Friedrich Ferdinand Constantin of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

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Prince Friedrich Ferdinand Konstantin of Saxe-Weimar, painting by Johann Georg Ziesenis the Elder. J. (1769)

Friedrich Ferdinand Constantin of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (born  September 8, 1758 in Weimar , † September 6, 1793 in Wiebelskirchen ) was a prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and major general of the Electorate of Saxony during the Enlightenment .

Life

Friedrich Ferdinand Constantin was a son of Duke Ernst August II. Constantin (1737–1758) from his marriage to Anna Amalia (1739–1807), daughter of Duke Karl I of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . He was born three months after his father's death while his mother and grandfather ruled the duchy for his older brother Carl August . Friedrich and his brother were brought up by the chief steward, Count Johann Eustach von Schlitz, gt. Görtz , and later by Christoph Martin Wieland . After his brother came of age, Karl Ludwig von Knebel completed his training.

With Görtz and Knebel the princes went on their cavalier tour to Paris, during which they were introduced to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Frankfurt am Main by Knebel . After his return, Friedrich moved into Tiefurt Castle in 1775 . The introverted prince had already become largely estranged from his brother at that time. He later found no relationship with his wife and Goethe either. He turned to music and fell in love with the unruly Caroline von Ilten (1778–1789). The relationship was prevented by the influence of the family and also of Goethe. Goethe wrote to Frau von Stein : "I seem to be to blame for the Carolinchen's tears, and so am I [...]". Anna Amalia opened up to the lovers: “That would only be a beggar prince”. Friedrich then went on a journey, he describes a letter to his brother Carl August to Knebel: "My brother sent me a letter from London [...] where he did not write a word other than to wish me luck for my birthday."

Monument in the Tiefurt Castle Park

In 1784 Friedrich went to Electoral Saxon services, which his brother arranged for him. He became lieutenant general and received a regiment in Naumburg . In the war against France in 1793 he went to the Rhine as major general alongside Prussian troops. He fell ill near Pirmasens , where the Saxon troops were camped, of the dysentery , from which he died. He died unmarried and had several children born out of wedlock with various women. One of his mistresses was in opinion u. a. by Martin Gregor-Dellin Johanna Rosina Pätz from Weißenfels, who was the mother of the composer Richard Wagner . Friedrich is buried in the Eisenach Georgenkirche .

literature

Web links

Commons : Prince Frederick Ferdinand Constantin of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Name of the father. (Library Convention: "Constantine").
  2. ora-web.swkk.de
  3. Brigitte Hamann : Wagner, The Family . Rowohlt Verlag, Hamburg. Reading sample (PDF; 267 kB)
  4. ^ Peter Wapnewski : on M. Gregor-Dellin: Richard Wagner . In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 1980 ( online ).
  5. ^ Biography of the Wagner family