August (Saxony-Merseburg-Zörbig)
August von Sachsen-Merseburg (born February 15, 1655 in Merseburg , † March 27, 1715 in Zörbig ) was a member of a sideline of the Albertine Wettins and Duke of Sachsen-Merseburg -Zörbig.
family
August was the third son of Duke Christian I of Saxony-Merseburg and his wife Christiana , a daughter of Duke Philip of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg .
Life
Government in Zörbig
In order to be able to look after his three sons who were born later, Duke Christian I assigned them their own small domains as appanages during his lifetime , which, however, remained dependent on the main Merseburg line and whose sovereign rights were severely limited. In the course of this distribution in 1691, August received the office, the city and the Zörbig Castle including the next accessories as its own residence, thereby establishing the Sachsen-Merseburg-Zörbig line.
August then moved his court from Alt-Stargard , which he had received from his father-in-law as a dowry, to Zörbig. His rule there led to an extraordinary flowering. His father's reconstruction work on the region damaged by the Thirty Years War continued.
From 1694 he had the old castle rebuilt as Zörbig Castle into a new residence, although he did not live to see the completion. After his death, it was assigned to his wife Hedwig and daughter Caroline as a widow's residence.
He also donated a new wooden altarpiece, baptismal font and pulpit to the Protestant town church of St. Mauritius.
Death and burial
Duke August died on March 27, 1715 at the age of 60. He was transferred to Merseburg with great ceremony and buried in a pewter coffin in the princely crypt of Merseburg Cathedral . Since he left no surviving male descendants, his apanage fell back to the main line under his nephew, Duke Moritz Wilhelm von Sachsen-Merseburg , who, however, left it to August's widow.
Marriage and offspring
His only marriage was on December 1, 1686 in Güstrow with Hedwig Eleonore von Mecklenburg-Güstrow , the daughter of Gustav Adolf , Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow from his marriage to Magdalena Sibylla of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf .
He had the following children with his wife:
- Christiane Magdalene (born March 11, 1687 in Zörbig, † March 21, 1689 in Merseburg), Princess of Saxony-Merseburg
- stillborn daughter (* / † December 30, 1689 in Alt-Stargard), Princess of Saxony-Merseburg
- Caroline Auguste (born March 10, 1691 in Zörbig; † September 23, 1743 in Zörbig), Princess of Saxony-Merseburg-Zörbig
- Hedwig Eleonore (born February 26, 1693 in Zörbig, † August 31, 1693 in Zörbig), Princess of Saxony-Merseburg-Zörbig
- Gustav Friedrich (born October 28, 1694 in Zörbig; † May 24, 1695 in Zörbig), Hereditary Prince of Saxony-Merseburg-Zörbig
- August (born February 26, 1696 in Zörbig, † March 26, 1696 in Zörbig), Hereditary Prince of Saxony-Merseburg-Zörbig
- stillborn male twins (* / † 1707), princes of Saxony-Merseburg-Zörbig
Web links
- Johann Huebners… three hundred and three and thirty genealogical tables, Tab. 170
- August Herzog von Sachsen-Zorbig on thepeerage.com , accessed on September 18, 2016.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Christian I. |
Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig 1691 - 1715 |
risen in the duchy of Saxony-Merseburg |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | August |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | August to Zörbig; August to Sachsen-Zörbig |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 15, 1655 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Merseburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 27, 1715 |
| Place of death | Zörbig |