Jakub Wejher

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Jakub Wejher

Jakob Weiher (Weyherr) (surname also written as Weiherr, Waier, Weier, Weyher) (1609 – 1657), a member of the Weiher Noble Family [1] from Germany was a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. His coat of arms was Weiher (also known as Skarzyna). Weiher was the Vogt of Marienburg, Castellan of Putzig. By Poles he is known as Voivode of Malbork from 1643–1657, the Castellan of Chmielno, and the Starost of Człuchowo, Kiszporek, Bychów and Brzechowo. He is remembered as a pious and tolerant magnate and an experienced military leader.

[edit] Biography

Monument to Jakub Wejher as the town's founder in Wejherowo

Wejher was the son of Jan Weiher (1580–1626) and Anna Szczawińska, and brother of Mikołaj Weiher (?–1647) and Ludwik Weyher (?–1656).

He was a member of a rich magnate family of Westphalia, some had moved to Pomerania. He became courtier of prince Władysław IV Vasa. Studied first in a Jesuit College in Braunsberg, Prussia (now Braniewo Poland), then abroad at the University of Bologna. He was a Catholic and a supporter of the counter-reformation. Pursuing traditions of his family, as a youth he joined foreign military. In the years 1628-1632 he fought in the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire in the armies of the Catholic League, commanding a cavalry unit under Albrecht von Wallenstein. At some point he visited Malta. For his valor he received the title count from the Holy Roman Emperor (in 1636).

In 1632 he returned to Poland. In the royal army he fought in the Smolensk War (1633–1634), The Deluge, Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) and the Chmielnicki Uprising. During the Deluge, unlike many commanders in the North, he did not switch sides and defended Malbork for two months before capitulating. He was able to obtain from the Swedes a safe passage of his troops which retained their arms; he would soon join the Polish king in the south and would continue to fight the invaders.

For his services he was awarded by king and Sejm with several offices: Voivode of Malbork (1643–1657). Castellan of Chmielno. Starost of Człuchowo, Kiszporek, Bychów and Brzechowo. In his later years he ruled about 100 villages and five towns, and had an income of about 33,000 zloties. This made him one of the richest people in Pomerania and a notable magnate in contemporary Poland.

He supervised the construction of Władysławowo, a fledging port for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy. He funded the town of Wejherowo and in it, the Kalwaria Wejherowska (Calvary of Wejherowo) chapel complex (fulfilling an oath he took when nearly died during the Smolensk War in Biała in 1634). Over the years he would found several other monasteries, churches, as well as secular settlements. Despite being an ardent Catholic, he has proven to be a tolerant ruler, and supported peaceful dealings with the Protestants.

He was married twice: once in 1636 to Anna Elżbieta (Ann Elisabeth von) Schaffgotsch and then in 1652 to Joanna Katarzyna Radziwiłł. He had three daughters (two with Anna and one with Joanna). He is buried in St. Ann Church in Wejherowo.