Georg (Braunschweig-Calenberg)

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Duke Georg of Braunschweig and Lüneburg
Georg, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, wrongly subtitled here as Georg Wilhelm ; Engraving , probably Italy, around 1700

Georg , also called Georg Eisenhand , Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg (born February 17, 1582 in Celle , † April 2, 1641 in Hildesheim ) was Prince of Calenberg and a general in the Thirty Years War .

Life

Duke Georg was the sixth of seven sons of Duke Wilhelm the Elder. J. von Braunschweig-Lüneburg and his wife Dorothea ; a daughter of King Christian III. from Denmark .

In 1591, Duke Georg came to the University of Jena and stayed there until 1596. He then stayed at related and friendly courts throughout Germany until 1601. In 1604 he joined Prince Moritz of Orange . In 1608 Duke Georg went on a study trip to France . From 1609 to 1611 he stayed in Italy . After his return he was promoted to colonel in the Danish-Swedish war in the winter of 1611/12.

On March 10, 1617, the Emperor in Prague confirmed the succession of the Lüneburg line in the principality of Grubenhagen , according to which the sons of Wilhelm the Younger should take over the principality according to their age, but in order to prevent an inheritance and thus complete financial ruin, only one of them was allowed to marry appropriately. The lot fell on Georg. As a result, Duke Georg received Herzberg Castle and made it his residence. In the same year he married Anna Eleonore von Hessen-Darmstadt on December 14th . Both first son was the future Duke Christian Ludwig von Braunschweig-Celle .

From Duke Georg's letters we learn that he was very dissatisfied with his political situation, and so he switched to King Gustav Adolf and accepted from him on April 21, 1631 a general Swedish patent. This patent was dated October 18, 1630. After the death of King Gustav Adolf, Duke Georg was entrusted with the command of the German-Swedish army in Lower Saxony and Westphalia by Count Axel Oxenstierna . With this army he triumphed at Hessisch Oldendorf on June 28, 1633 , forced the imperial occupied Hameln to surrender and in January 1634 won the support of the Lower Saxony district in Halberstadt , of which he was also appointed general.

On the occasion of this appointment, Duke Georg and Count Axel Oxenstierna were accepted into the Fruitful Society . Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen gave him the company name of the catcher and the motto prepared for it . This can be found, with the hemp emblem intended for him and all kinds of fish and bird nets ( Cannabis sativa L. ), in the Koethener society book under number 231. The rhyme law, with which Duke Georg thanked him for acceptance, is also recorded:

Besides the
hemp nets one prepares to catch. The birds, fish and wild, a rope guided with them.
From the sniffer dog, the deer becomes a hunter who seeks him.
I choose the catching drumb and the fruit
The need is given to catch all of this with
water from To good conscience, you can also get
to what to enjoy a fresh heart and
you like to sneeze at the table at the beaked willow.

Thaler Georg 1639: Armored hip image with command staff and helmet / 5-fold helmeted 11-field coat of arms (Welter 1453) Thaler Georg 1639: Armored hip image with command staff and helmet / 5-fold helmeted 11-field coat of arms (Welter 1453)
Thaler Georg 1639: Armored hip image with command staff and helmet / 5-fold helmeted 11-field coat of arms ( Welter 1453)

In July 1634 Georg took the city of Hildesheim . As a result, he and his family, the court and the administration moved into the prince-bishop's palace at Hildesheim Cathedral , which he had prepared for this purpose and where he resided until his death.

More or less influenced by his brothers, Duke Georg joined the Peace of Prague on August 31, 1635 and took over a small independent army the following year.

In the Guelf inheritance in 1635, the principalities of Calenberg and Göttingen were awarded to him. In 1636 he chose Hanover as his residence, but only saw the conversion of the former Minorite monastery on the Leine into a residential palace for a few years.

Funeral procession for the dukes Georg and Wilhelm

Partial view of the funeral procession for the funeral of Dukes Georg and Wilhelm on May 16, 1643 in Celle

Duke Georg von Calenberg died on April 2, 1641. The burial planned for June 1641 was postponed due to the turmoil during the Thirty Years' War . Only after the death of Duke Wilhelm von Harburg on March 30, 1642 and the "Goslar Peace" concluded on January 16, 1642 (the Guelph Dukes Friedrich IV , August II and Christian Ludwig promised to obey and support Emperor Ferdinand III ) a double burial was decided. The funeral ceremony took place on May 16, 1643. A funeral procession was formed from the Celle Castle to the town church , in which 1,100 people took part. They were divided into 15 departments, so-called orders, according to a special ranking. The funeral service that followed was followed by the burial of the two dukes in the royal crypt under the church choir.

progeny

Princess Anna Eleonore of Hessen-Darmstadt
Georg, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg;
Engraving by Wilhelm Schwan

Georg married Anna Eleonore von Hessen-Darmstadt in 1617 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Georg, Herzog zu Braunschweig and Lüneburg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martina Trauschke (Ed.): Memoirs of the Electress Sophie of Hanover. A courtly picture of life from the 17th century . Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8353-1514-3 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  2. ↑ NN : The princely crypt and the grave slabs of the dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in the city church of St. Marien Celle. Illustrated leaflet with photos by Dietrich Klatt, Friedrich Kremzow and Ralf Pfeiffer , designed in A5 format (4 pages) by Heide Kremzow, after: Dietrich Klatt: Kleiner Kunstführer Schnell & Steiner No. 1986. 2008.
predecessor Office successor
August the Elder Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg,
Prince of Calenberg
1636–1641 		Christian Ludwig
personal data
SURNAME George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of the principalities of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, Calenberg and Göttingen
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1582
PLACE OF BIRTH Celle
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1641
Place of death Hildesheim