Otto II of Hesse, also known as Otto the Younger (before 1322 - December 1366, Spangenberg Castle), was the only son of

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

Henry II of Hesse and his wife Elisabeth of Thuringia, daughter of

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

Frederick of Meissen.

Life

Otto married Elisabeth (died 1382) in 1338, daughter of Dietrich VIII, Count of Cleves. The marriage was childless? In 1339/40 he was co-regent with his father and imperial governor in

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a town in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's Central Germany (geography)#Geographical centre, geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen ...

. Otto participated in, among other things, two victorious feuds of his father (1356 and 1361) against the abbot Henry VII of Fulda. In 1356, he devastated the village of Hausen and Hausen Castle. In 1361, Otto and Margrave Frederick III of Meissen conquered and plundered in the city of

Hünfeld Hünfeld () is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Fulda. In 2000, the town hosted the 40th Hessentag state festival. Hünfeld has a population of close to 16,000. Infrastructure Transpor ...

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

. Otto resided at Spangenberg Castle in

Spangenberg Spangenberg is a small town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographic centrepoint of ...

, where he died in 1366. His unexpected and sudden death gave rise to the assumption that he had fallen victim to a poison attack initiated by Abbot Henry VII of Fulda. After Otto's death, Henry II appointed his nephew Hermann (1341–1413) as co-regent and heir in 1367.

Saga of Otto the Archer

According to a legend that has been told since the 16th century, Otto left his homeland because his older brother Henry (who did not actually exist) was the heir and he himself was destined to be a clergyman. He lived unrecognized as an archer at the count's court in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

. There he fell in love with Count Dietrich's daughter Elisabeth (Elsbeth). Otto's brother Henry died young, however, and since Otto was thought missing, Hesse was in danger of falling to his brother-in-law

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Otto of Braunschweig, who was married to a daughter of Henry II. Otto was then recognized by a visiting Hessian knight, who greeted him with great respect. Count Dietrich now agreed to his daughter's marriage to Otto. Otto returned with his bride to his father's court. The material was often worked poetically and musically, in dramas, operas, a novel, short stories and lyrical-epic poems. The most famous arrangement is that of Gottfried Kinkel, ''Otto der Schütz. Eine rheinische Geschichte in zwölf Abenteuern'' (Otto the Archer: A Rhenish Story In Twelve Adventures), from 1846.Gottfried Kinkel: ''Otto der Schütz. Eine rheinische Geschichte in zwölf Abenteuern,'' Cotta, Stuttgart und Tübingen, 1846
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Internet Archive
1894 In

a large fountain statue was erected for Otto, which first stood at the fish market and later at the end of the prince's court. In the old auditorium of the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

there is a series of wall paintings called "Otto der Schütz" (Otto the Archer). The Kinkel monument in Oberkassel, inaugurated in 1906, shows a scene from Kinkel's epic “Otto der Schütz” on one of its four relief panels.

Literature

* Eckhart G. Franz: ''Das Haus Hessen.'' Kohlhammer Urban, Stuttgart, 2005, , S. 24–25. * Heinz Scholten: ''Otto der Schütz.'' In: ''Rund um den Schwanenturm, Zeitschrift des Klevischen Vereins für Kultur und Geschichte.'' 24. Jahrgang, Kleve 2005, S. 31–34. * Margret Lemberg: ''Otto der Schütz. Literatur, Kunst und Politik. Ein Bilderzyklus in der Alten Aula der Philipps-Universität Marburg.'' (= ''Schriften der Universitätsbibliothek'', Band 82.) Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, 1997, .

Note

This page is translated from the German Wikipedia page Otto der Schütz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto the Younger 1366 deaths Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain House of Hesse German legends 16th century in the arts 14th century in Europe Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel Heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of monarchs