector of Brandenburg George William (german: Georg Wilhelm; 13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during ...

, he established his residence in Waldau near

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

. He was the brother of

Gerhard Dönhoff Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to: Given name * Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate * Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark * Gerhard Barkhorn (1919– ...

and

Kaspar von Dönhoff Prince Kasper Doenhoff (german: Kaspar von Dönhoff, pl, Kacper Denhoff, 1587–1645) was a Polish nobleman of Baltic-German extraction, a Reichsfürst of the Holy Roman Empire and Governor of Dorpat Province within the Polish–Lithuanian C ...

. He was married to Countess Katharina zu Dohna; they had four children. Three of their sons were born at Waldau. Dönhoff was castellan of Pärnu (Parnawa) from 1635, voivode of Parnawa from 1640,

starost The starosta or starost ( Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. T ...

of Tartu (Derpsk), Telšiai (Telszew) and of Waldau in the

Pregolya River The Pregolya or Pregola (russian: Прего́ля; german: Pregel; lt, Prieglius; pl, Pregoła) is a river in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. Name A possible ancient name by Ptolemy of the Pregolya River is Chronos (from Germanic *''h ...

valley in

. Dönhoff belonged to the commission which from 1625 worked for a peace agreement between Sweden and Poland. He was also instrumental in the negotiations at the peace of Altmark and at Sztumska Wieś. Dönhoff became Count (

Reichsgraf Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

) of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

since 1633. His son Friedrich Graf Dönhoff, born in Waldau in 1639, took up service for the Brandenburg electoral court.

Bibliography

*Kilian Heck/Christian Thielemann (Hrsg.): ''Friedrichstein. Das Schloß der Grafen von Dönhoff in Ostpreußen''.

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation. History Deutscher Kunstverlag was ...

, München/Berlin 2006, *''Genealogisches Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften'', vol 2, 1: Estland, Görlitz, 1930
p. 41
*Kamila Wróblewska, Franciszek Sokołowski, ''Ikonografia rodziny Doenhoffów w zbiorach muzeów polskich'', Rocznik Olsztyński vol. XVI, Olsztyn 1989, p. 301, 325-326, rev. 23

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Secular senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1581 births 1642 deaths Counts of Germany 17th-century Polish nobility Baltic-German people People from Livonia People from the Duchy of Prussia Ernst Magnus Dönhoff {{Poland-noble-stub