Friedrich Ludwig von Württemberg-Winnental

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Friedrich Ludwig von Württemberg-Winnental

Friedrich Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental , (born November 5, 1690 in Stuttgart , † September 19, 1734 in the Battle of Guastalla in Northern Italy ) was Prince of Württemberg-Winnental , General of the Elector of Saxony and General Feldzeugmeister of the Imperial Army .

The naming of Württemberg-Teck is incorrect.

Origin and family

Friedrich Ludwig was the fifth and youngest son of Duke Friedrich Karl von Württemberg-Winnental (1652–1698) and his wife Eleonore Juliane von Brandenburg-Ansbach (1663–1724), daughter of Margrave Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach .

Friedrich Ludwig's siblings were:

Life and military career

Youth and education

After initial studies at the Württemberg knight academy Collegium illustrious in Tübingen , preferred by the Protestant nobility of Europe at the time , Friedrich Ludwig continued his education at the academy in Geneva founded by Johannes Calvin in 1559 . When his middle brothers went on trips in 1703, he first went with them and came to the Electoral Saxon court in Dresden , where his aunt Christiane Eberhardine was queen as the wife of King August II of Poland , also known as "August the Strong" was. Still too young to travel any further, he stayed here for the next few years and learned that his upbringing was being continued under the guidance of his court master.

Since there was no indication that Friedrich Ludwig would ever be able to inherit from his father, a military career awaited him, just like many noble descendants in the same situation back then, although he had a keen interest in the arms trade from an early age showed.

Ursula Katharina von Altenbockum
Imperial Princess of Teschen

Friedrich Ludwig stayed in Dresden until 1708. It was during these years that Ursula Katharina von Altenbockum , divorced wife of Prince Lubomirski , became the official mistress of King August II at the Saxon court . Since Friedrich Ludwig distinguished himself through both his performance and his interactions at the Dresden court and soon became the king's favorite, it is certain that at that time at court he at least came close to the princess and saw how this woman did The king's favor was lost and was ousted by Anna Constantia von Brockdorff , who later became Countess Cosel. Since Katharina now retired to her possessions in Hoyerswerda and Breslau and Friedrich Ludwig served in the Dutch army from 1708, both lost sight of each other for the next few years.

Participation in acts of war until 1717

War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession , which was also fought for years in the Netherlands , was now the field of activity of Friedrich Ludwig, who fought here together with his three years older brother Heinrich Friedrich until the end of the war in 1714.

Great Northern War

Scheme of the siege of Stralsund in 1715

August II had been with his cousin King Charles XII since the turn of the century . of Sweden in a dispute that would develop into one of the great European wars. In this so-called Great Northern War , an alliance of Denmark , Prussia and Saxony recaptured all of Sweden's possessions in northern Germany in the Pomeranian campaign in 1715 . The most important operations in this campaign were the capture of the islands of Usedom and Rügen and the siege of Stralsund . Friedrich Ludwig was involved in all of these operations within the Saxon contingent and had distinguished himself through particular bravery and military foresight. Together with the Danish Major General Mayer and the Prussian Major General Borck, he led the surrender negotiations with Sweden on December 20, 1715 at the Tribseer Tor in Stralsund.

Venetian-Austrian Turkish War

The siege of Belgrade on August 16, 1717

In 1716 Friedrich Ludwig's eldest brother Karl Alexander fought under the command of Prince Eugen Franz von Savoyen-Carignan in the Venetian-Austrian Turkish War . Although the Saxon-Polish court was not directly involved in this dispute, Friedrich Ludwig wanted to take part in the fight against the Ottomans , which August II also allowed him. At the side of his brother, Friedrich Ludwig fought first in the battle of Peterwardein and then in the siege of the Temesvár fortress, which was occupied by the Turks . In August 1717 the Turks were expelled from Belgrade . The imperial troops were surrounded by the Turkish relief army under Grand Vizier Hacı Halil Pascha and embroiled in a two-front war. In this militarily extremely complicated situation, Friedrich Ludwig once again demonstrated the greatest bravery and strategic skill, for which Emperor Karl VI. transferred the 10th Infantry Regiment, which his brother Heinrich Friedrich had previously held. In addition, the emperor promoted him to field marshal lieutenant .

Life in Dresden until 1725

Order of the White Eagle
The baroque palace in Neschwitz

Back in Dresden in 1718, Friedrich Ludwig was raised to the position of Saxon-Polish Lieutenant General by August II. On the day of the wedding of Prince Elector August on August 20, 1719, he received the Polish Order of the White Eagle, so highly decorated, he met the meanwhile returned Katharina Imperial Duchess of Teschen at the Dresden court and began to court the ten years older woman. As a particularly attractive bridal gift, he bought Gut Neschwitz in Upper Lusatia in 1721 and had the renaissance castle there completely rebuilt by the then Dresden chief architect Johann Friedrich Karcher . The baroque palace Neschwitz is still considered one of the most beautiful palace complexes in Lusatia.

The connection between Friedrich Ludwig and Katharina von Teschen was evidently very much in the interests of the Saxon Elector, but less welcome in the House of Württemberg, because the latter had been one of the leading Protestant royal houses in the German Empire since the middle of the 16th century. August II, however, had converted to Catholicism as early as 1697 , and in order to marry the imperial duchess Friedrich Ludwig would have had to accept the Catholic faith as well. At least he had allies in his own family, for example his eldest brother Karl Alexander had also become a Catholic in 1712. In 1722, Friedrich Ludwig then decided to take this step and was quietly married to Katharina by a Dresden Jesuit . It was agreed that in the event of her husband's death, Katharina should continue to use the name Württemberg and the coat of arms.

The Palais Teschen in Dresden-Friedrichstadt

In 1723 Friedrich Ludwig participated in the coronation celebrations for Charles VI. to the King of Bohemia in Prague and was raised to the rank of General Feldzeugmeister. In the same year Neschwitz Castle was completed and he and his wife were able to move into it as a summer and hunting residence. His Saxon patron, August II. Promoted him again, this time to the equestrian general, and in 1726 he gave him a large garden plot in the Dresden suburb of Ostra, which was named Friedrichstadt in 1731 . Katharina commissioned the military architect Johann Christoph von Naumann to build a festival house with an octagonal entrance hall and a ballroom above, and to transform the garden into a baroque park. Today this building is integrated into the ensemble of the Friedrichstadt hospital. In the Innere Pirnaischen Gasse, today's Landhausstraße in Dresden, the couple also owned a city palace.

Participation in acts of war until 1734

Securing the Duchy of Parma

The city of Parma around 1700

From 1725 back in the service of the emperor, Friedrich Ludwig did not initially take part in combat. But when Antonio Farnese , the last Duke of Parma and Piacenza died childless in January 1731 , Charles VI sent. to secure the duchy troops to Parma and appointed Friedrich Ludwig as commanding general. This mission did not last very long, as Elisabetta Farnese , the niece and heiress of the deceased and wife of the Spanish king Philip V, used her full power as Spanish queen to regain the inheritance in the same year and to her eldest son and later King of Spain , Charles III. to hand over.

Suppression of the Corsican uprising

The citadel of the city of Corte in Corsica

As early as 1729, the population of Corsica revolted against the Genoese , who at Charles VI. asked for help. This lent his soldiers to the Genoese and sent Friedrich Ludwig with 7000 infantry to the island. The troops landed there on April 7, 1732. The general first tried to come to an amicable solution and offered the rebels a full amnesty if they lay down their arms. This offer was rejected. So Friedrich Ludwig ordered several massive attacks to be carried out, led by the Prince of Brandenburg-Culmbach and the generals Samuel Graf von Schmettau , who later became the Prussian Field Marshal General, as well as Wachtendonk and Waldstein. whereupon the insurgents withdrew to the mountains and began a guerrilla war . In the meantime the emperor's answer to a complaint by the Corsicans arrived, in which the crown recognized that the island people had been insulted by the Genoese in their honor of offering a truce and surrender negotiations. At the same time, order was sent to Friedrich Ludwig to seek an amicable settlement. The negotiations took place from May 8th to 11th in the city of Corte and led to a very favorable result for the Corsicans. On July 18, 1732, Friedrich Ludwig landed back in Genoa with most of the troops. Here he was greeted with a gun salute by the Senate of Genoa, honored and given rich gifts.

War of the Polish Succession

Stanislaw Leszczynski
August III.

In February 1733 August II died and his son was supposed to be August III. become the new Polish king. The empire under Emperor Charles VI. as well as Russia supported these plans, while France preferred the former Polish king and father-in-law of Louis XV. , Stanislaus I. Leszczyński , on the Polish throne. In the absence of a peaceful agreement, the War of the Polish Succession broke out. At the end of August 1733, Friedrich Ludwig first led an observation corps to Groß-Glogau (today Głogów, Poland) to monitor the Polish royal election, then received supreme command over the troops in the Netherlands and was summoned back to Italy in the same year to take command to take over the field army located in northern Italy, which was not used this year.

Battle of Parma
At the gates of Parma around 1700

On February 5, 1734, Friedrich Ludwig ceded the command of the Italian contingent to Field Marshal Florimund Claudius Count Mercy and went to Silesia, from there to lead some regiments to Mantua , where Mercy had meanwhile gone. He then drove back to Dresden, but had to travel to Northern Italy again a little later to represent Field Marshal Mercy, who had suffered a stroke but wanted to continue to lead the army from the sickbay.

At the beginning of June there were first skirmishes with the Franco-Sardinian troops, led by King Charles Emanuel III. and Marshal Coigny (1670-1759) were in command and outnumbered the imperial army three times. So Friedrich Ludwig decided to retreat to wait for reinforcements. However, this decision was heavily criticized by Mercy when he hardly recovered from the sick bed. Just four days later, however, Mercy was hit again, and Friedrich Ludwig continued to be responsible for the German troops.

Field Marshal Mercy returned to the camp after two weeks and led constant disputes with Friedrich Ludwig, which culminated in the fact that Mercy was completely inconsiderate on the morning of June 29 and without having agreed a battle order with his generals, the French one that was completely drawn up before Parma Army attack. Mercy was shot in the first attack, and Friedrich Ludwig was now in charge of the battle, which had to be broken off without a win on both sides in the evening due to high losses and lack of supplies. Curiously, both generals thought the battle was lost, Marshal Coigny had already sent a messenger to Paris with the bad news . A total of around 9,000 soldiers, 156 officers and 10 generals were killed. Friedrich Ludwig, himself slightly wounded, brought his badly battered troops to Montechiarugolo, southeast of Parma, and later 100 km northeast to Rovere .

Battle of Guastalla and Death

Although Friedrich Ludwig was not to blame for the unsuccessful outcome of the Battle of Parma, Emperor Charles VI transferred. the supreme command of the Italian army to Field Marshal Lothar Graf Königsegg . Since the troops were in a deplorable condition and no more provisions could be found in the entire area around the camp, Königsegg decided on September 15th to vacate the camp and march towards Quistello . The next morning the imperial soldiers managed to use a surprise attack to rout the French-Sardinian army between Quistello and Bondanello and to conquer the entire camp. During this operation, Friedrich Ludwig led a corps of 10,000 men against the town of San Benedetto , where King Karl Emanuel had his headquarters.

After the defeat of September 16, the Franco-Sardinian army had withdrawn to the area of Guastalla and there, very well adapted to the terrain, faced the German troops, who had meanwhile advanced to Luzzara to fight. Due to a misinformation of the scouts about an alleged retreat of the French, Königsegg had the enemy attacked on the morning of September 19, 1734 in the battle of Guastalla , whose positions however proved to be impregnable. Until noon the imperial regiments attacked in ever new waves, with high losses and without success. At around 1 p.m. Friedrich Ludwig lost his horse. While trying to mount a fresh horse, a bullet hit him in the right eye and another in the chest. Prince Friedrich Ludwig von Württemberg-Winnental was dead. Field Marshal Königsegg had to give up the battle.
Prince Friedrich Ludwig was born on September 21st in Mantua , in the Augustinian Church “St. Agnese ”, which no longer exists today, was buried with a great ceremony.

obituary

Coat of arms of the House of Württemberg 1705 to 1789

According to contemporary reports, Friedrich Ludwig was one of the most capable generals of the Holy Roman Empire in the 18th century. Courage and bravery in combat were certified as well as excellent strategic and tactical skills in warfare. Honesty and justice to friend and foe were traits of his character. At court he had a reputation for being a very sociable person, he loved the festivities in the Dresden of August the Strong as well as the luxury at court. He died with no offspring.
His wife Ursula Katharina, Imperial Duchess of Teschen, continued his name and coat of arms, as agreed at the time of the marriage. The House of Württemberg initially opposed this, but later tacitly accepted it.

literature

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ As a member of the House of Württemberg, Friedrich Ludwig carried the title of Duke , even if he never succeeded his father. The term prince is also appropriate for the male descendant of a duke . See: Württemberg (Friedrich Ludwig). In: Zedler. Volume 59, 1749, columns 1188-1195 (here: column 1188). as well as on the talk page
  2. ↑ Teck is the name of a Swabian noble family that existed before the 10th century, the last duke of which died in 1431 without a male heir. However, Eberhard IV. Count of Württemberg had already bought or conquered half of the duchy in 1379 and 1385, so that the Roman-German King Maximilian I at the Diet of Worms on July 21, 1495 elevated the county of Württemberg to a duchy and also the title of duchy " Teck ”awarded to the House of Württemberg . That is why all members of the House of Württemberg also bear the name 'von Teck'; the full title of the prince is therefore Duke Friedrich Ludwig von Württemberg-Winnental and Teck . However, the Teck title was not actively used until the 19th century, only the Teck diamonds can be found in the Württemberg coat of arms. The name 'Teck' was only given again to Franz Paul Karl Ludwig Alexander von Württemberg : in 1863 initially Prince of Teck, he became Duke Franz von Teck in 1871. He is the great-grandfather of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, today's Queen Elizabeth II , who is thus also a 'Duchess of Teck', but does not officially use this name.
    (see also the discussion page of the article under 2 Remarks on the Duke title )
  3. ^ The grandfather of Friedrich Ludwig, Duke Eberhard III. von Württemberg , had established the Württemberg-Winnental sideline for his son Friedrich Karl and thus Friedrich Ludwig's father was the first duke of this sideline, which ended again in 1733 because the eldest brother of Friedrich Ludwig, Karl Alexander , inherited the Württemberg ' s main line.
  4. ↑ 1706 Friedrich Ludwig had already taken part in fighting in Holland and on his return became colonel of the Queen's body regiment
  5. ↑ In 1704 Katharina gave birth to the king's son Johann Georg , who later became Chevalier de Saxe, and was shortly thereafter made imperial princess of Teschen (today Cieszyn , Poland) by Emperor Leopold I
  6. ↑ As an occasional change from the fighting, Friedrich Ludwig took part in the merrymaking at the Dresden court in 1709 in honor of the Danish King Friedrich IV , and also his presence with the Saxon troops, which August II returned to the Polish court in the same year Accompanied by Poltava after the Swedish defeat , it was probably more pleasure than frustration.
  7. ^ The later eleventh Duke of Württemberg
  8. ↑ Term of office: August 21, 1716 to October 1717
  9. ↑ August II awarded the Order of the White Eagle to only 40 people until his death.
  10. ↑ In some sources only financial reasons are assumed for the interest of the prince in the princess, but this has not been historically proven.
  11. ↑ The city-state of Genoa, to which Corsica belonged since the beginning of the 14th century, mercilessly exploited the island and its inhabitants. When the rulers introduced a stove tax in addition to the numerous existing taxes , the Corsicans revolted under the leadership of Luigi de Giaffery and Andrea Colonna Ceccaldi.
  12. ↑ The treaty between the German Empire and the city-state of Genoa stipulated that the latter provided board and lodging for the army, had to pay a sum of 30,000 guilders per month to the Imperial Chamber and an additional hundred guilders for every soldier who died or deserted. That is why the Corsicans shouted every time they killed a German soldier, which happened more than three thousand times: Genoa, one hundred guilders! .
  13. ↑ Friedrich Ludwig's speech at the opening of the surrender negotiations on May 8th in the presence of the leaders of the uprising, the commanders of the army and some envoys from Genoa has been handed down as follows: “Gentlemen!
    The meeting for this first conference is an extremely pleasant affair for me. It gives me the opportunity to admire the divine caution which altogether and altogether changes the end purpose of the commission assigned to me. So far I had come to wage war with you and now I am to be your mediator to some extent. You have by now heard, gentlemen, that a great Kayser is taking care of you and offering you his guarantee. A republic calls you back to your old duty and I am assured of my place that you will not perjury; for such circumstances demand a recognizability from you, which you must already feel in your heart. Heaven grant that through your unanimity such a happy beginning will win an even happier end, and that my sincerest wishes will be completely fulfilled. ”- Württemberg (Friedrich Ludwig). In: Zedler. Volume 59, 1749, columns 1188-1195 (here: columns 1191-1192).
  14. ^ In the peace treaty of Corte of May 11, 1732, the Corsicans a. a. made the following promises: waiver of all outstanding tax payments, no collection of war costs, general amnesty, re-admission of Corsairs to all secular and clerical offices, the right to freedom of teaching and their own schools, restoration of Corsican self-government, the right to defend the accused; Prosecuting offenses committed by public officials.
  15. ↑ The Peace of Corte did not last long, however, because the Genoese did not keep the agreements and imprisoned the leaders of the Corsicans. Although Emperor Charles VI. reversed this and guaranteed peace, the hostilities between Genoa and Corsica flared up again; they lasted until 1768 when Genoa sold the island to the French.
  16. ↑ Friedrich Ludwig received a stick and sword with golden heads and richly decorated with diamonds from the Genoese Senate, kept in precious cases. Eight paintings, four of which depicted the glorious acts of war by Friedrich Ludwig, and a complete set of diamond buttons valued at a quarter of a million scudi . A few boxes of chocolate as well as precious liqueurs and wines completed the present.
  17. ↑ Several horses were shot from under the body of the General Feldzeugmeister and the sword was knocked out of the hand with musket shots a few times
  18. ↑ Karl Emanuel had to flee in his nightdress and slippers.
  19. ^ Württemberg (Friedrich Ludwig). In: Zedler. Volume 59, 1749, columns 1188-1195 (here: column 1194).
personal data
SURNAME Württemberg-Winnental, Friedrich Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Württemberg-Teck, Friedrich Ludwig, Duke of; Prince of Württemberg; Friedrich Ludwig of Württemberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German General Feldzeugmeister
DATE OF BIRTH November 5, 1690
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH September 19, 1734
Place of death Guastalla Italy