Georg (Mecklenburg)

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Grand Duke Georg

Georg , Grand Duke of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz] (born August 12, 1779 in Hanover ; † September 6, 1860 in the Jagdhaus Schweizerhaus near Carpin ) was Grand Duke of Mecklenburg in the Mecklenburg-Strelitz region from 1816 to 1860 .

Life and family

Georg (Friedrich Karl Joseph) was the third son of Duke Karl (Ludwig Friedrich) (Hereditary Prince, later regent as Grand Duke Karl II. Regent in the Mecklenburg-Strelitz region ) from his first marriage to Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt . Georg first grew up in Hanover, where his father was governor . It was not until the father ascended the throne in Mecklenburg-Strelitz that the family lived permanently in Mecklenburg. Georg enrolled at the University of Rostock in 1795 . On November 6, 1816, he succeeded his father as Grand Duke. In 1817 he married Princess Marie of Hessen-Kassel .

The marriage had four children:

The Grand Duke, who died after a serious illness, was born on September 13, 1860 in the III. Department of the Mirow Princely Crypt buried.

Act

Grand Duke Georg. Original steel engraving, before 1837

During his reign, among other things, the improvement of the primary school system, the abolition of serfdom and the structural expansions of the residential city of Neustrelitz through the construction of the castle church, the redesign of the orangery and the construction of several public buildings ( Neustrelitz town hall ) in the classical or neo-Gothic style ( Caroline Palace). In addition, Georg had a number of old monuments renewed, e.g. B. the Marienkirche in Neubrandenburg, and so save from further decay. As a beautiful spirit, Georg associated with or corresponded with celebrities of the literary and art world of his time, for example with Goethe.

Politically, he pursued progressive goals as a young man, but later increasingly reactionary goals as regent. Georg was a staunch opponent of the Mecklenburg Revolution (1848) , which aimed at transforming Mecklenburg into a modern constitutional state with a constitutional monarchy. Such a development would probably have cost Georg the throne and his small (partial) grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz the existence. Georg not only prevented the part of the state he ruled and its democratically elected representatives from participating in the transformation process that was only initiated in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin part of the state . Through the Freienwalder arbitration award initiated by Georg , he also finally overturned the reforms introduced in the Schwerin part of the country. The relapse and persistence of the two Mecklenburg states at the level of a late feudal corporate state in the following decades can largely be traced back to Georg's policy.

After Georg had chased his political opponents either out of the country or into resignation, Georg was respected in his Grand Duchy by the rest of the population, because he distinguished himself through a policy of real help and charity. This is shown by the following example: When the Altstrelitz pastor asked for permission in 1855 to buy a bell for the Klein Trebower village school in order to ensure that the children started school in the morning, Georg replied that the Trebbower should collect money in order to use it To be able to pay the bell yourself; but one should inform him before the time comes. After some time, money had been raised for a reasonably small bell, and a cost estimate from a bell-building company in Demmin, Pomerania, was also available. The pastor asked for permission to place the assignment. The answer from Grand Duke Georg came immediately and read as follows: The bell may be commissioned; however, it should be made twice as large. As Grand Duke he will bear the costs that are still missing. So a larger bell was purchased, which now heralded the start of lessons.

Memorial culture

Monument in Neustrelitz

On the 57th birthday of Grand Duke Georg the Vandalia hymn was sung for the first time in the Neustrelitz orangery .

A group of dignitaries and court officials from Neustrelitz came up with the idea of ​​erecting a memorial to the deceased Grand Duke. A collection of money in the Grand Duchy, not supported by the sovereign, provided the means to have a larger than life bronze statue made for him (photo). It was inaugurated on October 17, 1866 in the center of the market square in Neustrelitz. In 1956 the monument was dismantled and stored for decades. The sculpture by the artist Albert Wolff has stood on the former parade ground between the orangery and the castle church since August 1989 .

Awards

(Source: Mecklenburg-Schwerin State Calendar 1850 )

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literature

Web links

Commons : Georg (Mecklenburg)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Caesar von Dachröden: Memories of the last days of His Royal Highness, the most blessed Grand Duke Georg von Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Hofbuchdruckerei H. Hellwig, Neustrelitz 1860, p. 52 ff ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Entry in the Rostock matriculation portal
  3. ↑ Caesar von Dachröden: Memories of the last days of His Royal Highness, the most blessed Grand Duke Georg von Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Hofbuchdruckerei H. Hellwig, Neustrelitz 1860, pp. 1–56.
  4. ↑ Hans Witte (Ed.): Mirow, Festschrift 1227–1927. Verlag des Heimatverein, Mirow 1927, p. 25.
  5. ↑ Files of the Strelitz-Alt parish archive. School matters of the branch villages.
  6. ↑ Achim Mayer: History of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1794–1890 together with a chronicle of the city of Friedland from 1244–1890. Volume 2. Verlag der G. Barnewitzschen Hofbuchhandlung, Neustrelitz 1893, p. 10.
  7. ↑ Harald Witzke: The monument of the Grand Duke. In: Carolinum. Historical-literary magazine. 63rd year, No. 121/122 (= special issue: Neustrelitz. Streets - Houses - People ). Göttingen 1999. P. 46–48 ( PDF ( Memento of the original dated August 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note .; 46.9 MB). --- The names of the initiators can be found in an extra supplement to the Neustrelitzer Zeitung from 23 August 1861, pictured by Werner Ballin: A city and its memorial. In: Mecklenburg-Strelitzer Calendar 2005. Yearbook. Neustrelitz 2004. pp. 20–24 (here p. 22). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.carolinum-apps.de
  8. ↑ On October 17, 1866. Festschrift for the unveiling of the monument in 1866 in Neustrelitz.
  9. ↑ a b The rescue of the Grand Duke Georg monument from the non-ferrous metal reserve in 1971. In: Nordkurier . 17th October 2012.
  10. ↑ The Hunter of Serrahn. In: Helmut Borth: Herzoghaus Mecklenburg-Strelitz: of crowned heads, blue-blooded cuckoo children and the Mirow princely crypt. Steffen Verlag, Friedland 2015, ISBN 978-3-942477-06-2 , pp. 112-117.
  11. ↑ Mecklenburg-Schwerin State Calendar 1850. Hofbuchdruckerei, p. 3.
predecessor Office successor
Charles II Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz]
1816–1860 		Friedrich Wilhelm II.
personal data
SURNAME George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Georg Friedrich Karl Joseph, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Duke of Mecklenburg in Mecklenburg-Strelitz
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1779
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1860
Place of death Carpin