Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim
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His Most Eminent Highness, Fra Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, O.S.I. |
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| Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller | |
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In office 17 July 1797 – 6 July 1799 |
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| Preceded by | Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc |
| Succeeded by | Paul I of Russia (de facto) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 November 1744 Bolheim, Electorate of Cologne, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 12 May 1805 (aged 60) Montpellier, Hérault, First French Empire |
| Resting place | Montpellier, Hérault, France |
| Nationality | German |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Order of Saint John
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| Years of service | 1761–1799 |
| Rank | Grandmaster |
| Battles/wars | Capture of Malta (1798) |
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, O.S.I. (November 9, 1744 – May 12, 1805) was the 71st Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, formally the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, by then better known as the Knights of Malta, being the first German to be elected to the office. It was under his rule that the Order lost their island home to France, after ruling there since 1530. This effectively marked the end of their sovereignty over an independent state, dating from the time of the Crusades.
Hompesch was born in the village of Bolheim, now part of the town of Zülpich in the Eifel region. He received the baptismal names of Ferdinand Joseph Antoine Herman Louis. He was admitted to the Knights Hospitaller on 10 July 1761, at the age of 14, for which he needed to obtain a dispensation from the Holy See, serving as a page to the Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca. By 1768 he had been promoted to the rank of castellan, and in 1770 he had advanced to the rank of lieutenant, responsible for the inspection of ships and fortifications of the Order. In 1774 he was given responsibility for the island's munitions.
In late 1775 Hompesch was appointed as the Order's ambassador at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, a post he held for the next 25 years. The following year, he was also raised to the rank of a holder of the Great Cross, making him a member of the Standing Council of the Order. During this period, he made efforts to unite the Protestant branch of the Order which had developed in Germany with the Catholic Order, which fell through due to the opposition of the German knights. In the following years, he received charge of the commandery in Rothenburg (1777), followed by those in Herford (1783), Basel and Dorlisheim—where their Chateau Saint Jean is now the headquarters of Bugatti Automobiles (1785), Sulz, Colmar and Mülhausen (1786) as well as Villingen, in the Black Forest (1796). He was appointed Grand Bailiff of the German "tongue", based in Brandenburg, in 1796.
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