The main line Zichow
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"Zichow in the former district Angermünde had been in possession of the von Arnim dynasty since 1456 and until expropriation in 1945. In 1250, Zichow had been founded as an outpost and barricade castle near the Randow Bruch, at the road from Schwedt to Prenzlau. Throughout the 14th century and until 1447 ownership had either Pomerania or Brandenburg, when it finally fell into the hands of the prince electors, ‘Kurfürsten’, of Brandenburg. |
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Zichow 2001, defence tower, which is all that remains of the castle.
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While in Pomeranian times the castle had been endowed to the von Sydow family, in 1456 Claus III (documented reference 1456-1486) and Hans IV von Arnim (documented reference 1450-1487) became tenure holders of the castle and surrounding villages. |
| For a considerable time the estates remained in shared ownership between several brothers and cousins. Only until the year 1579 and a 100 years later, Jacob the III (died 1590), a descendant of Hans IV, had become the exclusive Lord of the Manor Zichow and handed it over to his only son, Jacob V the younger. In 1591 when Jacob the V died without leaving true heirs and after his father had passed away the previous year, the fief was passed on to the descendants of Claus the III. The two cousins Claus the V (1539 - 1598) of Cammer near Brueck and Jobst I (1558 - 1606) of Niederlandin each inherited half of the Zichower estates. At that time Zichow was relatively large: besides the sizable estates Zichow and Golm it encompassed parts of the villages Lützlow, Schwaneberg, Falkenwalde, Güstow, Bietikow, Flieth, Briest and Passow. Part of it were also the deserted estates Kleinow, Hessenhagen, Bischofshagen and Langenhagen. |
Coat of arms of Wolf II von Arnim,
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Wolff Christoph I. von Arnim (1607 - 1668) |
The descendants of Claus V were not able to operate their half of Zichow much more economically either. In 1629 and over the following years, their estates also went into bankcruptcy and sequestration. Therefore the only descendant of the main line Zichow, the later Electoral Saxonian Lieutenant General Wolff Christoph I von Arnim (1607 – 1668) did not have any rights to them any longer. |
Stephan Bernd (1624 – 1699), the nephew of the earlier mentioned Stephan II, managed to free the second half of Zichow out of the hands of the state. Already owning the other half, he was able to finally combine the two estates under one hat again. Through that and 200 years after the first fief had been granted to Arnims, the estate Zichow fell into the hands of the descendants of the main line Gerswalde.
As mentioned earlier, Wolff Christoph I von Arnim served under the Electoral Saxonian Army and made his career as soldier. Having held the positions of Chamberlain, Privy Councillor and War Councillor, Colonel and Commander-in-Chief of the fortresses Pleißenburg and Wittenberg and Chief Magistrate Officer of the district authorities Leipzig and Grimma, Wolff Christoph advanced to become Lieutenant General. In addition to the estate Döben which he already owned, he was endowed with the estate Pretzsch near the river Elbe in 1647. He became the ancestor of what is known as the ‘Saxonian lines’ Walda, Döben, Planitz and Neusorge.
While the Döben branch and the Neusorge house have ceased to exist, others emerged:
From the Walda branch emerged the house of Koppershagen.
Out of the Planitz branch arose the house of Kriebstein (of which the male family line ceased to exist in 2002), also the houses Kropstädt, Hennersdorf, Kitzscher and Otterwisch (of which the male family line ceased to exist in 1944).
You can explore the branches and houses belonging to the main line Zichow on the page 'Family tree'.
*1) Werner Konstantin von Arnswaldt: Das Geschlecht von Arnim, Part II., 1. Book, foreword, published by the family 1923.
*2) Dr. Ernst Devrient: Das Geschlecht von Arnim, Part II., 1. Book, page 2f, published by the family 1923.
*3) Document from the year 1204 taken from: “Das Geschlecht von Arnim, IV. Teil, Chronik der Familie im neunzehnten und zwanzigsten Jahrhundert”, published by the Board of the von Arnim family association, edited by Jochen von Arnim and other family members, Publishing house Degener & Co., Neustadt/Aisch, 2002, p.42.
*4) Dr. Ernst Devrient: Das Geschlecht von Arnim, Part II., 1. Book, page 4f, published by the family 1923.
*5) Excerpt from: Family chronicle “Das Geschlecht von Arnim, IV. Teil, Chronik der Familie im neunzehnten und zwanzigsten Jahrhundert”, published by the Board of the von Arnim family association, edited by Jochen von Arnim and other family members, Publishing house Degener & Co., Neustadt/Aisch, 2002.
Selection of texts by Jasper von Arnim, May 2003
Translated by Henning von Arnim a. d. H. Lützlow, 2010
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