Spee (noble family)
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The Spee family (German: von Spee) is an old Rhenish Catholic noble family from the Archdiocese of Cologne. They are relatives of the Baron von Scheidt family.
As one of the first documented members of the family, Bruno Spede was mentioned in 1166[1] and 1177[2] as a ministerial servant of the Archbishops of Cologne. It was not until the second half of the 14th century, with Goedeart Spede van Langenvelt, also called Spee, that the now-known rooster appeared in the family crest. This distinguished the Lords of Spee from other Rhineland noble families of the same name.
The family originally belonged to the regional land nobility of the Lower Rhineland. The ancestral seats were Altenhof (near Kaldenkirchen, since 1356, sold in 1833) and Haus Langenfeld in Wachtendonk-Wankum (since 1348, inherited in 1532 by Gaert von Erp called Warrenberg, later part of the Krickenbeck estate of the Counts of Schaesberg). In the 14th and 15th centuries, four family members, as one of the few Rhineland noble families, became knights in the Teutonic Order in Livonia.
Until the 17th century, the branches of Aldenhof (Altenhof), Langenfeld, as well as Haus Velde and Pöhlland existed. All currently living family members descend from the Aldenhof branch.
The family has produced notable members: Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld (1591–1635), a professor of theology and writer, was one of the first to oppose witch hunts and torture. Franz von Spee (1781–1839) served as a high-ranking official in Düsseldorf under the Bavarian, French, and Prussian governments. Maximilian Graf von Spee (1861–1914), Imperial Vice Admiral and Squadron Leader of the German fleet in the naval battles at Coronel and the Falkland Islands, died in the latter battle aboard his flagship, the Scharnhorst. His two sons also died in this battle as naval lieutenants aboard the Nürnberg and Gneisenau.