Christof Beetz
Christoph Beetz (May 1, 1670, Swedish Pomerania – April 18, 1746, Stralsund) was ennobled by Emperor Charles VI in Vienna, Austria on 27 January 1734 as "Beez von Beezen" (Beetz von Beetzen) after receiving heritable membership of the old class of the Holy Roman Empire (higher nobility). His military career is highlighted by his command of a regiment at the age of 20 and his final appointment as Swedish Platz-Major and Stabs-Major of the military garrison in Stralsund. He was ranked with the same duties as a Stadt-General. His 1746 portrait still graces the interior of Saint Mary's Church, Stralsund, Germany (German: Kirche St. Marien zu Stralsund) where he is buried. Letters patent of Christoph Beetz von Beetzen According to the letters patent of January 27, 1734, now in the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv in Vienna, the nobility and the title Knight of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsritter) is inherited by "all his present and future legitimate posterity, and their heirs' heirs, men and women in descending line, in infinity" (''). According to Codex Austriacus (ed. Herrenleben, S.G., Wien 1748, pars III, Suppl. I, 1720, page 953, 954) both daughters and sons inherited in Austria after 1720, so the reference "all his