Linneper Hof

File:Köln - Mercator 1571 südliches Domvorfeld.jpg: Cologne city map from 1570, southern cathedral in the front (S-N).
The Linneper Hof is almost completely hidden by the cathedral choir.]]

The Reifferscheider Hof or Linneper Hof was a Residenz of the Reifferscheid, Linnep, Sayn-Wittgenstein and Grafschaft Neuenahr families in the Cathedral quarter of Cologne. It was inhabited by numerous members of the Cologne diocese until the 1740s, and was an emphyteusis of the cathedral monastery. It was demolished in 1864. Today, the area on which the Hof stood is part of the grounds of the Romano-Germanic Museum.

History and notable residents

[[File:Köln Domvorplatz 1752.png|thumb|left|upright=1.8|Johann Valentin Reinhardt: Cologne city plan from 1570, Domhof (SN). Legende:

File:crescent icon.svg – Holy Ghost Hospital
52 – Cologne Seminary (earlier:
Linneper Hof)
91 – Spiritual Court
92 – High Court
93 – Blue Stones
94 – Hacht (Jail)]]

The Hof was a hereditary monastery yard of the Cologne cathedral monastery, which was used as a canonic house. It was located immediately south of the choir building of Cologne cathedral on the Domhof, east of the church of St. Johann Evangelist.

The Hof was originally the Episcopium (Bishop's residence) of the Archbishop of Cologne, and was called the "Old Palace" (antiquum palatium). Around 1237 or 1238,The beginning of the counting of a new year under Archbishop Henry I on 25 December, 1 January or 25 March is disputed; cf. Leonard Ennen, Gottfried Eckertz (ed.): Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln, vol. II. DuMont-Schauberg, Cologne 1863, Nr. 173, {{pp.|173f}} (Reprint of the document) and {{pp.|175f}} Anm. 1. it was donated by Archbishop Heinrich I von Müllenark (d. 1238) to the cathedral chapter as a canon's residence. The canon Herimann von Heppendorf (d. 1257), a brother of Gerhard II. von Heppendorf (d. 1259) lived in the house.Document of February 1237 (or 1238); vgl. Th. J. Lacomblet (collab.): Urkundenbuch, vol. II, 1846, Nr. 226, {{pp.|117f}}. Both were the sons of Hermann II. (IV.) von Heppendorf-Alpen (d. 1234/35) and Agnes von Linnep.

The house was subsequently inhabited by members of the Reifferscheid family; as Cologne canons, Heinrich I (d. 1318), Heinrich II (d. after 1330), Heinrich I (d. 1318) and Heinrich II (d. after 1330) are mentionedHe also called himself "Lord of Bedburg". and Gerhard von Reifferscheid (d. after 1371).Document of 17 August 1325; Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Bestand 1 Haupturkundenarchiv, U 1/1152) among others); Wilhelm Kisky: Die Domkapitel der geistlichen Kurfürsten in ihrer persönlichen Zusammensetzung im vierzehnten und fünfzehnten Jahrhundert. (Quellen und Studien zur Verfassungsgeschichte des Deutschen Reiches in Mittelalter und Neuzeit I/3). Hermann Böhlau Nachf., Weimar 1906, {pages 28 and 71. Ownership of the Hof went to Wilhelm von Sombreffe,Vermutlich Wilhelm I. von Sombreffe (d. 1400), Herr von Reckheim, Son of Johann III von Sombreffe and Jutta von Wevelinghoven, 1374/80 canon in Cologne, later married to Margaretha von Kerpen. who in 1397 handed it over to the canon Gottfried Lordship of Heinsberg, Graf of Chiny.Document of 5 July 1397; Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (document 534). Gottfried of Chiny sold it in 1398 to the canon and sub-dean Johannes II of Linnep (d. 1431), prior von St. Gereon.Documents of 7 February 1398; Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (document 539). The Reifferscheider Hof was then given the nickname Linneper Hof.

The Hof next came into the possession of the Cologne canon Dietrich von Linnep (d. 1461), the last agnate male descendant of the lords of Linnep. After his death, the hof came briefly into the possession of the cathedral provost Gottfried von Sayn-Wittgenstein (d. 1461). After his death, his brother, the vicar general Werner von Sayn-Wittgenstein (d. 1472), provost of St. Gereon, wanted to sell the hereditary estate of Reifferscheid (domus hereditarie de Rifferscheit) on the cathedral courtyard in August 1462 to the Cologne canon and Aachen provost Johann von Neuenahr (d. 1466), a son of the Cologne hereditary bailiff Gumprechts (II.) IV von Neuenahr (d. 1484) and grandson of Mechthild of Reifferscheidt. Johann von Neuenahr, however, did not want to live in the enclosure and left the house to the competent heirs.Entries of 14 and 17 August 1462; cf. K. Militzer (ed.): Protokolle, 2009, {{p.|20}}. The Hof was handed over one month later by the executors to cathedral chaplain (later cathedral provost) Georg I of Sayn-Wittgenstein (d. 1510).Documents of 17 and 24 September 1462;; Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (documents of 932 and 933). Georg I presented it in 1477 to the Trier Archbishop John II of Baden (1434–1503, r. 1456), but "only for life".Document of 19 July 1477; Princely Archives Berleburg (Document 1071). Archbishop Johann, who had just been appointed as Maximilians I of Austria's envoy had communicated the courtship of Mary of Burgundy in Ghent, was staying in Cologne at the same time as the Archduke, who was arriving for the betrothal, at the time the house was given to himcf. Victor von Kraus: Itinerarium Maximilians I. 1508-1518. Gerold, Vienna 1899, {{p.|25}}. and four days later on 23 July 1477 concluded a coinage agreement with Electoral Mainz, Electoral Palatinate and Jülich.

The Hof was given to the Cologne canon Dietrich II zu Nuenair (d. 1505) even before the death of Archbishop Johann,. As Dietrich II became provost of Soest in 1499, he declared that the Hof, which had been left to him, should revert to the Count's House of Wittgenstein.Cf. charter of 9 November 1499; Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (1302 document). The Hof fell a few years later to a grandson of Eva von Linnep, the canon Friedrich d. J. von Neuenahr (1504–1527).

In 1528, hereditary bailiff Gumprecht (II., IV.) VI. von Neuenahr-Alpen (d. 1555), as the only brother of Friedrich who had died in the previous year, finally renounced the Hof, in favour of Domkeppler Georg von Sayn-Wittgenstein (1558) as the next ecclesiastical heir of the Lords of Linnep.Document from 26 February 1528; Landesarchiv NRW Abteilung Westfalen Münster (Grafschaft Tecklenburg - Rheinische Urkunden, Nr. 97); Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (documeny of 1596); Regesten bei G. Aders: Urkunden, 1977, no. 149 and 150, {{p.|52}}. Bernhardt Maeß, canon of St. Gereon in Cologne, agreed to waive 200 gold florins which he had invested in the Linneper Hof or the tenements connected with it in the cathedral courtyard of Cologne, if later on the sons of Count Gumprecht became canons.Document of 28 May 1528; Fürstlich Bentheim-Tecklenburgisches Archiv Rheda (acts L 238); Regest bei G. Aders: Urkunden, 1977, Nr. 1348, {{p.|326}}; cf. Historisches Archiv des Erzbistums Köln (Erzbischöfliches Priesterseminar, Akte Nr. 94). Gumprecht (II., IV.) VI of Neuenahr-Alpen had married for the first time shortly before on 14 February 1528 and had no children yet. As late as 1532 Gumprecht (II., IV.)- VI was still using the house.Cf. Peter Joerres (collab.): Urkundenbuch des Stiftes St. Gereon zu Köln. Hanstein, Bonn 1893, {{p.|631}}. In the following years, Georg von Sayn-Wittgenstein appeared as the owner of the Hof.Cf. documents of 22 June 1544, 8 June 1552 and 5 April 1555; Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (documents) 1774, 1854 and 1891.

In 1534, the Lenneper (a misspelling) was rented to the burgher Mathias Vorsbach (d. 1557), who lived there with his wife Jutta von Lachem (d. after 1607; ∞ 2nd Helmig von Siegburg)Cf. Prozessakten, 1587-1613; Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (bestand 310 Reichskammergericht - Buchstabe W, A 41). and his family.Vgl. Statut des Domstiftes von Köln. 1534 November 6. In Samuel Muller: Das Eigentum an den Domcurien der deutschen Stifter. In Westdeutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kunst 10 (1891), {{pp.|341|374}}, here {{p.|369}}. Matthias Vorsbach was tried from 1551 onwards for not having his child baptised as an infant; he died in prison in Brühl.Cf. Council minutes of 27 February, 2, 9, 25 March, 6 April, 6, 15, 25 May, 5, 26 June, 21, 26, 31 August, 30 September, 9 October, 13, 27 November, 4, 14, 30 December 1551, 13, 25 January, 26 February, 4 July 1552; Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Holdings 10 Council minutes, A 15, folios 165, 168, 174, 192, 199, 224, 232, 236, 242, 253; A 16, folios 4f, 9, 30, 46, 54, 59, 66, 73, 78, 95, 190.); Leonard Ennen: Neuere Geschichte der Stadt Köln, vol. IV. Schwann, Cologne / Neuss 1875, {{pp.|793|799}} ([https://books.google.com/books?id=vZEKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA795 Google-Books]; limited preview). Georg von Sayn-Wittgenstein placed the Linneper Hof at the disposal of the cathedral dean and later archbishop Gebhard I von Mansfeld-Vorderort in 1552. (1524–1562, r. 1558).Document of 8 June 1552; Fürstliches Archiv Berleburg (1854 document).

In 1747/50, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne bought the Linneper Hof next to the church of St. John the Evangelist from the cathedral chapter to gain space for a new building for the Cologne Seminary,Vgl. {{Ill|Historisches Archiv des Erzbistums Köln|de}} (Erzbischöfliches Priesterseminar, Akten Nr. 87 und Nr. 94). which was built by Michael Leveilly on the Domhof from 1746 to 1748. The seminary was moved in 1827, and the building was demolished in 1864.

Sources

Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Bestand 101 Schreinsbücher, Hacht A 413–426; Bestand 202H Schreinsurkunden Hacht; Bestand 102V Schreinsurkunden Schöffenschrein among others)
Erzbischof Heinrich v. Cöln schenkt dem Domcapitel zu einer Canonical-Wohnung das Haus auf dem Domhof, der alte Pallast genannt, bei der Johannis-Capelle …, Februar 1237. In Theodor Joseph Lacomblet (collab.): Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Niederrheins, vol. II. Wolf, Düsseldorf 1846, Nr. 226, {{pp.|117f}}
Klaus Militzer (collab.): Die Protokolle des Kölner Domkapitels, vol. I Regesten 1454–1511 (Publications of the Society for Rhenish Historical Studies 77). Droste, Düsseldorf 2009
Statut des Domstiftes von Köln. 1534 November 6. In Samuel Muller Das Eigentum an den Domcurien der deutschen Stifter. In Westdeutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kunst 10 (1891), {{p.|369}}.
Günter Aders (collab.): Urkunden und Akten der Neuenahrer Herrschaften und Besitzungen Alpen, Bedburg, Hackenbroich, Helpenstein, Linnep, Wevelinghoven und Wülfrath sowie der Erbvogtei Köln.[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/721756136 Urkunden und Akten der Neuenahrer Herrschaften und Besitzungen Alpen, Bedburg, Hackenbroich, Helpenstein, Linnep, Wevelinghoven und Wülfrath sowie der Erbvogtei Köln] on WorldCat (Inventare nichtstaatlicher Archive 21). Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Köln 1977 ([http://www.afz.lvr.de/media/archive_im_rheinland/publikationen/ina_baende/INA_Band_21.pdf PDF] des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland)

Linneper Hof

History and notable residents

Sources

References

Further reading