Friedrich II (Hessen-Homburg)

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Friedrich II von Hessen-Homburg (1633–1708) (atelier of Pieter Nason ).

Friedrich's signature:
Signature Friedrich II. (Hessen-Homburg) .PNG
Friedrich II of Hessen-Homburg, bust of Andreas Schlueter , cast by Johann Jacobi ( Bad Homburg Palace )

Friedrich II of Hesse-Homburg - the "Prince of Homburg" - (born March 30, 1633 in Homburg vor der Höhe ; † January 24, 1708 ibid) was Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg .

Childhood and youth

Friedrich was the seventh and last child of Landgrave Friedrich I of Hesse-Homburg. The father died in 1638. The children grew up under the tutelage of their mother Margarete Elisabeth von Leiningen-Westerburg . At her request, he and the sons of his cousin, Landgrave Georg II of Hessen-Darmstadt, were taught by court masters in Marburg . Because of a broken thigh in 1648 he stayed in Bad Pfäfers for a while .

When Field Marshal Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, appeared in the Homburg area, Friedrich was sent to meet him by his mother to start negotiations about the exemption of Hesse-Homburg. Turenne was so taken with the prince that he immediately wanted to include him in his army and finance his military training. But this plan failed due to resistance from Friedrich's mother.

At the age of 16 he made a grand tour of Italy and France, which was followed by studies in Geneva . He wasn't really enrolled, but rather learned to dance, horse-ride, fencing and perfect his French language skills.

In 1653 Prince Friedrich von Hessen-Homburg was accepted into the Fruit-Bringing Society by Duke Wilhelm IV of Saxe-Weimar . He was given the company name of the Kleberichte and the motto is true . As an emblem he was the toadflax allotted. The Prince of Homburg's entry can be found in the company's Koethen company register under no. 613.

Career

Since his older brothers stood before him in the line of succession , he switched to a military career. In 1654 he became a colonel in the army of Karl X. Gustav .

Friedrich's prosthesis

During the Second Northern War , Friedrich was so badly wounded in a storm on Copenhagen in 1659 that his right lower leg had to be amputated. He was promoted to major general and lived with a wooden prosthesis. Chosen by Charles X as governor of Livonia , the mood changed after the king's death and Frederick resigned from the Swedish service in 1661.

In 1661, at the age of 28, he married Margarete Brahe , 30 years his senior , the wealthy widow of the Swedish statesman Johan Axelsson Oxenstierna ; the marriage naturally remained childless. With the funds of his wife, who died in 1669, Friedrich acquired land in Brandenburg and became a friend of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm . In 1670 he married his 24-year-old niece, Princess Luise Elisabeth von Kurland , in Cölln, who was affectionately known by Friedrich as "my angelic fat". Before that, the Lutheran prince had converted to his wife's Reformed faith. This connection resulted in a dozen children by the time his wife died in 1690.

As a general of the cavalry , he was given command of all of Brandenburg's troops in 1672. In 1672 and 1674 he fought in the Dutch War in Alsace against the French army under Field Marshal Turenne. As commander of the Brandenburg cavalry, he attacked the Swedish army without orders on June 28, 1675 during the invasion of Sweden at the Battle of Fehrbellin . He inflicted heavy losses on her, which contributed significantly to the decision of the battle, but also to dissatisfaction with the Great Elector . He took part in the Pomeranian Campaign in 1675/76 and in the hunt across the Curonian Lagoon and negotiated the Peace of Saint-Germain (1679) for the Elector of Brandenburg .

Landgrave

After saying goodbye , he lived as a "squire" in Brandenburg. After the death of his second oldest brother Georg Christian , he redeemed the Landgraviate of Hessen-Homburg, which had been pledged to Hessen-Darmstadt, and took up residence there. In 1681, after the death of his brother Wilhelm Christoph , he took over the government in Hesse-Homburg as Friedrich II. After a long dispute, Wilhelm Christoph had to cede the Bingenheim office , which Wilhelm Christoph had owned, to Hessen-Darmstadt, but was compensated for it financially.

He let the baroque Homburg Castle building and tried with little success to revive the economy through the establishment of a glass manufactory and Saline . Another measure was successful, however: the settlement of the Protestants expelled from France - Huguenots and Waldensians - in their own communities in Friedrichsdorf and Dornholzhausen . Now his court alchemist Paul Andrich made him a prosthesis with springs and silver hinges - hence the nickname "Landgrave with the silver leg". After the last trip to Karl XII. in Leipzig he probably died of pneumonia. He was buried in the castle's crypt .

progeny

Coffin of Frederick II in the crypt of the Landgrave Castle
Landgrave Column

Friedrich II was married three times:
1st marriage : In 1661 he married Countess Margareta Brahe (1603–1669), the marriage remained childless.

2. Marriage : In 1670 he married Princess Luise Elisabeth of Courland . From this marriage emerged:

⚭ 1700 Princess Elisabeth Dorothea of ​​Hessen-Darmstadt (1676–1721)
⚭ 1728 Princess Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler (1685–1761)

3rd marriage : In 1691, at the age of 59, he married the widow Countess Sophie Sibylle von Leiningen-Westerburg (1656–1724). From this marriage emerged:

  • Ludwig Georg (1693–1728) ⚭ 1710 Countess Christine von Limpurg-Sontheim (1683–1746)
  • Friederike Sophie (1693–1694)
  • Leopold (* / † 1695)

reception

Friedrich is the hero of the drama Prince Friedrich von Homburg or the Battle of Fehrbellin by Heinrich von Kleist (written 1809/1810, first published in 1821). However, the figure has little more in common with the historical person than the name. In addition to the drama, there is also an opera The Prince of Homburg by Hans Werner Henze .

Honors

In Friedrichsdorf, the landgrave column commemorates Friedrich II.

family tree

Family tree Landgrave Friedrich II of Hessen-Homburg
Great grandparents

Philip I of Hesse ("the magnanimous") (* 1504; † 1567)

Christina of Saxony (* 1505; † 1549)

Bernhard VIII. Zur Lippe (* 1527; † 1563)

Countess Katharina von Waldeck – Eisenberg (* 1524; † 1583)

Count Georg I of Leiningen-Schaumburg (* 1533; † 1586)

Countess Margareta of Isenburg-Birstein (* 1542; † 1612)


Baron Ungnad von Weißenwolff
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Grandparents

Georg I of Hessen-Darmstadt (* 1547; † 1596)

Magdalena zur Lippe (* 1552; † 1587)

Count Christoph von Leiningen-Westerburg (* 1575; † 1635)

Anna Maria Ungnad, Freiin von Weißenwolff (* 1573; † 1606)

parents

Friedrich I of Hessen-Homburg (* 1585; † 1638)

Margarete Elisabeth von Leiningen-Westerburg (* 1604; † 1667)

Landgrave Friedrich II.

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Theodor Fontane : Walks through the Mark Brandenburg , Volume 1: The county of Ruppin . Aufbau Verlag, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-351-02141-0 , p. 425.
predecessor Office successor
Georg Christian Landgrave of Hessen-Homburg
1680–1708
Friedrich III.