Georg Albrecht of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1666–1703)
Georg Albrecht von Brandenburg-Kulmbach (* November 27, 1666 , † January 14, 1703 ) came from the Kulmbacher branch of the Franconian Hohenzollern , the Margraves of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and Brandenburg-Ansbach , founded by his father Georg Albrecht . Through his morganatic marriage with Regine Magdalene Lutz, he triggered the establishment of a baronial von Kotzau family for his sons .
Origin and youth
Georg Albrecht, nicknamed the Younger, was a non-ruling margrave, son of Georg Albrecht and his second wife Maria Sophie von Solms-Baruth. He was only born after his father's death. Similar to his older half-brothers, he attended the Bayreuth grammar school and enjoyed a comprehensive upbringing, including a. by Johann Georg Layritz . On the Grand Tour in France, which he undertook in the company of the court master Carl Friedrich von Bose , he fell seriously ill. During his recovery he was housed at Hohenberg Castle. For a short time, he was later on the Hofer Castle , which was significantly damaged in a town fire in 1690 and he then moved to the nearby Oberkotzau Castle .
Diseases
Georg Albrecht seems to have been plagued by illnesses frequently since his childhood and is said to have an "ailing nature" and a "melancholy character". Family members and chroniclers who reported in the interests of the family certainly contributed to this assessment, since he did not bow to the will of the family in the conflict about his marriage. The early death of the father, the faulty upbringing by his mother and the fact that he did not get along with his half-brothers are mentioned. His clinical picture at the Grand Tour is described as states of anxiety and fits of rage, he felt threatened by persecutors who sought after his life. There was even a trial that accused him of magic, which he should have learned in Paris.
Improper marriage
He triggered protest within his family through his intention to marry the daughter of the bailiff and councilor Johann Peter Lutz. Letters from Elector Friedrich III have survived . of Prussia , who expressed rejection and indignation about the inappropriate marriage intention. He recommended that the father, who was in the margrave's service, be put under pressure to act against the connection. The marriage plan was also rejected by the ruling Franconian margraves Christian Ernst and Georg Friedrich . Intrigues and the spying on the couple by the family culminated in the shooting of the servants' boss Anna Katharina Frank in the Oberkotzau castle cellar by Georg Albrecht and his threat to set the castle on fire. He was then placed under arrest for several weeks. Johann Peter Lutz was quickly transferred to Lichtenberg as Kastner in order to create a spatial distance between Georg Albrecht and the family. After no priest in the principality dared to marry, Georg Albrecht and Regine Magdalene Lutz married against the family's protest on April 27, 1699 in Maria Loreto in the Bohemian Altkinsberg, now Hrozňatov , a district of Cheb .
Barons of Kotzau
The family, faced with a fait accompli, gave the wife the specially created title of Madame de Kotzau . In the following period, the sons and their descendants were awarded the title of Barons von Kotzau. The tradition of the Knights of Kotzau, who had died out in the male line in 1661, but without any family relationship having existed. It was contractually stipulated that the descendants of Georg Albrecht were excluded from inheritance claims related to margravial titles or Brandenburg property. With their headquarters in Oberkotzau Castle and the surrounding estates, including the villages of Oberkotzau , Haideck and Autengrün , this baronial family survived, with an older and a younger line distinguished after the two sons Friedrich Christian Wilhelm and Friedrich August and their descendants into the 20th century, where it died out in the male line in 1976.
Georg Albrecht's short marriage resulted in a total of three sons. The second-born Friedrich Carl died after a little over a year. Georg Albrecht died at the early age of 36. He is buried in the margravial crypt of the Bayreuth town church. His wife died in Oberkotzau Castle in 1755.
literature
- Kurt Mühlhäuser: Margrave Georg Albrecht's marriage upset . In: Home calendar for the Fichtelgebirge and Franconian Forest . Year 1968, pp. 52–55.
- Kurt Müller: Georg Albrecht the Younger of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1666-1703) . In: Archive for the history of Upper Franconia . Historical association for Upper Franconia . 78th volume. Bayreuth 1998. pp. 113-124.
- Udo Krausch: The secret in the closet - the ascension of the baron status of the noble lords of Kotzau . In: Markt Oberkotzau (ed.): Illustrated history (s) . Hof 2013. p. 8ff.
- Sigrid Sangl: "I am master of mine ..." - To a Franconian laughing cabinet in Sanspareil . In: Weltkunst . Issue 13. 1992. pp. 1780-1785.
- Harald Stark : Margrave Georg Albrecht the Younger and the Barons von Kotzau .
Web links
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Georg Albrecht of Brandenburg-Kulmbach |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Georg Albrecht the Younger of Brandenburg-Kulmbach |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Founder of a baronial von Kotzau family |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 27, 1666 |
DATE OF DEATH | January 14, 1703 |