Families

Three families have shaped the history of Tatenhausen: the lords of Hoberg, the barons and later counts of Korff genannt Schmising and, since 1995, the Teuffel von Birkensee family.

The lords of Hoberg

The Hoberg family are the first known owners of Tatenhausen. The charters of the Tatenhausen archive name:

Reinke Hobreg mentioned 1455: buys farmsteads in the parish of Werther.
Hinrick, Otte, Regneke and Bernd Hobergh mentioned 1476: The brothers sell farmsteads in the parish of Werther.
Bernd von Hoberg, knight mentioned 1491: First lord of Tatenhausen named in a charter.
Jobst von Hoberg: Son of Bernd and father of the heiress.
Else (Elske) von Hoberg: Heiress. Through her marriage in 1524 Tatenhausen came to the Korff family.

Korff genannt Schmising

The Korff are an old Westphalian noble family. They are first mentioned in a charter in 1241; since 1354 one branch of the family has borne the byname Schmising. Their ancestral seat was Haus Harkotten. From this line came Heinrich Korff genannt Schmising, who in 1524 married the heiress Else von Hoberg and from 1540 had the present castle built.

The Tatenhausen Korff remained Catholic after the Reformation – the only noble family in the County of Ravensberg to do so. In 1692 they became Imperial barons, in 1816 Prussian counts.

Full coat of arms of the von Korff genannt Schmising family: a golden lily on red, above it a helmet with crown, lily and two mermaids, red and gold mantling. — Coat of arms of the Korff genannt Schmising, redrawn from a model. The depiction simplifies details such as the stars above the lily.

The original arms show a golden lily on red. On the helmet with red and gold mantling, two mermaids hold the lily, surmounted by three golden stars. A seal of 1309 already shows the lily.

Members of the Tatenhausen line

Not everyone named here lived permanently at Tatenhausen. Many held offices in Münster, Osnabrück or Cloppenburg; what is documented above all is that they belonged to the Tatenhausen line.

Kaspar Heinrich 1616–1690: Drost (bailiff) of Iburg, councillor in Brandenburg service and deputy of the Ravensberg knighthood. Married from 1645 to Anna Margaretha von Neuhof zu Horstmar.
Friedrich Matthias 1660–1727: Drost of Iburg and from 1690 of Cloppenburg. In 1685 he married Alexandrina Hedwig von Velen. With him the family became Imperial barons in 1692.
Caspar Heinrich Matthias 1687–1765: Chamberlain to the Elector of Cologne, Drost of Cloppenburg and privy councillor. In 1711 he represented the Prince-Bishopric of Münster at the imperial coronation of Charles VI. Married to Antonia Helena von Landsberg zu Erwitte.
Franz Otto 1719–1785: Chamberlain to the Elector of Cologne, Drost of Cloppenburg and privy councillor. In 1742 he was envoy of the Osnabrück cathedral chapter at the imperial coronation of Charles VII in Frankfurt. In 1747 he married Anna Elisabeth Droste zu Vischering.
Clemens August 1721–1787: Brother of Franz Otto. Cathedral canon in Münster, Osnabrück, Minden and Passau, provost of St Mauritz in Münster, from 1744 president of the prince-bishop’s court chamber (Hofkammer).
Clemens August Heinrich 1749–1821: Son of Franz Otto. In 1785 he took over the indebted estates and saved them. Drost of Cloppenburg, Prussian count in 1816. Married from 1778 to Elisabeth Bernhardine von Nagel zur Loburg.
Maximilian Frederik Hendrik 1779–1840: Drost of Cloppenburg until 1811, thereafter at Tatenhausen.
Franz von Korff genannt Schmising-Kerssenbrock 1781–1850: Younger brother, lord of Schloss Brincke. From 1816 to 1818 first Landrat (district administrator) of the district of Halle. In 1812 he married Julie, daughter of the poet Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg.
Klemens Graf von Korff genannt Schmising 1804–1882: Owner of the manor (Rittergut) of Tatenhausen, Landrat of the district of Halle 1855–1875 and member of the Prussian House of Lords.
Klemens Graf von Korff genannt Schmising 1834–1921: Son of the above, Landrat of the district of Halle 1896–1911.
Maximilian von Korff-Schmising 1870–1951: Took over Tatenhausen around 1904, having previously lived at Gut Steinhausen for some years.

On the sources. For some offices the sources disagree. A Wikipedia article, for example, attributes the presidency of the court chamber and several canonries to Clemens August Heinrich, whereas the Germania Sacra prosopographical database attributes them to his uncle Clemens August. This page follows the Germania Sacra.

Teuffel von Birkensee

The Teuffel von Birkensee are a Bavarian and Baden noble family. Their eponymous seat, Schloss Pirkensee in the Upper Palatinate, belonged to the family from 1521 to 1731. With the inheritance of Tatenhausen in 1995, a branch of the family came to Westphalia. The present residents are direct descendants of the Counts of Korff-Schmising.