Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

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Painting by Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Hyacinthe Rigaud

Johann Wilhelm von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (born October 4, 1677 in Gotha , † August 15, 1707 in Toulon ) was a prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and an imperial general. As Duke of Saxony, he is also counted as Johann Wilhelm VIII .

Life

Johann Wilhelm was the second son of Duke Friedrich I of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1646–1691) and his wife Magdalena Sibylle (1648–1681), daughter of Duke August von Saxe-Weissenfels . Johann Wilhelm was brought up carefully and, like his older brother Friedrich , to whom he was very close throughout his life, was still a minor when his father died.

As the younger son of the ducal house, Johann Wilhelm was destined for military service. After his cavalier tour to France and Holland, which he had undertaken together with his brother, he joined the Imperial Army in 1693 . In 1695 he went to the Netherlands and became adjutant general of King Wilhelm III. Two years later he was appointed sergeant general by Emperor Leopold I and fought against France and the Turks in Hungary. In 1701 he went to Poland and served under Charles XII. who sent him to Sweden a year later. On the crossing there, he was shipwrecked and only reached the coast on the ship's cut mast.

In 1705 Johann Wilhelm moved back to the Austrian army. He received the supreme command of the Gotha contingent of the Imperial Army and was promoted to Lieutenant General Field Marshal. During the War of the Spanish Succession he took part in the Battle of Turin under Prince Eugene . During the siege of Toulon he was hit in the left eye by a musket ball and died. His body was transferred to Gotha and finally buried in the princely crypt of Schloss Friedenstein .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann Wilhelm VIII of Saxony
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Imperial General
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1677
PLACE OF BIRTH Gotha
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1707
Place of death Toulon