Charles II (Mecklenburg)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karl as hereditary prince. Portrait of Johann Georg Ziesenis the Elder J. (1770), Royal Collection

Karl II., Duke of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz] (* October 10, 1741 in Mirow ; † November 6, 1816 in Neustrelitz ; full name: Karl Ludwig Friedrich , also: Carl ) was from 1794 as the (ruling) Duke of Mecklenburg, from June 28, 1815 as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg ruling prince in the state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz .

Life

Monument in Neustrelitz

Karl was the second son and sixth child of the Duke (Prince) Karl (Ludwig Friedrich), who was apanaged in Mirow, from a branch line of the ducal house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his wife Elisabeth Albertine , nee. Princess of Saxony-Hildburghausen . Under his brother-in-law, the English King George III. , he served early in the Hanoverian army and took part in the battle of Count Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe in favor of Portugal against Spain (1763/64). In 1776 he became governor of Hanover, commander of the footguard and lieutenant general with the dignity of " general en chief of infantry " (later a field marshal ).

After his uncle Adolf Friedrich III. had died in 1752 without male descendants, the Strelitz throne first went to Karl's older brother Adolf Friedrich IV. After his death in 1794, Karl, who had been Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz since 1752, ascended the throne of the small, politically insignificant ( Part) Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz .

Karl quickly tackled administrative reforms in his part of the country. He reduced the number of administrative districts, promoted agriculture, set up a police force, founded a medical authority in 1812 and introduced compulsory education . In 1806 his country joined the Rhine Confederation . Charles II rendered particular services to the Freemason movement in Mecklenburg. He was (after 1770) a member of the Great State Lodge of Germany and from October 31, 1815 protector of the newly created St. Johannis Lodge "Zum Friedensbunde" in Neubrandenburg .

Charles II suddenly came into focus when his daughter Luise, Queen of Prussia, fell seriously ill during a rare family visit to his summer residence in Hohenzieritz Castle in the summer of 1810 and died after several weeks of sick leave.

At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, together with the regent of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin region, he received the title of Grand Duke of Mecklenburg.

family

Karl married on September 18, 1768 in Darmstadt Friederike (Caroline Luise) , Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt (* August 20, 1752 - May 22, 1782), a daughter of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt , with whom he had ten children would have:

After the death of his first wife (1782), Karl married her sister Charlotte (Wilhelmine Christiane Marie) (1755–1785) on September 28, 1784 in Darmstadt , who died on December 12, 1785 as a result of the birth of their son.

literature

Web links

Commons : Karl II. (Mecklenburg)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In the dynastic census, Karl II does not follow his father, as it has been called erroneously recently, but Karl I (1540–1610), from 1603 ruling Duke of Mecklenburg in the Mecklenburg-Güstrow region
predecessor Office successor
Adolf Friedrich IV. Herzog zu, then Grand Duke of Mecklenburg  [-Strelitz]
1794–1816 		George
personal data
SURNAME Charles II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Karl II. Ludwig Friedrich Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Charles II Duke of Mecklenburg; Charles II Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Karl II. Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, ruling Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1794–1816)
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1741
PLACE OF BIRTH Mirow
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1816
Place of death Neustrelitz