Ernst August (Hanover)

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Ernst August von Braunschweig-Calenberg (painting from 1670)

Ernst August von Braunschweig-Calenberg (born November 20, 1629 at Herzberg Castle in Herzberg am Harz , † January 23, 1698 in Herrenhausen Castle , Hanover ) was Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg . Initially, as a later-born prince, he was destined for the clergy and, as Ernst August I, became Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück. In 1679 he became Prince of Calenberg and in 1692 the first Elector of Braunschweig-Lüneburg ("Kurhannover").

Life

Allegory of the elevation of Ernst August to electoral prince of Braunschweig-Lüneburg

His father was Duke Georg von Calenberg (1582–1641), his mother was Landgravine Anna Eleonore von Hessen-Darmstadt (1601–1649). On October 17, 1658, Ernst August married Sophie von der Pfalz , daughter of the Palatinate Elector and Bohemian "Winter King" Friedrich and Elisabeth Stuart , Princess of England and Scotland, in Heidelberg . The bride was originally engaged to his older brother Georg Wilhelm .

The Lutheran Ernst August was nominated Bishop of the Osnabrück Monastery in the Westphalian Peace Treaty of 1648 and elected Bishop of Osnabrück by the Osnabrück Cathedral Chapter in 1662; he held this office until his death in 1698. He and his wife, two young sons and foster daughter Liselotte von der Pfalz first moved into Iburg Castle . In 1673 the prince-bishop's family moved into the new residence built by Ernst August, Osnabrück Castle .

After the death of his older brother Johann Friedrich , he took control of the Principality of Calenberg in 1679 and moved back to Hanover. Ernst August and his mistress, Die Platen , lived there mainly in the Leineschloss , while Sophie retired to Herrenhausen Palace , where she had the Great Garden redesigned and expanded in the Dutch Baroque style, which Johann Friedrich had begun. He had also hired Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz as court librarian, whom Ernst August took over and who advised Sophie on the design of the Great Garden.

In 1683, in order to keep the rule of the area in one hand in the future, he introduced the primogeniture against the resistance of his younger sons , all possessions should in future fall to the firstborn son. Among other things, this regulation was also a prerequisite for the award of the electorate he was striving for. Three of his sons lost their lives as officers in the service of the imperial armies, two of them in the Great Turkish War and one in the War of the Spanish Succession .

In 1692, Ernst August of Emperor was Leopold I. the ninth cure in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and the Erzamt of Erzbannerträgers awarded. He did not live to see the Act of Settlement of 1701, with which Sophie was formally appointed heir to the English throne. In contrast to his wife and son, these claims to the throne had been rather indifferent to him and the prospect of possibly having to move to London as the Prince Consort had never appealed to him.

After his death, Ernst August was buried in the Leineschloss , after the Second World War he was transferred to the Berggarten in Herrenhausen , to the Guelph mausoleum .

The former Herzogsborn in Hanover was named after him.

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ernst von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1497–1546)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wilhelm the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1535–1592)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sophie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1508–1541)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georg of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1582–1641)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Christian III of Denmark and Norway (1503–1559)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Oldenburg (1549-1617)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Sachsen-Lauenburg-Ratzeburg (1511–1571)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ernst August von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1629–1698)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George I of Hessen-Darmstadt (1547–1596)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ludwig V of Hessen-Darmstadt (1577–1626)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Magdalena zur Lippe (1552–1587)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna Eleonore of Hessen-Darmstadt (1601–1659)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Johann Georg of Brandenburg (1525–1598)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Magdalena of Brandenburg (1582–1616)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Elisabeth of Anhalt (1563–1607)
 
 
 
 
 
 

progeny

The marriage with Sophie von der Pfalz had seven children:

  • Georg Ludwig

  • Maximilian Wilhelm

  • Sophie Charlotte

  • Karl Philipp

  • Christian Heinrich

  • Ernst August II.

mistress

With his mistress Clara Elisabeth von Platen geb. von Meisenbug has two more children:

  • Ernst August (* August 3, 1674; † September 20, 1726) ⚭ Freiin Sofie Caroline von Uffeln (* September 2, 1669; † April 23, 1726) → Line Platen-Hallermund
  • Sophie Charlotte (* 1675; † April 20, 1725), later Baroness von Kielmansegg and Countess of Leinster and Darlington ⚭ 1701 Baron Johann Adolf von Kielmansegg (1668–1717)

swell

  • Anna Wendland (Ed.): Letters from Elector Ernst August von Hannover to his wife, Electress Sophie. In: Lower Saxony Yearbook for State History. 7 (1930), pp. 206-264.

literature

Web links

Commons : Ernst August (Hannover)  - Collection of pictures
Wikisource: Ernst August (Hannover)  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Knocke , Hugo Thielen : Mausoleum , in: Hannover Art and Culture Lexicon , p. 92
predecessor Office successor
Johann Friedrich Duke of Braunschweig-Calenberg
1679–1698 		Georg I
risen in Hanover
none Elector of Hanover
1692–1698 		George I.
Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück
1661–1698 		Karl Joseph of Lorraine
personal data
SURNAME Ernst August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ernst August von Braunschweig-Calenberg; Ernst August I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Elector of Braunschweig-Lüneburg
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1629
PLACE OF BIRTH Herzberg am Harz
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1698
Place of death Herrenhausen