(AND)REAS Pfeiffer.

… 1801, died:  8 Sept. 1876.

The fragment of a metal cross raises some puzzles. It is located in the mausoleum of the Lehndorffs in the cemetery of Groß Steinort and cannot be precisely assigned to any grave there. In addition, only parts of the inscription can be read. Apparently, it is for Andreas Pfeiffer, who, as a rendant of the Lehndorffs regulated their financial affairs. At least from 1856 to 1875, he can be verified as an accounting officer on the estate. Most probably he was the predecessor of Friedrich Schirrmeister who was also buried in the cemetery. The pastor of Rosengarten already said in March 1875 that Pfeiffer “wants to die.”^[1]

The relationship between Pfeiffer and his countrymen was not always harmonious. In 1861, the accounting officer and others received a public setdown from Karl Meinhard von Lehndorff, active as a conservative politician, because they were committed to the liberal “Fortschrittspartei”.^[2]

Before working as a rendant at Steinort Castle, Andreas Pfeiffer had been an active military officer. He had left the army with the rank of a lieutenant out of service. In one source he is listed as a landowner. But this should be as much a mistake as the age of 71, which was indicated for him in the death register for 1876 and does not correspond to the year of birth on the cross fragment.^[3]