Otto III, Count of Rietberg

Who is Otto III, Count of Rietberg?

Count Otto III Rietberg was Count of Rietberg from 1516 to 1535.

Otto III was probably born between 1475 and 1485 as the eldest son of John I and his wife Margaret of Lippe.

Otto's second wife, Onna of Esens, introduced the Reformation in the County of Rietberg. In 1533, Otto III appointed two preachers from Lippe, to teach the new faith in the parishes of Rietberg and Neuenkirchen.

Otto III suffered from ulcers on his leg. He died on 18 December 1535 and was buried in the Marienfeld Abbey. He was the last Count of Rietberg to be buried there. On his grave stone in the cloister before the winter refactory a Latin text could be read:

Beside it was the grave stone of his first wife: