Friedrich August (Anhalt-Zerbst)

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Prince Friedrich August von Anhalt-Zerbst

Friedrich August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (born August 8, 1734 in Stettin , † March 3, 1793 in Luxembourg ) was a German sovereign. He ruled in the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst from 1747 until his death in 1793. Until he came of age on September 28, 1752, his mother Johanna Elisabeth von Holstein-Gottorf ruled for him.

Life

Friedrich August is the son of Christian August von Anhalt-Zerbst, who shared rule over this principality with his brother Johann Ludwig II between 1742 and 1746 and then ruled alone from 1747 until his death. Friedrich August is the younger brother of Catherine the Great . In 1748 he received the Russian Order of St Andreas from Tsarina Elisabeth . In 1750 he entered the imperial Austrian service, where he held the cuirassier regiment K 11In 1751 he was promoted to major and entered the government, but soon left it to his mother again and went on trips, from which he returned to Zerbst in 1752. On November 17, 1753, Friedrich August married his first wife, Caroline Wilhelmina Sophia von Hessen-Kassel, daughter of Maximilian von Hessen-Kassel , in Zerbst .

Despite the neutrality of Anhalt at the beginning of the Seven Years War , his mother Johanna Elisabeth hosted the French Marquis de Fraigne (1726 to approx. 1791), who was accused of espionage and who was actually supposed to investigate on behalf of Cardinal de Bernis whether Russia would join the alliance against Prussia stay faithful. For Friedrich II of Prussia on February 22nd, 1758 this was the reason to have Anhalt military occupied by Major von Kleist . Because of this political rift with Prussia, the prince was no longer able to reside in his territory. From then on he ruled in exile from his various places of residence over councilors in Anhalt-Zerbst and Jever, and therefore his reign was overshadowed by chaos, arbitrariness and despotism for his subjects. The prince was very fond of the military and had five barracks built in Jever, one of which now serves as a school building for the Mariengymnasium . In addition, from 1753 to 1762 he was the owner of the Austrian cuirassier regiment Anhalt-Zerbst and in 1761 recruited another battalion of around 500 men and 30 riders to serve in the Austrian army.

Austrian Battalion Anhalt-Zerbst, after R. Knötel

In 1764 Friedrich August, widowed since May 1759, got his second marriage with Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Bernburg . After staying in various health resorts, the royal couple arrived in Basel in February 1765 . Here they lived in the Mitzsche house on Petersgraben and, as a summer residence, the Weiherschloss Groß-Gundeldingen .

Friedrich August was one of the sovereigns who provided soldiers for the British side in the American Revolutionary War . He sold a year from 1778 to 1783 two regiments with a total of 1,152 man of his country Jeveraner children as soldiers in England and thus improved its treasury on. From 1776 he granted religious tolerance in his country.

In 1780 the Prince left Basel because of disputes with the magistrate for Luxembourg . In 1789 he was appointed kuk Austrian field marshal lieutenant. Around 1792 he was in charge of the entire Anhalt contingent of the Imperial Army . He died in Luxembourg in 1793, alienated from his homeland, without a male heir, and was buried on March 18, 1793 in the church in front of the new gate.

With his death, the ruling line became extinct and the country was divided between the other Anhalt-Bernburg , Anhalt-Köthen and Anhalt-Dessau states in 1797 . The rule of Jever , which had been under the sovereignty of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, was passed on to his sister Katharina the Great because of its status as a kunkellee and thus came under Russian rule.

See also

literature

  • Paul Beckus: Land without a master - prince without a court? Friedrich August von Anhalt-Zerbst and his principality (sources and research on the history of Saxony-Anhalt, vol. 15). Medium Verlag, Halle 2018. ISBN 978-3-95462-975-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Short biographies of Anhalt , accessed on December 30, 2010
  2. ↑ cf. Ferdinand Siebigk:  Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 157-159.
  3. ↑ Kronoskaf's private project, accessed January 30, 2013
  4. ↑ Melanie Meyer: The escapades of the "Baron Maltzahn" . NWZOnline of December 28, 2010, accessed April 7, 2013.
  5. ↑ cf. Legend for a portrait of the prince in the Marburg picture archive
  6. ↑ cf. Dirk Herrmann at www.schloss-zerbst.de, accessed on January 30, 2013
predecessor Office successor
Christian August Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
1747–1793 		–––
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich August von Anhalt-Zerbst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sovereign, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH Szczecin
DATE OF DEATH March 3, 1793
Place of death Luxembourg