Friedrich II. (Brandenburg)

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Friedrich II of Brandenburg
Iron tooth

Friedrich II of Brandenburg , from the House of Hohenzollern , called " the Iron ", also " Eisenzahn " (born November 19, 1413 in Tangermünde ; † February 10, 1471 in Neustadt an der Aisch ), was ruling Margrave of 1437 to 1470 Brandenburg and from 1440 to 1470 as the successor of the father Elector and Arch Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire .

Life

Origin and youth

Friedrich was the second son of the future Elector Friedrich I of Brandenburg (1371–1440) from his marriage to Elisabeth (1383–1442), daughter of Duke Friedrich of Bavaria-Landshut .

He was betrothed to Princess Hedwig of Poland (1408–1431) at the age of eight and raised in Poland for ten years. Hedwig, a daughter of the Polish King Wladyslaw II , was the heir to the Polish throne until 1424. The sudden death of his bride led to a melancholy attitude on the part of young Friedrich that never left him.

Governing Margrave 1437, Elector 1440

In 1437 he took over the government of the Marken after his older brother Johann had renounced his birthright that year as part of an inheritance from his father. Three years later, Friedrich succeeded his father as Elector of Brandenburg. Until 1447 he ruled together with his brother Friedrich the Fat , who received the Altmark after a division of the country that year .

On June 11, 1446, Friedrich married Katharina von Sachsen (1421–1476) in Wittenberg , daughter of Elector Friedrich I of Saxony and Katharina von Braunschweig-Lüneburg . As was customary at the time, the wedding was mainly of a political nature and served the purpose of settling the armed conflicts between the Electorate of Saxony and the Kurbrandenburg. The marriage was unhappy and Margrave Friedrich was said to have had numerous affairs. Dorothea, Margarete and Johann emerged from the marriage. According to the current state of knowledge, Erasmus is considered an illegitimate son. Both sons did not reach adulthood.

Friedrich consciously withdrew from imperial politics and turned down the royal crowns offered to him by Poland and Bohemia in order to devote himself to strengthening the Courland. To this end, he restricted the independence of Berlin - Cölln ( Berliner Unwille ) and saw to it that the city leagues in the Mark were capped . He got his nickname because of his firm and determined appearance towards the estates in the interests of an authoritarian and independent princely policy. In 1440 he founded the Order of the Swans in order to influence the moral and religious education of the Junkers, who attracted attention through feuds and robberies in the country, and to bind them to the ruling house.

In 1451 the electoral palace was completed and occupied with a strong garrison. Friedrich had the Zwing-Cölln built since 1443 in order to be able to control the traffic over the long bridge between Berlin and Cölln. In inheritance contracts with Mecklenburg , Saxony and Hesse , he secured the Kurlande to the outside world. In 1454 he bought the Neumark for 40,000 guilders from the Teutonic Order and acquired the dominions of Cottbus and Peitz , which enabled Brandenburg to expand towards Silesia. Another success of his government was the papal recognition of his sovereignty over the dioceses of Brandenburg and Havelberg with his right to appoint the bishops.

He donated the cathedral in 1465 and, with the employment of five singing boys, founded the Berlin Cathedral Choir , the oldest musical institution in the city.

With the death of Otto III. In 1464 the Stettin succession dispute began . Friedrich wanted to move in and take over the Pomeranian partial duchy of Pomerania-Stettin as a settled fief. This was opposed by the dukes of the surviving Wolgast line of the Greifenhaus, Erich II and Wartislaw X. , who claimed Pomerania-Stettin for themselves because of the unity of the Greifenhaus and the Duchy of Pomerania.

In 1470, after unsuccessful battles against the Pomeranian dukes , in which he was only able to recapture part of the occupied Uckermark, Friedrich passed the rule to his brother Albrecht Achilles . At the invitation of his brother, he went to Neustadt an der Aisch "for the good air" . He died there according to the death certificate (in Codex diplomaticus Brandenburgensis CI 546 ) on February 10, 1471 at 9 p.m. and was buried in the church of the minster of Heilsbronn .

progeny

Friedrich II, married on June 11, 1441 in Wittenberg Katharina (1421–1476), daughter of Elector Friedrich I of Saxony , with whom he had the following children, although the paternity of the last child is more than doubtful:

⚭ 1464 Duke Johann IV of Saxony-Lauenburg (1439–1507)
⚭ 1477 Duke Bogislaw X. of Pomerania (1454–1523)
  • Johann (approx. 1452-1454)
  • Erasmus (approx. 1453–1465)

monument

Monument by Alexander Calandrelli in Siegesallee , 1898

For Berliner Siegesallee , the sculptor Alexander Calandrelli designed monument group 16 with a statue of Frederick II in the center, flanked by the side figures (busts) of the Chancellor and later Bishop of Lebus, Friedrich Stuhlmann, and the Mayor of Berlin Wilke Blankenfelde .

The group's unveiling took place on December 22, 1898. Friedrich is depicted as the conqueror of the urban resistance. His fist is holding a certificate that symbolizes the submission of the twin cities of Berlin-Cölln to Berlin's indignation . Arrows and torn documents on the ground are also intended to point to the power of the Brandenburg cities broken by the iron tooth . The elector's coat with a wide ermine collar underlines his indomitable strength and dignity. On the collar is the chain of the swan order.

Calandrelli simply took over the physiognomy for Friedrich II from the monument to Friedrich I, which he had created for the city of Friesack in 1894 . He invoked the family resemblance of father and son.

Eisenzahnstrasse in Berlin was named after Friedrich in 1892.

title

In 1465 it had the following title: We Friederich von Gotes Grace Marggrave zu Brandenburg , Elector , of the Holy Roman Empire Ertz-Cammerer and Stettin , Pomerania Wenden and Cassuben Hertzoge and Burggrave zu Nüremberg .

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich II.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.brandenburg1260.de/die_mark_brandenburg.html
  2. ^ Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch up to 1933. Ph. CW Schmidt, Neustadt ad Aisch 1950. (New edition 1978 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Ph. CW Schmidt Neustadt an der Aisch publishing house 1828-1978. ) P. 51.
  3. ↑ Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the Siegesallee , p. 151f.
  4. ↑ http://www.berlin.de/ba-charlottenburg-wilmersdorf/ Bezirk/lexikon/ eisenzahnstr.html
predecessor Office successor
Friedrich I. Elector of Brandenburg
1440–1471 		Albrecht Achilles
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Frederick the Iron; Iron tooth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg
DATE OF BIRTH November 19, 1413
PLACE OF BIRTH Tangermünde
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 1471
Place of death Neustadt an der Aisch