Friedrich (Anhalt-Harzgerode)

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Friedrich von Anhalt-Bernburg-Harzgerode (born November 16, 1613 in Ensdorf , Upper Palatinate ; † June 30, 1670 in Plötzkau ) was the first prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode .

He was the son of Christian I von Anhalt-Bernburg (1568-1630) and Anna von Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1579-1624).

Life

After his training and the obligatory educational tour for princely sons, the Thirty Years' War raged , the prince entered service in Sweden in 1634 and fought as a colonel and regiment owner in Bohemia . But he had to quit his service as early as 1635 with the Peace of Prague , as the Anhalt princes also signed the treaty that was supposed to end the war between the imperial estates and the emperor.

According to the will of his father, Christian I von Anhalt-Bernburg , he should have led the government together with his brother Christian II , but managed to obtain his own principality by dividing Anhalt-Bernburg. After complicated negotiations, a final settlement between the brothers was signed on December 3, 1635. The newly constituted principality consisted of the offices of Harzgerode and Güntersberge with half a dozen villages and the village of Radisleben to the east of Ballenstedt . In 1662/63 Friedrich had the villages of Tilkerode and Siptenfelde rebuilt on the desert . In 1665 he received the office of Plötzkau , but resigned from Radisleben and was able to expand his principality in 1669 to include the office (monastery) of Gernrode when the seniority property was divided .

But the country was ruined by the Thirty Years' War in 1635 and shortly after Friedrich took office, the Harzgerode town burned down. So the prince handed the land into the experienced hands of his brother and went on journeys that took him from Hamburg to the Kingdom of Poland . After his return in 1636, he entered the service of Landgrave Wilhelm V of Hessen-Kassel as major general . In 1641 he gave in to the insistence of his brother and the other Anhalt princes and returned to his principality. In 1642 he married Johanna Elisabeth from the family of the Counts of Nassau-Hadamar . He then tried very hard to keep the country out of the war. He also tried to get the economy going again. To this end, he built the Mägdesprung ironworks with the cloth merchant Johann Heydtfeld from Quedlinburg as early as 1646 .

In 1644 he came to Vienna with his cousin Leberecht to the imperial court and took the opportunity to see Hungary. After the death of his wife in 1647, he went traveling again, initially to the Harz Mountains. In 1650 he gave the son to his Dessau cousin and the daughter of the Nassau relatives in Dillenburg for education.

For seven and a half years he traveled through Western Europe and Italy to the island of Malta and founded the short-lived Brotherhood of Enduring Friendship in Venice in 1651 , to which numerous well-known personalities joined.

The death of his brother made him return on November 18, 1656. On May 26, 1657 he married Anna Katharina zur Lippe-Detmold , daughter of Count Simon VII.

After the death of Johann Kasimir von Anhalt-Dessau (1596–1660) he was senior of the Anhalt princes. He made two more trips - 1664 to Switzerland and 1667 to the Netherlands .

In 1661 Friedrich received the imperial enfeoffment over the principality of Anhalt. He dealt with the constitution of the new state and process order, which was introduced in 1666. In 1665 he was able to introduce the right of birthright for the Principality of Anhalt (seniority contract).

He was a member of the Fruit Bringing Society under the name of Always Green . Prince Friedrich was buried together with his two wives and their daughter, who died in 1647, in a crypt in front of the altar of the Harzgeröder St. Mary's Church.

family

His first wife was Countess Johanna Elisabeth von Nassau-Hadamar (1619–1647), daughter of Johann Ludwig and Ursula zur Lippe-Detmold in 1642 . The couple had the following children:

  • Wilhelm (1643–1709), Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode
⚭ 1. 1671 Countess Elisabeth Albertine zu Solms-Laubach (1631–1693)
⚭ 2. 1695 Princess Sophie Auguste of Nassau-Dillenburg (1666–1733)
⚭ 1. 1663 Prince Wilhelm Ludwig von Anhalt-Köthen (1638–1665)
⚭ 2. 1666 Duke August of Schleswig-Holstein-Norburg (1635–1699)

He married his second wife in 1657. He had no children with Countess Anna Katharina zur Lippe-Detmold (1612–1659).

See also

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich von Anhalt-Bernburg-Harzgerode
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode
DATE OF BIRTH November 16, 1613
PLACE OF BIRTH Ensdorf , Upper Palatinate
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1670
Place of death Plötzkau