The Klodt Family - Swedes, Livonians, and Russians

The famous sculptor Pyotr Karlovich Klodt (Peter Clodt von Jurgensburg; 1805–1867) came from the Klodt family, who owned the Zaube (Jürgensburg) castle. Archival documents belonging to the Klodt von Jurgensburg family were received by the Manuscripts Department of the State Russian Museum in 1955 from T.M. Klodt-Osipova. The "Genealogy of the Klodt von Jurgensburg Family" (Stammtafel für Familien Clodt von Jurgensburg) was compiled in March 1852 in German. It is from this "Genealogy" that it is known that the founder of the dynasty is considered to be Baron Johann Adolf Klodt von Jurgensburg, a Swedish lieutenant general born on August 5, 1650, who was captured and died in Moscow in 1720. Johann Adolf, the great-great-grandson of Justus, the first owner of the castle, was vice-governor of Riga, was taken prisoner during the surrender of the city, and sent to Moscow. While in captivity, he was elevated to baronial dignity by Charles XII. The baronial family Klodt von Jurgensburg was entered into the matriculations of the Estonian and Livonian nobility.

In the engraving by A.F. Zubov, "The Triumphal Entry of Russian Troops into Moscow after the Battle of Poltava on December 21, 1709," made in 1710 using the etching technique and known in a single copy, the "Procession of His Majesty the Tsar into Moscow with the Swedish Prisoners from Poltava" is depicted. Besides the Russian troops led by Emperor Peter I, there is a procession of captured Swedish generals, colonels, and other military ranks, among whom was Baron Johann Adolf Klodt von Jurgensburg: "He was one of the bravest warriors of his time, as evidenced, firstly, by the gracious reception he received in captivity from Peter the Great, and secondly, by the fact that Charles XII, also a connoisseur of bravery, during his captivity appointed him as his envoy to the Russian court and elevated him to baronial dignity," as stated in archival files and in the "Russian Biographical Dictionary."

Johann Adolf Klodt and his brother Gustav Adolf were barons of the Swedish kingdom and were married to Swedish women. These facts provided convincing grounds for identifying the Scandinavian branch of the Klodts. The "Genealogy" states that "the noble family Klodt is very ancient. It originates from Italy, from where it spread to Westphalia, along the Rhine and the Moselle. In 1543, one of the Klodts relocated from Westphalia to Livonia and added the nickname von Jurgensburg to the family name, after one of his estates in Livonia."

About the castle here: https://reveal.world/story/zamok-zaube-jurgenburg

According to other sources, the family originates from the County of Mark in Westphalia, from where Rolof Klodt moved to Livonia in 1515.

In 1780, the Jürgensburg estate, which had always belonged to the eldest in the family, passed into external ownership. Around this time, one branch of the Klodts moved to Russia, and family members began to pass on "to their heirs not the estate but only the family coat of arms of their once wealthy ancestors." Their baronial dignity with the family coat of arms was recognized in Russia on October 17, 1853. The shield of the coat of arms is crowned with a Swedish baronial crown and flanked on both sides by knightly helmets. Above the right helmet stand two black fire-shovels, formerly part of the ancient coat of arms; above the left, between two black wings, is a black wall with three battlements, surrounded by three six-pointed stars. The mantling of the helmets is blue with gold on the right side and red with silver on the left. The shield is supported by two golden lions looking backward.

It is worth mentioning Karl (Gustav) Fyodorovich Klodt, the father of the sculptor Pyotr Karlovich Klodt. Karl Fyodorovich was born on July 25, 1765, in the family estate of Waalküll near Reval, in the family of retired lieutenant of the Russian cavalry Adolf Friedrich Klodt, grandson of Johann Adolf Klodt. His service record states that he descended from Livonian nobility. There is information that he began his studies at the "Dohm-Schule" in Reval and then was educated at home under the guidance of well-known teachers, one of whom was Fyodor Ivanovich Schubert (1758–1825), who later became an astronomer, academician, and member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Archival documents establish that Klodt knew Russian, German, and French, as well as artillery science. He was a combat general and fought in the Patriotic War of 1812. The portrait of the celebrated general holds a worthy place in the gallery of the Winter Palace.

More is known about the sculptor Pyotr Karlovich Klodt than about other family members, so only a little information about him and his works is provided here. Like his ancestors, he was preparing for a military career. In 1822, at the age of 17, he entered the artillery school. All his free time, left from studying the military craft, he devoted to his passion: "serious classroom lessons, however, could not entirely divert the diligent cadet from the special subject of his true calling… At the slightest opportunity, Baron P. Klodt took up a pencil or a pocket knife and drew or carved horses in small sizes." After graduating from the school, the future sculptor received the rank of second lieutenant. The officer served in the training artillery brigade until he was 23 years old, and after that, in 1828, he left military service and decided to devote himself exclusively to sculpture.

The Narva Triumphal Gates are an architectural monument in the Empire style in Saint Petersburg. The triumphal gates were built in 1827–1834 (architect Vasily Stasov, sculptors S. S. Pimenov, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky (the chariot in the Glory group, figures of warriors and two horses), P.K. Klodt (his first serious work)) in memory of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812.

Klodt's horses on the Anichkov Bridge in Saint Petersburg are well known. Copies of the sculptures were also installed in Naples and in gardens and palace structures in Russia: in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg — near the Orlovsky Palace in Strelna and Peterhof, as well as on the territory of the Golitsyn estate in the Moscow suburb of Kuzminki, the Kuzminki-Vlakhernskoye estate. There is a legend that Nicholas I said: "Well, Klodt, you make horses better than a stallion."

Pyotr Klodt created monuments to Nicholas I, Prince Vladimir of Kiev, Martin Luther, and others. The main sources indicating historical facts and events from the life of the Klodt family are documents systematized by the sculptor Pyotr Karlovich Klodt’s son, Mikhail Petrovich Klodt, a well-known painter of the second half of the 19th century. A copy of Karl Fyodorovich Klodt’s service record from the General Staff was issued to M.P. Klodt at his request on August 31, 1912. This document is also kept in the Manuscripts Department of the State Russian Museum.

The Klodt family owned the Zaube castle until 1790. When the castle was abandoned is unknown. In 1756, it was described and sketched by the researcher I.K. Brotze. He wrote that only ruins remained of the castle, which implies that the castle was destroyed long before that.

Sources:

https://www.castle.lv/latvija/zaube.html

Klodt G.A. "Pyotr Klodt Modeled and Cast…". Moscow, 1989