Carl Edzard
Carl Edzard (born June 18, 1716 in Aurich ; † May 25, 1744 ibid) from the Cirksena family was the last local prince to rule the county of East Friesland on June 12, 1734 .
Life
Carl Edzard was born at the castle in Aurich . He was the fourth child of the ruling Prince Georg Albrecht and his first wife Christine Louise, a born princess of Nassau-Idstein . His older siblings died before they were even one year old, making Carl Edzard heir to the throne in the county.
youth
On behalf of his father, Carl Edzard was brought up in an authoritarian, tough manner and "an atmosphere of bigotry and ascetic piety, which gave the child no freedom or opportunities for self-development". Every minute of his daily routine was planned. Even the recovery phases, the hours of the ride and the walk were precisely specified. According to the zeitgeist, Carl Edzard received instruction in Roman law , medieval history and French . There was also reading the Bible and other religious texts. Carl Edzard never enjoyed military training, although his father appointed him colonel and head of the small princely militia at the age of ten. Due to the early death of his father there was no time to take up a degree, and he never went on the cavalier journey of the sons of the European nobility , which had been mandatory since the times of the Renaissance . Its range of motion remained limited even within its territory. Carl Edzard stayed mainly at the court in Aurich, the hunting lodge in Sandhorst and the princely Berum castle . He never even entered the largest city in the county, Emden , but only looked at it once from a distance.
Prince
Carl Edzard's father had been seriously ill for a long time and suffered a stroke before his offspring's 18th birthday . In order to ensure the continued existence of the dynasty, a wedding was hastily arranged for Carl Edzard. The initiative for this probably came from his stepmother Sophie Karoline von Brandenburg-Kulmbach . She chose Wilhelmine Sophie (1714–1749), the daughter of her eldest brother Georg Friedrich Karl von Brandenburg-Bayreuth , as her bride and arranged the engagement of the seventeen-year-old to the two-year-old relative. On May 25, 1734 the wedding was celebrated at Berum Castle.
Three weeks later, on June 12, 1734, his father died and Carl Edzard became sovereign of East Friesland without actually being prepared for this task. After the ongoing conflicts of the past few years between the estates and the Princely House, it hardly had any respect. The city of Emden and other unruly estates refused to pay homage to him. It is doubtful whether Carl Edzard intervened in the administration of his country at all. It is likely that his decisions were made by others.
death
Four days after his wife suffered a miscarriage and the hopes for an heir and successor were initially gone, Carl Edzard set off on foot on May 16, 1744, to his summer residence, the Wilhelminenholz hunting lodge in Sandhorst , where Wilhelmine Sophie was waiting for him . Once there, he asked his wife for a glass of buttermilk, which made him feel uncomfortable. In the days that followed, the disease worsened. On May 24th, the attending physician described the prince's condition as alarming, but on May 25th he expressed hope for improvement, which was dashed: Carl Edzard died on the same day between 11 p.m. and midnight as the last of his sex. Whether he was poisoned or died of natural causes has never been established.
After his death, King Friedrich II of Prussia asserted his right of succession, which was regulated in the Emden Convention . He let East Frisia, starting from Emden, occupied without resistance, whereupon on June 23, 1744 the country paid homage to the crown.
See also
Web links
- Daniela Wakonigg: May 25, 1744 - Anniversary of the death of Carl Edzard WDR ZeitZeichen (podcast).
literature
- Thorsten Melchers: East Frisia: Prussia's atypical province? Prussian integration policy in the 18th century . Diss., Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg 2002. Accessed on May 21, 2012.
- Stefan Pötzsch: Carl Edzard . in: Martin Tielke (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland . Accessed May 21, 2012.
- Martin Tielke (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon for East Friesland , 3 volumes. Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Aurich 1993–1997, ISBN 3-925365-75-3 (Vol. 1), ISBN 3-932206-00-2 (Vol. 2), ISBN 3-932206-22-3 (Vol . 3).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Pötzsch: Carl Edzard
- ^ Melchers: Ostfriesland ; P. 183.
- ^ Melchers: Ostfriesland ; P. 184.
- ^ Melchers: Ostfriesland ; P. 182.
- ↑ Carl Christian von Leutsch: History of the Prussian Empire from its creation to the most recent time . tape 2 . Berlin 1825, p. 203 .
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Georg Albrecht |
Prince of East Friesland 1734–1744 |
Friedrich II of Prussia |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Carl Edzard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prince of East Frisia |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1716 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 25, 1744 |
| Place of death | Aurich |