Friedrich August (Württemberg-Neuenstadt)

Friedrich August

Friedrich August (born March 17, 1654 in Neuenstadt am Kocher ; † August 6, 1716 in Gochsheim ) was Duke of Württemberg and second in the Württemberg-Neuenstadt sideline .

Life

Friedrich August was the first child of Friedrich , who founded the Württemberg-Neuenstadt branch in 1649, and his wife Clara Augusta von Braunschweig. The members of this line were owned by the Württemberg offices of Neuenstadt , Möckmühl and parts of Weinsberg and carried the title of duke, but had no sovereign rights; these remained with the main line.

When the empire became involved in the Franco-Dutch War in 1674 , Friedrich August joined a Brunswick-Lüneburg regiment as a cavalry officer and took part in several battles. In the battle at the Konzer Bridge near Trier, the horse under him was killed three times. Before the war was over, his father called him back home so as not to expose him to any further danger as the successor to the line.

On February 9, 1679, Friedrich August married Countess Albertine Sophie Esther, the last member of the family of the Counts of Eberstein . This brought property in the Kraichgau such as Gochsheim and Waldangelloch as well as some goods on the border with Lorraine into the marriage. The couple had Gochsheim Castle renovated and lived there from 1682.

Also in 1682, after the death of his father, Friedrich August took over the business of government. In 1689 the French troops crossed the Rhine in the Palatinate War of Succession ; then Friedrich August retired to more distant Neuenstadt. In his absence, the city and castle of Gochsheim were almost completely burned down by the French. Reconstruction could only be started after the Peace of Rijswijk in 1697. For this purpose, Friedrich August let 220 Waldensians and Huguenots into the country, which he had settled in a new planned settlement called "Augustistadt" north of Gochsheim. Due to numerous difficulties, however, the project was only moderately successful, and most of the settlers moved on after a short time. Nevertheless, it was possible to move into the castle again in 1700. Although Friedrich August resided in Gochsheim, in 1701 he had the family crypt expanded in the Neuenstadt-Nikolauskirche , where at that time his parents, several of his siblings and several of his children were buried.

Duke Friedrich August died on August 6, 1716 in Gochsheim an der Ruhr . His grave is in the Martinskirche in Gochsheim , next to that of his wife, who died in 1728. Then Gochsheim was drawn in as a completed fiefdom from the main line. Because the couple had no surviving male descendants, Friedrich August's brother, Carl Rudolf , succeeded the Württemberg-Neuenstadt line.

family

Friedrich August and his wife had 14 children, of which only three daughters survived the first year of life; four children alone died on the day they were born. The Duke had the children dissected by doctors to investigate the cause, but to no avail. It is now believed that uncleanliness, spoiled milk, and mistakes in obstetrics were responsible.

1. Friedrich Kasimir (7 October 1680 - 9 October 1680)
2. Ludwig Friedrich (November 1, 1681 - November 9, 1681)
3. one daughter (* / † March 9, 1683)
4. Friedrich Samuel (May 11, 1684 - May 23, 1684)
5. one daughter (* / † July 3, 1685)
6. August Friedrich (April 4, 1687 - July 21, 1687)
7. Carl (born December 26, 1688 - † March 19, 1689)
8. Adam (May 30, 1690 - July 3, 1690)
9. Auguste Sofie (September 24, 1691; † March 1, 1743), married Friedrich Eberhard von Hohenlohe-Kirchberg in 1709, the marriage remained childless
10. Eleonore Wilhelmine Charlotte (born January 24, 1694 - † August 11, 1751), remained unmarried and childless
11. one daughter (* / † November 21, 1695)
12. one son (* / † August 29, 1697)
13. Friederike (* July 27, 1699 - † May 8, 1781) remained unmarried and childless
14. Friedrich (July 6, 1701 - October 21, 1701)

Eight of the 14 descendants are buried in the crypt of the Nikolauskirche in Neuenstadt , including the youngest and all other siblings surviving daughter Friederike, after whose burial the family crypt was closed in 1781.

See also : Family table of Württemberg

literature

• Christoph Eberlein: Friedrich August. In: Sönke Lorenz , Dieter Mertens , Volker Press (eds.): Das Haus Württemberg. A biographical lexicon. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-17-013605-4 , p. 224.
• Bernhard Kugler:  Friedrich August . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, p. 49 f.
• Gerhard Raff : Hie good Wirtemberg all the way. Volume 3: The House of Württemberg from Duke Wilhelm Ludwig to Duke Friedrich Carl. Hohenheim, Stuttgart / Leipzig 2002, ISBN 3-89850-084-5 / ISBN 978-3-943066-11-1 , pp. 365-384.
• Harald Schukraft : A Brief History of the House of Württemberg . Silberburg , Tübingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-87407-725-5 .

Web links

• Family crypt in Neuenstadt

predecessor	Office	successor
Friedrich	Duke of Württemberg, Neuenstadt line 1682 - 1716	Carl Rudolf