Friedrich Eugen (Württemberg)

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Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg

Friedrich Eugen (born January 21, 1732 in Stuttgart , † December 23, 1797 in Hohenheim ) was the 14th reigning Duke of Württemberg from 1795 to 1797 . He was the fourth son of Duke Karl Alexander von Württemberg and Marie-Auguste von Thurn und Taxis . His older brothers were Carl Eugen and Ludwig Eugen .

Life

After the early death of his father in 1741, Friedrich Eugen and his older brothers were sent to Berlin for training at the court of Frederick the Great . He was welcomed there. When the eldest of the brothers took office in 1744, this also resulted in the recall of the younger ones.

youth

Originally intended for the clergy, it came into the possession of the canons of Salzburg (1739) and Constance (1741). King Friedrich offered him the position of coadjutor at the Bishopric of Breslau , but he preferred military service to a clerical career. After studying in Utrecht and traveling through Holland, France and England, he was appointed Colonel of the Cavalry and Chief of the Dragoon Regiment D XII (Alt-Württemberg) by Frederick II in 1749 . On November 29, 1753, like his eldest brother, he married a niece of the king, Friederike Dorothea Sophia von Brandenburg-Schwedt , daughter of Margrave Friedrich Wilhelm zu Brandenburg-Schwedt and Sophie Dorothea Marie von Prussia , Friedrich's fourth sister. In the marriage contract, on the advice of the king, it was stipulated that the children from this marriage should be brought up in the Protestant faith, the national denomination. The estates were delighted about this and granted the prince and his male heirs a special annual grant of 25,000 guilders in addition to the rest of the appanage. In December 1753 he was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle by the king .

Military career

In 1756 the prince traveled to Menorca to learn about the siege warfare . His brother Ludwig Eugen besieged Fort St. Philipp there as a French general. In the Seven Years' War he distinguished himself as an equestrian leader through particular bravery. In 1760 he appalled Berlin, which was threatened by the Russians, and drove the auxiliary corps led by his brother Karl Eugen out of the Elbe-Saale region near Magdeburg. At Thorgau he commanded the left wing of the cavalry and defended Pomerania and Mecklenburg. In December 1761 he had to evacuate Kolberg after a 23 week long defense from the Russians, the fortress was handed over to the Russian general Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumjanzew-Sadunaiski . On April 10, 1762 he signed an armistice with the Swedes under Lieutenant General Ehrenschwerdt, which was later followed by peace. Most recently he was involved in the siege of Schweidnitz (October 1762) and decided the battle of Reichenbach with his attack .

Private citizen

After the end of the war he was General in Treptow at Rega from 1763 to 1769 . In 1769 he quit Prussian military service and moved with his family (albeit without the four eldest sons who started their education in Lausanne ) to the Württemberg county of Mömpelgard , near which he built a summer palace in Étupes . Here he led a happy family life for more than 20 years. On March 10, 1786, he received the government of Mömpelgard and the associated Burgundian and Alsatian lordships with full force as governor from his brother. The unrest in France in 1791 forced him to leave his little country, which was completely enclosed by the French Empire. After he had lived a changing stay for over a year, King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia granted him his residence in the royal palace of this city, originally inhabited by the extinct Margraves of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and appointed him Governor General of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg- Bayreuth.

government

Friederike Dorothea von Brandenburg-Schwedt, Duchess of Württemberg

After the deaths of his older brothers Karl Eugen (1728–1793) († October 24, 1793) and Ludwig Eugen († May 20, 1795) in rapid succession , he became the reigning duke and immediately took up residence in Stuttgart. Shortly before taking office, he was appointed Prussian Field Marshal General by the King of Prussia at the side of Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel and Möllendorff , and was now given the same dignity in the Swabian district. His reign lasted only about two and a half years, and the country suffered greatly from the First Coalition War during the same period . After some hesitation, the duke had declared himself in favor of Austria. Thereupon the French stormed the Kniebis under General Moreau in June 1796 , plundered the country in July and moved into Stuttgart themselves , while the Austrians moved eastwards from Cannstatt after the meeting . The Duke was forced to conclude an armistice with Moreau on July 17th at Baden , which was followed on August 7th, 1796 in Paris by the conclusion of the peace, which was particularly offensive to Austria. Its main conditions were: complete neutrality, even if Wuerttemberg as a member of the German Reich was called upon to provide assistance, the banishment of French emigrants from the country, mutual repeal of all hostile measures and free passage for France's armies. At the same time Mömpelgard was to be ceded, but Württemberg was to be compensated for it by several spiritual areas in Swabia. Württemberg also undertook to completely cede the left bank of the Rhine and to participate in the abolition of the fiefdom of Italy and the empire. In addition, a war tax of eight million francs had to be paid and considerable deliveries in kind were to be imposed.

Although the successes of Archduke Charles the Duke, who, like many families in the country, had fled, soon made it possible to return, but the Austrian billeting and claims weighed heavily on the country, so that the damage in the two years (1796 and 1797) is calculated at 18 million guilders. A state parliament was held for the first time in 27 years to negotiate coverage . But the duke, like his successors later, opposed the affliction of his chamber property, and the estates switched from discussing the costs of war to complaining about various abuses. There were lively discussions and the conclusion of the state parliament was delayed, so that the duke died while the negotiations were still in progress. Aside from his warlike laurels, he left behind the glory of an intellectually gifted, kind and philanthropic, just and impartial prince who was active in state affairs. The preservation of the regent house was secured by his descendants; of his twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, only one died at a young age. The sons all entered various foreign military services, the Hereditary Prince Friedrich in Prussian, later Russian, Ludwig, Eugen and Heinrich in Prussian, Wilhelm in Danish, Ferdinand in Austrian, Alexander first in Neapolitan, then also Austrian, Karl in Russian, and mostly got Opportunity to excel in the same.

Of his daughters was the eldest, Sophie Dorothee Auguste, later, Maria Feodorovna after the counsel of King Frederick II. Of the Empress Catherine of Russia in 1776 with her only son and successor Paul married and the engagement by the king in Berlin with shiny festivals celebrated; the third, Elisabeth, was chosen at an early age by Emperor Joseph II to be the wife of his nephew and successor Emperor Franz II , brought to Vienna at the age of fifteen and married Franz in 1788.

Marriage and offspring

On November 29, 1753 he married the niece of King Friedrich II of Prussia, Friederike Dorothea Sophia von Brandenburg-Schwedt . They had twelve children together:

⚭ 1795 Albertine von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1771–1829), divorced in 1801
⚭ 1817 Pauline von Metternich-Winneburg (1771–1855), the sister of Klemens Wenzel von Metternich

was an illegitimate son

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Eugen von Württemberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

proof

  1. ↑ Hans Heinrich Ludwig v. Hero: History of the three sieges of Kolberg in the Seven Years' War , Berlin 1847, online
predecessor Office successor
Ludwig Eugen Duke of Württemberg
1795–1797 		Friedrich II.
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich Eugene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duke Friedrich Eugen of Württemberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1732
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1797
Place of death Hohenheim