Christian (Brandenburg-Bayreuth)

Portrait of Christian of Brandenburg-Bayreuth by Heinrich Bollandt , Plassenburg , Margrave room

Portrait of Christian of Brandenburg-Bayreuth

Founding document of the Protestant Union in Auhausen an der Wörnitz on May 14, 1608 (today in the Bavarian State Archives): Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg (top right)

Christian von Brandenburg-Bayreuth (born January 30, 1581 in Cölln an der Spree ; † May 30, 1655 in Bayreuth ) was Margrave of the Franconian Principality of Bayreuth from 1603 to 1655.

Life

Christian from the Hohenzollern family was a son of the Brandenburg Elector Johann Georg and his third wife Elisabeth (1563–1607), daughter of Prince Joachim Ernst von Anhalt .

In 1603 he took over the rule of the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Kulmbach after the Ansbach-Jägerndorfer branch of the old line of the Franconian Hohenzollern had died out with the death of Georg Friedrich I. He founded the Kulmbach-Bayreuth branch of the younger line of the Franconian Hohenzollern.

The takeover of rule had already been legitimized and prepared in 1598 by the Gera house contract . He took over the government at the same time as that of his brother Joachim Ernst in the neighboring Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach . From 1604 Christian moved the residence from Kulmbach to Bayreuth , whereby the Plassenburg ob Kulmbach remained a state fortress. The principality he ruled was no longer referred to as Brandenburg-Kulmbach, but as Brandenburg-Bayreuth after the new capital.

In 1606 he was elected district bishop of the Franconian Empire . He was one of the founders of the Protestant Union established on May 12, 1608 and allied himself with Sweden in the Thirty Years War . The small principality was hardly prepared for hostilities in its own country. Troop movements of strong friendly and hostile units led to chaotic conditions. The population increasingly suffered from the expense of feeding the troops and various payments imposed. The units directly subordinate to the margrave had hardly any military significance in view of the troop strengths that were passing through and only achieved notable successes by taking neighboring Bamberg towns. In this situation the margrave left his country. Emperor Ferdinand II deposed him in 1635 (Christian joined the Peace of Prague that year ), but he continued to rule.

In 1654, a year before his death, the elderly margrave went on a deer hunt in Neustadt an der Aisch , one of the four capitals of his country.

Under the company name Der Vollblühende he was accepted as a member of the literary fruitful society .

progeny

Coin with the portrait of the margrave

He married on 29 April 1604 the Plassenburg Marie (1579-1649), a daughter of Albert Frederick , Duke of Prussia , with whom he had the following children:

Elisabeth Eleonore (* / † 1606)
Georg Friedrich (* / † 1608)
Anna Maria (1609–1680)

⚭ 1639 Prince Johann Anton I von Eggenberg (1610–1649)

Agnes Sophie (* / † 1611)
Magdalena Sibylle (1612–1687)

⚭ 1638 Elector Johann Georg II of Saxony (1613–1680)

Christian Ernst (1613-1614)
Erdmann August (1615–1651), Hereditary Prince of Brandenburg-Bayreuth

⚭ 1641 Princess Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1614–1646)

Georg Albrecht (1619–1666), (non-ruling) Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (branch line)

⚭ 1. 1651 Princess Marie Elisabeth of Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1628–1664)

⚭ 2. 1665 Countess Sophie Marie zu Solms-Baruth (1626–1688)

Friedrich Wilhelm (* / † 1620)

literature

Johann Georg Heinritz: The reign of Margrave Christian 1603–1655 . In: Archive for history and antiquity of the Ober-Main-Kreis. Volume 1, Issue 3, 1832, pp. 17-60.
Hartwig Peetz : Christian. Margrave of Brandenburg-Culmbach. 1603-1655. Gießel, Bayreuth 1859, ( digitized version ).
Max Spindler , Andreas Kraus (Hrsg.): Handbook of Bavarian history. Volume 3: Franconia, Swabia, Upper Palatinate up to the end of the 18th century. Volume 1: History of Franconia up to the end of the 18th century. 3., rework. Beck, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-406-39451-5 .
Ernst Sticht: Margrave Christian von Brandenburg-Kulmbach and the 30 Years War in East Franconia. 1618-1635. Friends of Plassenburg, Kulmbach 1965, ( digitized ).

Web links

Commons : Christian von Brandenburg-Bayreuth - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ compare the list of the Hohenzollern family
↑ Dieter Arzberger: "Lord give peace that nourishes". The Thirty Years War in the Fichtel Mountains. Part 1: Historical News. Arzberger, Selb 2014, ISBN 978-3-927313-70-5 .
^ Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch up to 1933. Ph. C. W. Schmidt, Neustadt a. d. Aisch 1950, OCLC 42823280 ; New edition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Ph. C. W. Schmidt publishing house, Neustadt an der Aisch 1828–1978. Ibid 1978, ISBN 3-87707-013-2 , pp. 260 and 277.

predecessor	Office	successor
Georg Friedrich I.	Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth 1603–1655	Christian Ernst

personal data
SURNAME	Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Christian von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
DATE OF BIRTH	January 30, 1581
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cölln
DATE OF DEATH	May 30, 1655
Place of death	Bayreuth

[1] re the list of the Hohenzollern family

[2] Dieter Arzberger: "Lord give peace that nourishes". The Thirty Years War in the Fichtel Mountains. Part 1: Historical News. Arzberger, Selb 2014, ISBN 978-3-927313-70-5 .

[3] Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch up to 1933. Ph. C. W. Schmidt, Neustadt a. d. Aisch 1950, OCLC 42823280 ; New edition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Ph. C. W. Schmidt publishing house, Neustadt an der Aisch 1828–1978. Ibid 1978, ISBN 3-87707-013-2 , pp. 260 and 277.