Heinrich (Sachsen-Weißenfels-Barby)

Duke Heinrich von Sachsen-Weißenfels-Barby as a general in armor with marshal's baton and allonge wig , copper engraving by Peter Schenk the Elder. Ä. ; today in the Dresden Kupferstichkabinett , Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden , Dresden

Heinrich von Sachsen-Weißenfels (born September 29, 1657 in Halle , † February 16, 1728 in Barby ) was Duke of Sachsen-Weißenfels -Barby and Electorate General from 1680 to 1728 and came from a sideline of the Albertine Wettins . Also called " Heinrich zu Barby ".

family

Heinrich was the fourth son of Duke August von Sachsen-Weißenfels and his wife Anna Maria von Mecklenburg-Schwerin , daughter of Duke Adolf Friedrich I. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin .

Life

Heinrich, who as the fourth son could hardly hope for his father's inheritance, received the Dompropstei in Magdeburg through his father, the administrator of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg , in 1674 after the previous owner of the office, Heinrich's older brother Prince August, had died.

When Heinrich's grandfather Johann Georg I , who in his capacity as Elector of Saxony was also lord of the Barby counts , which was still flourishing at the time, stipulated in his will the creation of secondogenitures for his three subsequent sons, he paid tribute to his second eldest son, the Magdeburg administrator August not only with the Duchy of Saxony-Weißenfels , but also guaranteed this branch line the possession of the County of Barby in the event of the local count line becoming extinct (so-called contingent lending ).

When the last Count August Ludwig von Barby and Mühlingen died childless in 1659 , the individual parts of the county fell back to their liege lords, whereby August von Sachsen-Weißenfels also became Count von Barby.

This in turn determines that the county of Barby should serve to care for his son Heinrich, who was already provost of Magdeburg, after his death.

Since Prince Heinrich - like each of his brothers - had the right to call himself Duke of Saxony (-Weißenfels), with the death of his father in 1680 he became the founder of the Duchy of Saxony-Weißenfels-Barby - which, contrary to the prestigious name, had neither a seat and vote in the Reichstag nor princely sovereignty, but was heavily dependent on the main line and the Electorate of Saxony .

Heinrich's reign in Barby, which followed , was of great economic and cultural importance for the city and region. Similar to the Weissenfels court of his cousins, his own also attracted a large number of artists and musicians, including the horn players Wenzel Franz Seydler and Hans Leopold . The pedagogue and lexicographer Johann Theodor Jablonski was his secretary from 1689 to 1700.

With a decree of February 14, 1702 he introduced compulsory schooling for boys in Barby. He also donated the Preacher Widow Fund for charitable purposes and had the Preacher Widow House and a new school house built. Following the example of his cousin Johann Georg von Sachsen-Weißenfels , he founded a rifle guild from the corporations on December 18, 1699. In addition, the entire county was geodetically surveyed under the direction of Hans August Nienborg ; He had the town and village churches restored and the educational system reformed. He also made use of his right to mint coins.

Heinrich was also active as a general and took part in the Great Imperial War against the Turks . Seriously injured in the siege of Ofen (1686) , he distinguished himself as a war colonel together with his brother Christian .

From 1687 he had most of the old castle demolished and the construction of Barby Castle as a new residence began. The builders were Christoph Pitzler and, from 1707, Giovanni Simonetti , who based himself on plans by Johann Arnold Nering . The representative two-storey secular building in the Baroque style has an elongated corps de logis with a pavilion-like middle section and an extended mansard roof . The building, in the rooms of which the Duke later set up a picture gallery, an art chamber, a porcelain cabinet and a library, could not be completed until 1715, which is why Heinrich and his wife resided for a long time with his father-in-law Johann Georg and his brother-in-law Leopold in Dessau .

His conversion from the Lutheran to the Reformed Church in Dessau in 1688 was also of great importance for denominational politics. As a result, Barby was able to set up its own Reformed church, which lasted until 1833.

Duke Heinrich was accepted into the Fruitful Society by his father, who was its head . He was given the company name of the shooter .

Death and burial

He died on February 16, 1728 at the age of 70 in Barby and was buried in the new family vault at Barby Castle. His only surviving son Georg Albrecht followed him in the rule.

Marriage and offspring

His only marriage was on March 30, 1686 in Dessau with Elisabeth Albertine von Anhalt-Dessau , former abbess of Herford and daughter of Johann Georg II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau from his marriage to Henriette Catharina von Oranien-Nassau .

He had the following children with his wife:

• Johann August (born July 28, 1687 in Dessau, † January 22, 1688 in Dessau), Hereditary Prince of Saxony-Weissenfels-Barby
• Johann August (born July 24, 1689 in Dessau, † October 21, 1689 in Dessau), Hereditary Prince of Saxony-Weißenfels-Barby
• stillborn, nameless male twins (* / † 1690 in Dessau), princes of Saxony-Weißenfels-Barby
• Friedrich Heinrich (born July 2, 1692 in Dessau, † November 21, 1711 in The Hague), Hereditary Prince of Saxony-Weissenfels-Barby
• Georg Albrecht (1695–1739), 2nd Duke of Saxony-Weißenfels-Barby ∞ Auguste Luise von Württemberg-Oels
• Henriette Marie (born March 1, 1697 in Dessau, † August 10, 1719 in Weißenfels), Princess of Saxony-Weißenfels-Barby
• stillborn, nameless daughter (* / † October 5, 1706 in Dessau), Princess of Saxony-Weissenfels-Barby

literature

• 300 years of Neu-Augustusburg Castle, 1660–1694 - residence of the Dukes of Saxony-Weissenfels. Festschrift. Weissenfels, 1994
• Friedrich Gerhardt: The story of Weißenfels a. S. with new articles on the history of the Duchy of Saxony-Weißenfels. Weißenfels 1907
• Johann Christoph Dreyhaupt: Description of the ... Saal-Creyses, especially the cities of Halle. Halle, 1749/1751 (i.e. “Dreyhaupt Chronicle”).
• Hans-Joachim Böttcher : The Turkish Wars in the Mirror of Saxon Biographies , Gabriele Schäfer Verlag Herne 2019, ISBN 978-3-944487-63-2 . P. 136.

Web links as sources

• Publications from and about Heinrich im VD 17 .
• History of the Counts of Barby ( Memento of May 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• Johann Huebners ... three hundred and three and thirty genealogical tables, Tab. 169

predecessor	Office	successor
August	Duke of Saxony-Weißenfels -Barby 1680–1728	Georg Albrecht