Christian IV. (Pfalz-Zweibrücken)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken in hunting clothes, oil painting on canvas from 1757 by Johann Georg Ziesenis (1716–1776); The palace in the background could be Jägersburg.
coat of arms

Christian IV (born September 16, 1722 in Bischweiler, today Bischwiller ; † November 5, 1775 at Pettersheim Palace ) was Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken .

Life

His father was Duke Christian III. von Pfalz-Zweibrücken (1674–1735) from the Birkenfeld-Bischweiler line of the Wittelsbach family , his mother Karoline von Nassau-Saarbrücken (1704–1774). Since Christian was only 13 years old when he received the ducal title after the death of his father, Karoline initially took over the regency until he was declared of legal age on November 22, 1740. She sent him together with his brother Friedrich from 1737 to August 18, 1739 for training in Leyden and then to the French royal court, from where he returned home on July 20, 1740. Immediately after he had taken up the business of government himself, he tried successfully for a politically favorable marriage of his sister Karoline Henriette . As early as 1741 she married Landgrave Ludwig von Hessen-Darmstadt . Goethe gave her the nickname "The Great Landgrave".

At the pressure of his patron Louis XV. the Duke converted to Catholicism in 1758. Christian also took care of the upbringing of his nephews Karl II. August and Max Joseph , as his brother Friedrich did not return after the Seven Years' War , but remained in Austrian service. Christian IV allegedly died after a hunting accident, but Johann Christian von Mannlich describes the symptoms of pneumonia in his memoirs.

Act

Duke Christian is still remembered today in the consciousness of the Zweibrücken population as a good Duke , in contrast to his successor Charles II August, who appeared as an absolutist ruler. Therefore, a street named after him still exists today. However, Christian also piled up an enormous mountain of debt, which can not least be traced back to his inclination to alchemical experiments and the pursuit of his own porcelain manufacture .

In Zweibrücken he had the duke suburb built from the result of a lottery according to plans by Christian Ludwig Hautt , which is grouped around what is now known as the Herzogsplatz. Today the buildings mainly house the city administration and various courts.

Furthermore, Duke Christian appeared as a sponsor of arts and crafts. He built up a considerable picture gallery, mainly of French masters. Through his friendship with the French court, he won well-known French architects for his new hunting lodge in Jägersburg . The painter Johann Christian von Mannlich owes his later career to the support of Christian IV. The painter and playwright Friedrich Müller was also trained at the Zweibrücker Hof. The Duke had Johann Ludwig Petri create magnificent gardens .

Christian IV also cooperated closely with France politically. He set up the Royal Deux-Ponts regiment , which was involved in the decisive battle of Yorktown in the American Revolutionary War under the leadership of his son Christian von Forbach .

In 1755 he founded the modern state stud Zweibrücken , 1773 was created by Körverordnung the Glanrind .

Nicolas Appert , inventor of canned food and condensed milk, was an officer of Duke Christian IV from 1772 to 1775.

progeny

Maria Anna Countess von Forbach (1734–1807) with her two sons Christian von Zweybrücken (left) and Wilhelm von Zweybrücken (right). On the far right of the picture in the frame, the child's father, Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken. Johann Christian von Mannlich , 1764

In 1751 Christian entered into a morganatic marriage with the Frenchwoman Marianne Camasse (1734-1807), later Countess von Forbach, whom he had met a year earlier as a sixteen-year-old dancer at the Mannheim theater. Since the validity of this marriage was unclear, it was repeated on September 3, 1757. Christian and Marianne had the children together:

  • Christian (November 20, 1752 - October 25, 1817), ∞ Adelaide-Francoise de Béthune-Pologne (1761–1823) ( House of Béthune )
  • Philipp (* 1754, later renamed Wilhelm; † 1807), ∞ Adelaide de Polastron (1760–1795)
  • Maria Anna Caroline (1755–1806), baroness of Zweibrücken
  • Karl Ludwig (1759–1763)
  • Elisabeth Auguste Friederike (born February 6, 1766; † 1836), baroness of Zweibrücken
  • Julius August Maximilian (1771–1773)

literature

  • Philippe Cachau: Le château de Christian IV, duc des Deux-Ponts, à Jägersburg. Un château français en Allemagne. , In: Francia , Volume 39, 2012, pp. 135-165.
  • Kurt Baumann:  Christian IV. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 229 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Karl Theodor von Heigel:  Christian IV . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 173 f.
  • Adalbert von Bayern : The Duke and the Dancer - The Strange Story of Christian IV of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and his family , Palatinate Publishing House , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, 1966.

Individual evidence

  1. europeanheraldry.org
predecessor Office successor
Christian III Duke of Pfalz-Zweibrücken
1735–1775
Charles II August Christian