Georg Friedrich (Baden-Durlach)

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Georg Friedrich von Baden Durlach around 1620

Georg Friedrich (born January 30, 1573 , † September 24, 1638 in Strasbourg ) was 1604–1622 Margrave of Baden-Durlach and Protestant military leader in the Thirty Years War . Since he continued the occupation of Upper Baden initiated by his brother Ernst Friedrich , he de facto ruled the margraviate of Baden-Baden and was the last margrave to rule all of Baden's ancestral lands until the reunification of Baden under Margrave Karl Friedrich in 1771.

Life

He was the third son of Margrave Karl II of Baden-Durlach and Anna von Veldenz , the second wife of Karl II and the youngest of a total of eight children of his father. When his father died in 1577, Georg Friedrich was only four years old. His brothers were 13 and 11 years older than him, but at the death of their father they were also immature, so that a guardianship government was set up.

The fact that his grandparents, Ernst I. von Baden-Durlach and Ursula von Rosenfeld had entered into a morganatic marriage , weakened Georg Friedrich's position in the contestation of the inheritance rights of the children of Eduard Fortunat of Baden-Baden in the context of the dispute over the occupation of Upper Baden .

The guardianship governments 1577–1595

Since the death of his father had a guardianship government with his mother Anna, Elector Ludwig VI. of the Palatinate (until 1583), Duke Philipp Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg and Duke Ludwig von Württemberg ("the Pious") exercised the business of government.

In 1584 Ernst Friedrich took over the guardianship of his youngest brother Georg Friedrich together with his brother Jakob († 1590) and his mother († 1586) until he was declared of legal age in 1595 and took over the government of the Baden-Durlach Oberland .

Training and travel

Georg Friedrich learned the Latin, French and Italian languages ​​and received his higher education in Strasbourg , where his brother Jakob also studied before. He then went on trips , visiting Besançon , Dole , Basel and Siena .

The division of the margraviate of Baden-Durlach

His brothers were declared of legal age in 1584. Since Ernst Friedrich and Jakob wanted their own territories and the will of Charles II, which prohibited a division of the country, was not signed and sealed, the remaining guardians complied with the sons' demands. Ernst Friedrich received the lower margraviate with the main places Durlach and Pforzheim . and Jakob the margraviate of Hachberg . Georg Friedrich received the southern parts of the country, the dominions of Rötteln and Badenweiler , and the Landgraviate of Sausenburg . The country was further divided beyond the existing division into Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden . The Margraviate of Baden-Hachberg fell back to Ernst Friedrich in 1590 after Jacob's death, who then handed it over to Georg Friedrich in 1595. After Ernst Friedrich's death (1604), Georg Friedrich was able to reunite the entire margraviate of Baden-Durlach.

Lord of the Upper Margraviate 1595–1604

Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach - 1603

When Georg Friedrich came of age, he took over the rule of the upper margraviate of Baden-Durlach and initially ruled from Rötteln Castle . In 1599 he moved his residence and the entire state administration to Sulzburg . After his brother Ernst Friedrich converted to Calvinism, the strict Lutheran Georg Friedrich even set up his own grammar school in his small residence in Sulzburg in order to be independent of the now reformed grammar school in Durlach when training pastors . His construction activity in Sulzburg also left behind a hall, a ballroom and a servant's building. Between 1600 and 1610 Georg Friedrich also had the castle church in Sulzburg built. In 1603 he issued forest regulations for the Landgraviate of Sausenberg and the rule of Rötteln.

The preacher on the prince's chair

Shortly after taking office in the Oberland, Georg Friedrich gave a speech to the Röttler Regional Synod to introduce the new superintendent General Johann Weininger, which resembled a sermon. His life was marked by asceticism. From the handwritten entries in his Bible it can be seen that he read it through completely 58 times. In 1601 he promised the citizens of Pforzheim , who resisted the appointment of Reformed clergy by his brother Ernst Friedrich, support before the Reich Chamber of Commerce . In 1613 he initiated a religious disputation with Franz von Lothringen , which he wanted to contest himself. The project failed because Franz, contrary to the agreement, called up Jesuits for the Catholic cause.

Administrative reform and legislation

Georg Friedrich laid the foundations for an orderly administration and established the privy councilor, which he himself chaired. In addition, a court court was created and the church council was given a fixed order. With the land law , Georg Friedrich created the "most detailed that a German territorial state has owned". This set of laws, which appeared in 1622, was only put into force under his son and successor Friedrich in 1654 because of the Thirty Years' War and was then valid until 1809.

The banker and economic politician

As early as 1603 Georg Friedrich founded an exchange bank together with the landscapes of the upper margraviate , which administered the orphan's funds and was also to develop into a deposit bank. It was also intended to use this institution to organize the wine and grain trade with the exclusion of Jewish traders. The institute helped the margraviate to cope with the money crisis of the tipper and luffing times.

The military theorist

Georg Friedrich saw the worsening situation in the empire and especially for his principality and dealt not only with theological, but also with military issues. He also relied on the knightly war school which was founded in 1616 by Johann VII (Nassau-Siegen) in Siegen . For his sons Friedrich, Karl and Christoph, Georg Friedrich wrote his own work on war studies from 1614 to 1617, which he never published in print.

Georg Friedrich and the parliament

Georg Friedrich was aware that he could only achieve his goal of a unified Lutheran margraviate of Baden with the support of the people. In return for the approval of taxes to finance his armaments policy, he granted the landscapes participation rights.

The Thirty-Year War

Georg Friedrich von Baden Durlach around 1630; Georg Friedrich was injured in the battle of Wimpfen on May 6, 1622 by a lance stab in the head

The fact that a process led by the Reich Chamber of Commerce under Catholic influence threatened to be decided against him because of the ongoing occupation of Upper Baden was to persuade Georg Friedrich to intervene armed in the Bohemian-Palatinate War (1618–1623) , which opened the Thirty Years' War .

Before the battle of Wimpfen

Already on August 19th jul. / 29 August  1612 greg. Georg Friedrich succeeded in concluding a defensive alliance with the Protestant cities of Bern and Zurich for a period of twelve years , with which he wanted to protect his upper margraviate , which was surrounded by Upper Austria . An alliance aid from Zurich and Bern did not take place in 1620/1621 despite repeated warnings by Georg Friedrich, whereby Bern and Zurich invoked a contract with the Habsburgs , but Georg Friedrich was allowed to recruit mercenaries in Switzerland in 1621/22. The alliance was not renewed and therefore Zurich and Bern refused a renewed request for help from Margrave Friedrich - Georg Friedrich's son - in April 1627 .

In 1615, the bishop of Speyer, Philipp Christoph von Sötern , began to convert his residence in Udenheim into a fortress, as he felt threatened by the surrounding Protestant powers. He renamed Udenheim Philippsburg and continued the construction of the fortress Philippsburg despite the protests of the imperial city of Speyer , the Electoral Palatinate and Baden. In 1618, Friedrich V von der Pfalz and Georg Friedrich decided, together with Speyer, to grind down the fortress that was under construction.

Margrave Georg Friedrich became a member of the Protestant Union in 1608 and was one of the appointed generals of the Union Army until the Sonderbund dissolved in May 1621.

fortified camp of Margrave Georg Friedrich near Ihringen

From March to June 1620, Georg Friedrich blocked the road from Breisach to Freiburg on behalf of the Union , operating from a fortified camp near Ihringen . The aim was to prevent mercenary troops of the Bavarian League Army from moving from Alsace to their assembly points in Dillingen and Lauingen . The Imperial Catholic camp did not shy away from breaking its word in pursuit of its political goals, and after Emperor Ferdinand II had declared that the mercenary troops were recruited for him and not for the Bavarian League Army, Georg Friedrich let the three regiments pass. Since these associations went to the flags of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria , he had to put up with the accusation of naivety.

From 1621 he recruited troops against the Catholic forces that had been successfully advancing since 1620 .

He thanked in April 1622 from so that his rule was not endangered by his armed stand against the Emperor and the Empire Justice. The margraviate passed to his son Friedrich V.

After his self-sacrificing estates had granted him a war treasury for three years, in the spring of 1622 he had a mercenary army of 11-12,000 men with a relatively large amount of artillery in addition to the defensive regiments remaining to secure the country. On 24./25. On April 4th he set out on a campaign against the emperor and his Catholic allies, but at the battle of Mingolsheim (April 27th), in which Count Ernst von Mansfeld , military leader of the Count Palatine, inflicted a serious defeat on Count Tilly , Lieutenant General of the Catholic League , he could not yet participate.

The battle at Wimpfen

It was not until April 27 that the margrave declared his entry into the war with the Habsburgs and united his troops with those of Mansfeld in order to fight the league with them. After they had split up only a few days later, which was incomprehensible, Baden-Durlach was defeated by Tilly, who was helped by Spanish troops under Córdoba , in the Battle of Wimpfen (May 6, 1622). Margrave Georg Friedrich saved himself injured to Stuttgart and finally resigned in favor of his son.

After the battle of Wimpfen

On May 13, 1622 Georg Friedrich was back in Durlach and tried in vain to set up a new army. A Catholic army of approx. 12,000 men invaded Baden and severely devastated it. Georg Friedrich first fled to the stronghold near Emmendingen, which he had strongly fortified at the beginning of the century . On August 26, 1622, the emperor awarded the margraviate of Baden-Baden to Eduard Fortunat's son, Wilhelm , which reversed the unification of the two margravates of Baden and did not take place again until 1771 under Margrave Karl Friedrich .

In 1625 he retired to Geneva , where there were immediate conflicts with the Calvinist government because he was holding Lutheran services in his apartment. In 1626 he moved to Thônes , where Duke Charles Emanuel of Savoy allowed him to worship.

In the summer of 1627 he was appointed lieutenant general of the Danish army (in the Danish-Lower Saxon War (1623–1629) ) by the Danish King Christian IV and was supposed to stop the advance of Wallenstein in northern Germany. When Wallenstein approached, he withdrew to the island of Poel and escaped from here to Heiligenhafen in Holstein . From there his troops marched on Oldenburg and were almost completely wiped out in the battle at the Oldenburger Graben by the imperial under Heinrich Schlik and capitulated on September 24, 1627. Georg Friedrich retired in October in a dispute with the Danish king who wanted to bring him to court martial , from whose service.

Then the margrave retired to his house in Strasbourg and devoted himself primarily to the study of religious scriptures. However, he was also in contact with France and Sweden in order to still implement his vision of a large Lutheran Baden. He died in Strasbourg on September 24, 1638. His bones were probably transferred to the princely crypt of the House of Baden-Durlach in the Pforzheimer Schlosskirche in 1650 .

Marriages and offspring

Georg Friedrich of Baden

1st marriage - Juliane Ursula von Salm-Neufville

In his first marriage, Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden married Juliane Ursula von Salm-Neufville (born September 29, 1572 - April 30, 1614) on July 2, 1592 , the daughter of the wild and Rhine Count Friedrich von Salm-Neufville . This marriage resulted in 15 children:

  • Katharina Ursula (June 19, 1593 - February 15, 1615), married Landgrave Otto von Hessen-Kassel on August 24, 1613 (December 24, 1594 - August 7, 1617)
  • Friedrich (July 6, 1594 - September 8, 1659); Margrave of Baden-Durlach 1622–1659
  • Anna Amalie (July 9, 1595 - November 18, 1651), married Count Wilhelm Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken on November 25, 1615 (December 18, 1590 - August 22, 1640)
  • Philipp (December 30, 1596 - March 14, 1597)
  • Karl (May 22, 1598 - July 27, 1625)
  • Juliane Ursula (January 1, 1600 - August 31, 1600)
  • Rudolf (January 21, 1602 - May 31, 1603)
  • Christoph (March 16, 1603; † April 30, 1632 during the siege of Ingolstadt )
  • Anna Auguste (March 30, 1604 - April 2, 1616)
  • Sibylle Magdalene (* July 21, 1605; † July 26, 1644), married Count Johann von Nassau-Idstein on June 6, 1629 (* November 24, 1603; † May 23, 1677)
  • Franziska (born August 9, 1606 - † August 27, 1606)
  • Ursula Marie (born November 3, 1607 - † December 22, 1607)
  • Franziska Sibylle (February 4, 1609 - March 2, 1609)
  • Sofie Dorothea (March 14, 1610 - October 24, 1633)
  • Ernestine Sofie (December 26, 1612 - July 4, 1658)

2. Marriage - Agathe von Erbach

In his second marriage, Georg Friedrich von Baden married on October 23, 1614 Agathe von Erbach (* May 16, 1581, † April 30, 1621), the daughter of Count Georg III. from Erbach . The following children were born from this marriage:

  • Agathe (September 2, 1615 - June 29, 1616)
  • Anna Maria (born May 29, 1617 - † October 17, 1672)
  • Elisabeth (February 6, 1620 - October 13, 1692)

3. Marriage - Elisabeth Stolz

In his third ( morganatic ) marriage, Georg Friedrich von Baden married Elisabeth Stolz († May 14, 1652) on July 29, 1621 , the daughter of his secretary Johann Thomas Stolz . There were no children from this marriage.

literature

  • Johann Christian Sachs : Introduction to the history of the Marggravschaft and the Marggravial old princely house of Baden . Fourth part. Lotter, Carlsruhe 1770, p. 333-510 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  • Heid: History of the city of Wimpfen. Darmstadt 1836, p. 167 ( books.google.de ).
  • Karl Friedrich Ledderhose:  Georg Friedrich (Margrave of Baden-Durlach) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, pp. 596-600.
  • Karl Friedrich Ledderhose: From the life of Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden. 1890 ( archive.org ).
  • Karl Brunner: The education of the margrave Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach. In: Großherzogliches General-Landesarchiv Karlsruhe (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden. Pp. 137–169 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Arno Duch:  Georg Friedrich - Margrave of Baden-Durlach. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , pp. 197-199 ( digitized version ).
  • Werner Hahlweg : Greek, Roman and Byzantine heritage in the writings left behind by Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden. A combined study of the history of the Renaissance problem. In: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 98, 1950, pp. 38–114.
  • Karl Freiherr von Reitzenstein: The campaign of 1622 on the Upper Rhine and in Westphalia up to the battle of Wimpfen. 2 booklets, Munich 1891/93.
  • Hans Wertheim, The great Halberstadt. 2 volumes, Berlin 1929 (on the Palatinate War 1622).
  • Golo Mann : Wallenstein; his life tells of Golo Mann. Frankfurt am Main (S. Fischer) 1971.
  • Eberhard Gothein : The Baden margraves in the 16th century , Heidelberg 1910 ( century archive.org ).
  • Werner Baumann: Ernst Friedrich von Baden-Durlach. Stuttgart 1962.
  • Karl Obser : The grave of the Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden-Durlach. In: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine. Volume 51, 1897, pp. 356-357 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Karl Obser: A memorial address for the Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden-Durlach. In: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine. Volume 52, 1898, pp. 124-139 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Michael Roth: The abdication of Margrave Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach. A prince in retirement. In: Susan Richter , Dirk Dirbach (ed.): Renunciation of the throne. The abdication in monarchies from the Middle Ages to modern times. Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2010, pp. 191–212 ( books.google.de excerpt).

Historical drama

  • Ernest Ludwig Deimling: The four hundred Pforzheim citizens or the battle bey Wimpfen: a patriotic tragedy in 5 acts with a preliminary report, containing a short history of Pforzheim and the reason for these companies. Karlsruhe 1788 ( books.google.de ).

Web links

Commons : Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ September 14th Jul. / September 24,  1638 greg. ; in Strasbourg the Gregorian calendar was not introduced until 1682, which is why the date of death 14 September is often found in the literature; see e.g. B. Obser "memorial speech"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Baumann: Ernst Friedrich von Baden-Durlach , pp. 21/22
  2. ↑ Jost Grosspietsch: Sulzburg. Former margravial residence. In: The Markgräflerland. Issue 2/1991, p. 6; KF Ledderhose: From life…. P. 19.
  3. ^ E. Gothein: The Baden Margraviates…. P. 50.
  4. ↑ This is not a dance palace, but a house for the ball game, which was similar to today's tennis; s. Wolfgang Stopfel: New insights into the shape of the Sulzburg Renaissance castle - and the history of tennis in Sulzburg. In: The Markgräflerland. Issue 2/2006, pp. 45-50.
  5. ↑ Jost Grosspietsch: Sulzburg: Former Markgräfliche residence. In: The Markgräflerland. Issue 2/1991, p. 9.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Kaiser; Gitta Reinhardt-Fehrenbach: Cultural-historical and architectural views from Sulzburg. In: The Markgräflerland. Issue 2/2006, p. 17.
  7. ↑ KF Ledderhose: From life…. P. 17;
    E. Gothein: The Baden margravates…. P. 45.
  8. ^ E. Gothein: The Baden Margraviates…. P. 45
  9. ^ A b E. Gothein: The Baden Margraviates…. P. 47
  10. ^ Table of contents of the land law
  11. ↑ General State Archives
  12. ^ E. Gothein: The Baden Margraviates…. P. 49.
  13. ↑ K. von Reitzenstein: The campaign…. II., P. 172.
  14. ↑ New publication on the oldest military academy in the world . In: NR-Kurier . December 4, 2016 ( nr-kurier.de ).
  15. ↑ KF Ledderhose: From life…. Pp. 79-81.
  16. ^ Anton Philipp von Segesser: Official collection of the older Confederate farewells. 5.1, b. The federal farewells from the period from 1587 to 1617: rulership and patronage matters, enclosures, appendix and register. Supplement 22 pp. 1946–1950 (wording of the alliance, digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de ).
  17. ^ Anton Philipp von Segesser: Official collection of the older Confederate farewells. Volume 5, Section 1. I. General Part. P. 1100 ( digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de ).
  18. ^ Anton Philipp von Segesser: Official collection of the older Confederate farewells. The federal farewells from the space of time from 1618 to 1648. Volume 5, division 2, p 122 (Conferenz the IV Protestant cities on March 21 jul. / 31 March  1620 greg. In Basel, digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf. de ).
  19. ^ Anton Philipp von Segesser: Official collection of the older Confederate farewells. The federal farewells from the space of time from 1618 to 1648. Volume 5, division 2, p 124 (Conferenz of Zurich, Bern and Basel on April 11, jul. / 21st April  1620 greg. In Zurich, digital.ub.uni- duesseldorf.de ).
  20. ↑ KF Ledderhose: From life…. Pp. 63/64.
  21. ^ Anton Philipp von Segesser: Official collection of the older Confederate farewells. The federal farewells from 1618 to 1648. Volume 5, Section 2, p. 504 (Conference of Protestant Cities and Places, digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de ).
  22. ↑ The fortress was completed in 1623 anyway.
  23. ↑ K. von Reitzenstein: The campaign…. I. issue, pp. 125/126.
  24. ^ Michael Roth: The abdication of Margrave Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach. A prince in retirement. In: Susan Richter, Dirk Dirbach (ed.): Renunciation of the throne: the abdication in monarchies from the Middle Ages to the modern age. Böhlau 2010, ISBN 978-3-412-20535-5 , pp. 191-213 ( books.google.de ).
  25. ^ Siegfried Fiedler: tactics and strategy of the Landsknechte. Bonn 1985, p. 167 f.
  26. ^ Siegfried Fiedler: tactics and strategy of the Landsknechte. Bonn 1985, p. 168: 15,000 men.
  27. ↑ KF Ledderhose: From life…. P. 96
  28. ↑ on the battle at the Oldenburger Graben ( memento of the original from May 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.regiment-mackay.de
  29. ↑ KF Ledderhose: From life…. P. 99.
  30. ↑ A. Duch in NDB , p. 199.
  31. ↑ K. Obser: The grave of the margrave ... p. 356/357.
  32. ^ Johann Stephan Pütter : Ueber Mißheirathen Teutscher Princes and Counts , Göttingen 1796, pp. 140-141 ( books.google.de ).
predecessor Office successor
Ernst Friedrich Margrave of Baden-Durlach
1604–1622 		Friedrich V.
personal data
SURNAME Georg Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Margrave of Baden-Durlach
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1573
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1638
Place of death Strasbourg