Wentzl - a noble, patrician, merchant and banking family

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The Wentzl’s (derived from Vencelík or Wentzelickh (meaning descended from Wenceslaus or in Czech Václav), other derivations include Wentzel, Wentz’l, Wenzlick, Wanclik) and their relations played distinguished parts in commercial, banking, academic, literary and other affairs. Their descendants and heirs are alive and well today.

The Polish Wentzl Family is a branch of an old Bohemian family of wealthy nobles, mine owners, merchants and bankers, the Venceliks, humanists and generous donors of fine arts during the Renaissance period and subsequently.

The first records concerning the Vencelik barons of Vrchoviště, kin of the Smíšek family (see below), with whom they also shared the basic heraldic symbol in their coat-of-arms - the charge of a white unicorn in an azure field - date to the era of the last Přemyslid Kings of Bohemia. The family came to the Kutné Mountains region with its flourishing silver mining industry (see Kutná Hora) and soon members of the family became Masters of the Imperial Mint (and managers of their own silver mines). Václav Vencelík bought Žirovnice Castle in 1485, and subsequently the family reconstructed it significantly. In 1492, Václav Vencelík and his brothers Michal and Jan II. Knap obtained the status of 'říšských pánů' (Barons of the Holy Roman Empire, styled Reichsfreiherr von Sarabitz ze Sarabie) from Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III. Vaclav died in Třešť in 1515, but was buried in Žirovnice. Other properties in Bohemia that once belonged to the Venceliks included Nová Včelnice and Stráž nad Nežárkou.

Václav Vencelík of Vrchoviště had two brothers, Jan Smíšek (died c.1497) (progenitor of the Smíšek z Vrchoviště family, a wealthy ore and copper merchant, owner of mines, owner of Hrádek (now the Czech Museum of Silver and Silver Mining) and several urban houses in Kutna Hora) and Michal (1483 - 1511) (progenitor of the Libenicky z Vrchoviště family, Hofmeister of Kutná Hora and also an owner of Hrádek). See here the beautiful Smíšek Gradual, commissioned and owned by Michal Smíšek and now in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. Another branch of this family is the Wentzl or Wentzel von Sternbach zum Stock und Luttach Family.

In 1545 the Malovec Family became masters of Kamnice nad Lipou, which they held for 76 years. Under their rule the Chateau was reconstructed (mainly in 1580-1583). In 1610 Zikmund Matěj Vencelík of Vrchoviště, the Commissioner of the Bechyně Region, became the demesne owner through his marriage with Anna Magdalena Malovcová. He took part in the Uprising of the Estates against Ferdinand II. All of his property was confiscated in 1622.

In 1490, Václav Vencelík of Vrchoviště (Virchowitz) bought the Castle of Třešť (German: Triesch) from Zdeněk Šternberk of Šternberk (Sternberg), together with Třešť village, the adjoining demesne and the villages of Jezdovice and Buková as a gift for his son, Matěj Vencelík of Vrchoviště. The Vencelík Barons of Vrchoviště and Sarabitz owned Třešť from 1490 to 1626, when those that supported the Protestant creed had their property confiscated (the last owner of the estate fought on the losing side at the Battle of White Mountain, in consequence some four-fifths of the nobility of Bohemia were dispossessed and obliged to emigrate). The last Vencelík / Wentzl to own Třešť was Kryštof Adam Vencelík z Vrchovišt a na Třešťi (d.1626), married to Regina Dietrichstein (1 voto Herberstein) (d.1630), whose great-grandmother was Barbara von Rottal (1500 - 1550), illegitimate daughter of Emperor Maximilian I (1486 - 1519), wife of Sigmund von Dietrichstein auf Hollenburg (1484 - 1533), whom the Emperor was said to have favoured as a son. Their wedding was celebrated in July 1515 in Vienna in the presence of the Emperor. In the 16th Century the Vencelík Family founded the Lutheran church of sv. Kateřiny Sienské in Třešť, where may be found the tombs of Jan Václav Vencelík and of Regina z Ditrichštejna.

Johann Wenzel Vencelík von Vrchoviště (died 1606) was known to have had a collection of the publications of Martin Luther, Melancthon and other early Reformist thinkers in his library at Třešť. Among the supporters of reform the Venceliks were considered to be moderates.

A more detailed history of the Vencelík Family and of Třešť under its ownership may be found here.

The family re-established itself in Poland. Maksymilian Wentzel (1750 - 1813) (son of Johann) [i] and his wife Tekla Wierzchanowska (1764 - 1841) had four sons, Jan Kanty Wentzl (1784 - 1866), Antoni Wentzl (1785 - 1855), Maciej Szymon Wentzl (1788 - 1868) and Józef Maciej Wentzl (c.1796 - 1857), and a daughter, Tekla Agnieszka Barbara Wentzl (1792 - 1866). Tekla Wentzl married Jan Chrzciciel Stummer (Sztummer) (1784 - 1845) (admitted to the Mazovian nobility with crest/herb: Radzisław), Chief Medical Officer of the Polish Army, President of the Medical Council of the Kingdom of Poland and holder of the Gold Cross of the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw [ii].

Jan Kanty Wentzl (Jan Kanty Wentzel) (1784 - 1866), was a merchant and restauranteur trading under the name “J. Wentzl”. Following his marriage to Marianna Haller (1796 – 1880), daughter of Balcer (Balthazar) Haller, Jan Wentzl and his wife acquired from the Haller Family the mansion Pod Obrazem at 19 Rynek Główny (the Great Square)[iii], on the ground floor of which he operated his restaurant, founded in 1792. This restaurant operated there under the name “Restauracja Pod Obrazem” (Restaurant Beneath the Painting), with the family living above, until after the death of Anna z Wentzlów Laskowska in 1936, becoming among the best known in Kraków. In 1826 Jan Wentzl is also shown as the tenant of five shops and three cellars in the building at number 35 Rynek Główny (known as "Krzysztofory"). The Hallers were a wealthy merchant and patrician Kraków family (descended from Jan (Johann) Haller (1463 - 1525), a merchant and one of the first commercial printers in Poland, whose publishing house printed c. 250 publications from 1505 to 1525, including the works of Erasmus of Rotterdam and Nicholas Copernicus) [iii]. Other notable members of the Haller family included Lt. General Józef Haller von Hallenburg (1873 - 1960) and General Stanisław Haller (1872 –1940), Chief of the General Staff, murdered at Katyn.

The mansion at 19 Rynek Główny and its business affairs including the restaurant were passed down from Jan Wentzl through his son Konrad Wentzl (1820 – 1897), who married Józefa Brzeska (1833 – 1901), via Konrad’s sons Ignacy Karol Wentzl (1866 – 1926) (a respected Architect, whose son Maciej (1903 - 1924) died prematurely) and Maciej Marian Wentzl (1870 – 1932) to their sister, Anna Laskowska, nee Wentzl (1884 – 1936), who was married to Franciszek Laskowski, but without issue. They lived mainly separate lives, Anna in Krakow, her husband at his country estate.

Under her Testament Anna Wentzl (Anna z Wentzlów Laskowska) [v] established The Family Foundation of the Wentzl Families (Polish: Fundacja Familijna Rodziny Wentzlów), bequeathing the mansion at Rynek Główny and the business of J. Wentzl to the Family Foundation [vi]. The Testament expressly required that the house be held by the Family Foundation permanently and that under no circumstances should it be sold.

Under the Testament of Anna Wentzl, the object of the Family Foundation is to use its income to provide material benefits to the descendants of Anna’s cousin, Maria Waleria z Wentzlów Moczarska (1854 – 1937) and her husband Ludwik Moczarski (1831 – 1901), to the descendants of Mr Józef Rostafiński and to the descendants of Mr Józef Stummer, in each case until the line is fully extinct. The named children of Ludwik Moczarski and Maria Waleria z Wentzlów Moczarska were: Professor Zygmunt Adolf Moczarski, Maria Waleria z Moczarskich Zawadzka (vel Zawodska), Helena z Moczarskich Około-Kułak and Wanda z Moczarskich Peszke. From these lines there are descendants alive today, each within the class of beneficiaries of The Family Foundation of the Wentzl Family, all descended from the Wentzl Family.

Family members who belong to the class of beneficiaries of the Fundacja Familijna Rodziny Wentzlów under the Testament of Anna z Wentzlów Laskowska can contact the law office "Gajek i Wspólnicy. Adwokaci i radcowie prawni sp. k." in Warsaw for more information and support. You will find all contact details on the law office's website at: www.mgiw.pl

For many years, we have taken action to create the Foundation and have the opportunity to pursue the will of our cousin, and also the donor of the Foundation's assets - Anna z Wentzlów Laskowska. We are very proud of our connections with the Wentzl family, the home of the Wentzl family and Krakow.

In the event of extinction of the families entitled to receive benefits, Anna directed that the income of the Family Foundation should be used for the assistance of older ladies of Roman Catholic religion, from good families, who find themselves either temporarily or permanently in straitened financial circumstances. Provision was also made for the maintenance of the house.

The Testament appointed as the first Board of Trustees Anna’s husband, Franciszek Laskowski, Dr Antoni Mazanek, her lawyer and Executor of her Testament, and Jerzy Władysław Zawodski, who died in Buchenwald in 1942 (married to Sabina Maria Jaxa-Marcinkowska h. Gryf (1905 - 1973)). He was the son of Franciszek Zawodski (1873 - 1956) and Maria Waleria z Moczarskich Zawodska (1877 - 1961) and the father of Hanna Sabina z Zawodskich Szamotulska, (1941 -), married to Wojciech Szamotulski (1943 -), mother of Maciej Jerzy Szamotulski (1976 -) and Marcin Wojciech Szamotulski (1979 -). Anna directed that future Trustees should be chosen from among worthy respected people giving an assurance that they will work in the direction outlined by her Testament.

The family was not involved in the selection or appointment of the current Board of Trustees of our Family Foundation nor with the occupiers of the building at 19 Rynek Główny or in their arrangements with the Foundation.

By her Testament Anna entreated that each Board of Trustees should arrange that on the Feast of Corpus Christi, on the First Sunday after Corpus Christi, on the Octave, and on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (the procession takes place four times a year) for all time in remembrance of her Family, they should erect an altar on the days when the Church arranges processions on the Kraków Rynek, as had been the custom of the Family. Anna declared that all of the decorations of the altar were her property and bequeathed it to the Family Foundation. She stated that they comprised of wooden parts, steps, frames, boards, a table, altar frames, a crimson curtain, 4 matching cloth rosettes, a large carpet, garnish for the frames (three pieces) in scarlet, 6 wooden candlesticks, a painting representing the Head of Christ the Lord (always hung on a rope), two milky cases, 4 candelabra, a linen tablecloth, a napkin for the Tabernacle, candle holders and a candle extinguisher. She said that the Tabernacle is always borrowed from the Church of St. Mark.

After the death of Anna Wentzl her executors sold various items from the house, including the stone fireplace, which was acquired by the Jagiellonian University in Krakow for its Senate House.

Due to the intervention of World War II, Post War Soviet Occupation and Communism and the consequent political and legal environment in Poland, the Family Foundation of the Wentzl Family and its ownership of the mansion at 19 Rynek Główny was not formally confirmed by the Polish Courts until 16 October 1998 [vii]. In this mansion, which is owned by the Family Foundation of the Wentzl Family, there are now operated a hotel, a restaurant and a cafeteria under the name Wentzl [viii]:

Hotel Wentzl - http://www.hotelwentzl.com/en

Restauracja Wentzl - http://restauracjawentzl.com.pl/en/

Słodki Wentzl - http://slodkiwentzl.pl/en/

In 1935 Anna z Wentzlów Laskowska and Franciszek Laskowski endowed the National Museum in Kraków (Polish: Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie) with the large legacy of Anna’s brother Maciej Wentzl, which included glassware, ceramics, jewelry (with some patriotic pieces), timepieces and snuffboxes [ix].

Józef Tomasz Rostafinski (crest/herb: Jastrzębiec) was a well known Botanist, Professor of The Jagiellonian University of Krakow and author of "Przewodnik do oznaczania roślin w Polsce dziko rosnących" ("Guide to the Wild Plants of Poland") - of which there were 21 editions from 1886 to 1979 - and originator of the "Rostafinski Method" of plant classification [x]. He was the father of Jan Rostafinski (1882 - 1966), Agronomist and Zoologist, Professor of The Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), and grandfather of Wojciech Rostafinski (1921 - 2002), decorated Home Army (AK) soldier, participant in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising (codename "Maslowski"), who later emigrated to the USA and became a NASA scientist, an engineer and author [xi]. His name is in the Avenue of Honour in the space exploration Space Walk of Fame. He was married (in 1949) to Maria Sikorska. The son of Wojciech Rostafiński, Tomasz Jan Rostafiński, is a doctor of psychology in Chicago, where, apart from scientific work, he is involved with the Polish radio station. He has two daughters, Karolina Rostafiński-Merk and Anna Rostafiński.

Maksymilian Wentzl’s second son, Antoni Wentzl (1785 – 1855), who married Karolina Zychoniowa (1792 - 1850), was a Head of Department (Naczelnik Wydziału) at The Bank of Poland (Polish: Bank Polski), as was their son Amilkar Wentzl (1813 - 1881). They also had a second son, Jan Wentzl (1825 - 1867) and two daughters, Aniela Wentzl (1810 - 1890) and Karolina Wentzl (1826 - 1896) [xii].

Maksymilian’s third son, Maciej Szymon Wentzl (1788 - 1868), was highly trained in commerce and enjoyed travel and adventure, even once being enslaved by Turkish pirates. He later became a long serving Director of The Bank of Poland (from 1840 – 1865) [xiii - xv] and was awarded the Order of St Stanislaus II Class. In 1845 Maciej Wentzl and his descendants were admitted as members of the Mazovian Nobility (with the crest/herb: Zbroja) [xvi]. Maciej married Maria Zuzanna Bayer (Bajer) (1795 - 1876), daughter of Franciszek Bayer and Justyna Morbitzer, members of prominent merchant families (Antoni Morbitzer was President of the Krakow Municipal Council (1812 - 1815, the final years of the Duchy of Warsaw) - overseeing a significant investment program in the development of the City, its efficient functioning and modernisation and development as a trading centre, against a backdrop of Napoleon's war with Russia in 1812 and two year's of Russian occupation; he was supported in this by Konrad Wentzl). Together they had a son Adolf (Adolphe) Maciej Bayer Wentz’l (1819 - 1892) and two daughters, Wilhelmina Justyna Tekla Wentzl (1818 - 1908), who married Michał Rostafiński (1807 - 1881), a Director of The Bank of Poland from 1865 – 1874 [xvii], and Berta Wentzl (1828 - 1907).

Adolf Wentz’l belonged as a young man to an underground Polish patriotic organisation. He was sent by the family to his Mother's brother, Julian Bayer (1806 - 1873), in Trieste, where he worked in his uncle's firm, learning English and Italian (he also knew French, German, Greek, Latin, Polish and Russian) (Julian Bayer was also an employee of the Bank of Poland and later a Professor in Warsaw). When the Bank of Poland wanted to establish its Mint in London he was offered the post of Manager there. As the Manager of the Mint he made arrangements on behalf of the Bank with London Zinc Mills for minting coinage. It was while living in England that (on 17 November 1849) Adolf Wentz’l married a widowed Protestant English lady, Anna Maria Hewlins (primo voto Eachus, widow of Dr. George Eades Eachus, a Surgeon, composer and violinist), from Emsworth in Hampshire [xviii]. Adolf became stepfather to Anna's three young children. The eldest daughter, Mary Eachus, died young, but her son, George Eachus, became an outstanding engineer, living in Enfield. Anna Eachus, Anna's younger daughter, remained with her Mother and died in Warsaw in 1920. When the Mint closed, Adolf Wentz'l, renowned for his integrity, became the London agent of the trading house of Baron Anton Fraenkel, the financier and founder of Credit Foncier. Adolf Wentz’l and his family later moved to Paris, where he became the Private Secretary to Baron Fraenkel for a time, before retiring and returning to Poland, where he bought an estate near Blonie, Krasnicza Wola (40 wolki; about 420 acres)(near Grodzisk Mazowiecki), near to his sister Wilhelmina, married to Michał Rostafiński, at Kludno. On returning to Poland the family first lived in an apartment in the house of Maksymilian Fajans, on Krakowskie Przedmiescie, at that time one of the few houses in Warsaw with mains drainage. Fajans was a photographer who was constantly trying to improve his art. He had just started to enlarge photographs and asked for permission to take pictures of Mr and Mrs Wentz'l and their beautiful, newly married, daughter Maria Waleria Moczarska (shown here).

Adolf and Anna had three children. Adolf (Adolphe) Maciej Bayer Wentzl II (1852 - 1892), who married Maria Plebańska (no issue), Thaddeus (died aged 6) and a daughter, Maria Waleria Wentzl (1854 -1937), who married Ludwik Antoni Moczarski vel Mocarski (1831 - 1901) [xix] in Dresden in 1873. They had first met in London, where he had been sent by The Bank of Poland, for which he worked. The very talented Adolf Maciej Bayer Wentz'l studied Engineering, first in England, then in Germany. In an unfortunate accident he was injured while testing a new engine. Despite two years of careful medical treatment, his health was ruined. He changed to Agriculture, completing his studies at the University of Halle, Germany. He was a keen naturalist (after his death his skilfully mounted collections of insects were donated to the Jagiellonian University and to the Academy of Science, his telescope and microscope to the University). He also managed the estate at Krasnicza Wola to a high level, selecting and improving the breed of cattle, which became famous in the region, calves and heifers much sought after. English and French were the main languages of the house. Zygmunt Moczarski spent much of his upbringing here, until the successive double loss of his beloved Grandfather and Uncle, when, affected by these losses, he chose not to look after the estate and it was sold, which he later regretted. Adolf Maciej II died aged 40 in 1892 from Typhus, contracted through tending to others who had contracted this disease. After her husband's death, his widow, Maria Wentz'l worked as a secretary in the Warsaw Library and also translated books - in 1899 H.G. Well's influential science fiction novel "The War of The Worlds" (first edition in 1898) was first published in Poland, translated into Polish by Maria Wentz'l (nee Plebańska) Maria Plebańska, was the eldest daughter of Prof. J.K. Plebański, former professor at the Central Academy (Szkola Glowna), a historian, who lived at Izdebno, inherited by his wife from the Skorzewski family. Clementina Tanski-Hoffman (authoress) was brought up at Izdebno.

Ludwik Moczarski was the third son of Antoni Moczarski (1787 - 1867) and Franciszka Zawadzka. Antoni Moczarski's parents were Jan z Mocar Moczarski vel Mocarski (1716 - c. 1790) (crest/herb: Łada) [xx] and his third wife Anna Supińska. Jan was hereditary owner of Mocarze [xxi] the estate comprised of Mocarze Budne, Mocarze Dziubiełe, Mocarze Starawies, Bartki and Zabłotne, adjacent villages, in the parish of Burzyn near the Biebrza Marshes in Łomża County, c.50km North-East of Warsaw. Some 1200 acres were purchased in 1435 by two brothers, Maciej and Jan Moczarski, as confirmed in a patent by Wladysław, Prince of Mazovia.

This old Mazovian noble family is descended from Piotr Pilcha / Pilch / Pelko, Castellan of Czersk (1224) (the main administrative centre of the Duchy of Czersk - before Warsaw the seat of the Piast Family, ruling Dukes of Mazovia), a confidant of Prince Konrad of Mazovia and a member of a then widely known noble family (whose crest was Jastrzębiec - "jastrząb" means "goshawk", one of the oldest Polish crests / noble clans, whose ancestor in 998 was accorded by King Boleslaw the Brave the addition of a horseshoe to his crest in honour of a successful recorded act of valour). For his impressive victory against the Jadzwings (Prussians) in about 1220, Piotr Pilch was given the village Łada and became the first to be given the crest / herb Łada, taking Łada as his family name. From his son Wladysław Łada, Commander of the Army of Mazovia, also came Mikołaj [Nicholas] Moczarski vel Mocarski (c.1590 - 1638), the last Colonel of the Lisowszcycy – “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse” [xxii] (and see the enigmatic "The Polish Rider" attributed to Rembrandt, a Lisowczyk?).

“In the burnt-down church of Barefoot Carmelites [the fire occurred in 1803], there was a black marble gravestone to Mikołaj Łada Mocarski, colonel of the Lisowczycy.” Those words can be read in „Obraz Miasta Lublina” (A Picture of the City of Lublin), published in 1839. The text of the Latin inscription was noted by Szymon Starowolski (1588 – 1656), a priest and a writer: "The noble knight of old blood, the famous Sir Mikołaj of Mocar Mocarski, son of Ziemia Wiska [medieval north-eastern Mazovia], chevalier of the Łada crest. The Commander of mounted troops of His Royal Majesty. Thoroughly educated in Catholic faith, he twice prevailed over the Moskal [Muscovites]. For Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, he stood against and inflicted pain on his enemies : Gabriel of Transylvania and Frederick, Electoral Palatine [at The Battle of White Mountain 1620]. At Chocim, he faced the Ottomans in battle without fear. In Prussia, he inspired great fear and terror in Gustav, Duke of Södermanland [later Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden]. In the Borderlands of our Patria he stood watch and defended her most fervently. And when the eyes of all Polish warriors were on him and admired him, death cold-heartedly found him. He fell to his death pierced by rebelling Kossacks [in] violent tumult at Kumeyki Village” (translated from Latin by O. A. Smagacz of the Order of Barefoot Carmelites in Lublin)[xxiii].

Mikołaj Moczarski received honourable mention in the historian Simon Starowolski's book on "Sarmatian Warriors" ("Wojownicy sarmaccy, czyli pochwały mężów słynących męstwem wojennym w pamięci naszej lub naszych pradziadów" - containing biographical information on some 130 Polish and Lithuanian kings and knights), first published in Latin in the 17th century: "Mikołaj Moczarski, especially prominent in the art of war, which in our times still sustains that flourishing branch, beginning bravely in Prussia. He maintained the fame of Lisowski, winning many actions against Swedish troops (he later won a series of victories in the years 1634 - 1636)".

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Family Tree

References

Testament (and certified English translation) of Anna Laskowska (nee Wentzl) - Anna z Wentzlów Laskowska