Georg (Palatinate-Simmern)

Georg von Simmern (* 1518 ; † May 17, 1569 in Simmern ) was Count Palatine and Duke of Simmern. In his fifth decade he ruled the Duchy of Simmern, an Electoral Palatinate secondary school .

Georg was the son of Johann II von Simmern and his wife Beatrix von Baden and a younger brother of Elector Friedrich III. (* 1515; † 1576) from the Palatinate.

At the age of eight he was given his first benefices , which were soon followed by others. In 1528 he was together with his brothers Friedrich III. and Reichard enrolled at the Old University of Cologne ( Universitas Studii Coloniensis ). In 1539, however, he renounced all benefices because he had converted to the evangelical faith. In 1541 he married Elisabeth von Hessen , the widow of Ludwig II von Zweibrücken , who was 16 years older than Georg. There were no children from this marriage. For some time he lived with his family at Birkenfeld Castle . He is also said to have entered military service under King Philip I of Spain . In 1559 Georg succeeded his older brother as Duke of Simmern. Around 1560 he entered into a morganatic marriage with Elisabeth Heyger (ennobled as Elisabeth von Rosenfeld). From this marriage two sons Adam and Georg emerged that by imperial patent of nobility in 1566 in the imperial nobility were collected under the name of the Lords of Ravensburg. Georg died on May 17, 1569 in Simmern, where he is buried in the family crypt in the Simmern St. Stephen's Church.

literature

• Heinrich Rodewald: Birckenfeld Castle. Life and goings-on at a small royal residence. 1584-1717 . Enke, Birkenfeld 1927.
• Willi Wagner: The Wittelsbachers of the Pfalz-Simmern line. Simmern 2003.

predecessor	Office	successor
Friedrich III.	Duke of Simmern 1559–1569	Reichard