Christian (Saxony-Weissenfels)

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Duke Christian von Sachsen-Weißenfels - a passionate hunter - in a hunting costume, pointing at dog and rifle; he wears the breast star of the Order of the Elephants
Duke Christian von Sachsen-Weißenfels in armor and an ermine coat and with an allonge wig as a sign of princely dignity
Equestrian statue of Duke Christian of Saxony in Freyburg (1913)

Christian von Sachsen-Weißenfels (born February 23, 1682 in Weißenfels , † June 28, 1736 in Sangerhausen ) was the fourth Duke of the Electoral Saxon secondary school of Saxony-Weißenfels and Prince of Saxony-Querfurt and came from a sideline of the Albertine Wettins .

family

Christian was the sixth son of Duke Johann Adolf I. von Sachsen-Weißenfels and his wife Johanna Magdalena von Sachsen-Altenburg , daughter of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm II. Von Sachsen-Altenburg .

Government in the duchy

After the death of his heirless brother Johann Georg, Duke Christian took office in the duchy in 1712 and immediately continued the policy of patronage and the promotion of science, education and culture of his predecessors - so he founded the Seminarium illustrious in Weissenfels in 1716 . However, he and his wife indulged in enormous waste and splendor. The city ​​of Sangerhausen was also increasingly used as a secondary residence and the New Sangerhausen Castle was modernized accordingly. The enormous resources that were necessary to spend these secular and musical amusements overwhelmed the already tense finances of the dwarf state by far, so that in 1719 the complete financial collapse occurred. Electorate of Saxony , which still exercised supremacy over the Albertine branch lines and was probably worried about having to assume the debts of Saxony-Weissenfels in the event of a foreseeable fall - neither the duke nor his brother had any male descendants - left with Kaiser applied for the establishment of a debit and debt repayment commission, which considerably restricted the Duke's ability to act.

At the same time, the Protestant Christian, as the head of the oldest line of the Fraternal Friendship Main Settlement, tried to emphasize his claims to the leadership of the Corpus Evangelicorum , which had arisen through the conversion of the Saxon Kurlinie to Catholicism, by speaking to the Reformation anniversaries in 1717 and 1730 on the occasion of the second secular celebration the Augsburg denomination had medals minted.

"What I like is only the lively hunt"

Above all, however, Duke Christian was addicted to the courtly driven hunt in his Ziegelrodaer forest as well as in the forests around Weißenfels, Pölsfeld and Neuenburg Castle near Freyburg . For these major aristocratic events, the peasants in the entire area were obliged to do additional compulsory labor.

On the occasion of his 31st birthday in 1713, Johann Sebastian Bach composed the famous hunt cantata What I like is just the lively hunt (BWV 208) as festive table music with a pastoral character, which starts in the evening after an extended hunting event by the prince in the Jägerhof the Nikolaistrasse rang out.

Christian is mentioned a total of four times in Salomon Franck's libretto of the cantata and equated with the shepherd god Pan - his qualities as a ruler were highly praised in the form of homage and congratulatory music customary at the time. The hunt is portrayed as a divine virtue and thus a privilege due to princes. It is likely that Bach wrote the piece on behalf of his employer at the time, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxony-Weimar , and that it was to serve as a gift for Christian.

Another Bach birthday cantata for Duke Christian followed with the so-called shepherd cantata BWV 249a . Bach dedicated the homage cantata O pleasant melody (BWV 210a) to him on the occasion of his visit to Leipzig and performed it for the first time on January 12, 1729. The commissions were worthwhile for Bach, as in 1729 he was appointed “Princely Saxon-Weissenfels Court Kapellmeister by default”.

Death, burial and succession

Duke Christian died blind and was buried in a pewter coffin in the princely crypt of the castle church of Neu-Augustusburg .

Since he left no heirs, the ducal throne passed to his brother Johann Adolf II .

Marriage and offspring

He married Countess Luise Christiana zu Stolberg-Stolberg , widowed Countess von Mansfeld-Eisleben , daughter of Count Christoph Ludwig I. zu Stolberg-Stolberg from his marriage to Princess Luise Christine of Hesse-Darmstadt on May 11, 1712 in Stolberg .

On the occasion of the marriage, Elector Friedrich August the Strong of Saxony gave the couple the Weißenfels hunting cup as a gift - a precious and lavishly designed goldsmith's work with enamel paintings by the brothers Johann Melchior , Georg Christoph and Georg Friedrich Dinglinger , which uses all sorts of symbols to reflect Christian’s preference for hunting . After the branch line died out, the trophy came back into the possession of the electoral treasury and is shown today in the Green Vault .

The marriage remained childless.

literature

Web links

Commons : Christian von Sachsen-Weißenfels  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Johann Georg Duke of Saxony-Weißenfels and Prince of Saxony-Querfurt
1712–1736 		Johann Adolf II.
personal data
SURNAME Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sachsen-Weißenfels, Christian von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Saxony-Weißenfels, Prince of Saxony-Querfurt (1712–1736)
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1682
PLACE OF BIRTH Weissenfels
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 1736
Place of death Sangerhausen