Johann von Hoverbeck


Johann von Hoverbeck was a Prussian diplomat.
Hoverbeck's parents were Nikolaus von Hoverbeck, a derivative of a Flemish noble family, who emigrated in 1570 from Brabant to the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and Ursula Gutteter-Dobrodziejski, a derivative from a patrician family in Kraków. Johann von Hoverbeck, born in Aleksandrowice, a manor in the vicinity of Kraków, since 1614 attended the high school in Danzig. Since 1624 he undertook an extended educational journey through Europe and visited France, the Netherlands, England, Italy and Hungary. He returned home in June, 1630. In 1631 he took up duties in governmental services of Brandenburg and dealt with foreign affairs, especially concerning Poland.
He was an envoy of Brandenburg-Prussia in Poland from 1631 to 1682. He was a political architect and co-signer of the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657 and participated also in the Treaty of Oliva in 1660. During his political career he acted as an advisor to Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. As a gratification for his diplomatical achievements Frederick William presented to him in 1653 the manor of Eichmedien in Masuria, Duchy of Prussia. In 1663 the title of a baron war awarded to Johann von Hoverbeck.
In 1644 Hoverbeck married Anna Sophia, a daughter of Wolf Dietrich von Rochow. Anna Sophia, with whom he had eleven children, died in 1659. His son Johann Dietrich von Hoverbeck became a diplomat too. Hoverbeck died in 1682 in Hohenstein in Masuria, Duchy of Prussia.

Writings

Hoverbeck's political letters have been reprinted in scientific monographies on history, such as :