Ludwig (Nassau-Saarbrücken)
Ludwig (born January 3, 1745 in Saarbrücken , † March 2, 1794 in Aschaffenburg ) was the last prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken from 1768 until the French Revolution .
Life
Ludwig was born as the second child and first son of Prince Wilhelm Heinrich von Nassau-Saarbrücken and his wife Sophie Christine zu Erbach . Like his father, he was educated at the University of Strasbourg . An educational trip took him from 1759 to 1766 to England, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
After his father died in 1768, Ludwig took over government business in Nassau-Saarbrücken. He continued economic policy to a large extent, but was increasingly subject to austerity pressures, so that he pledged his rule of Jugenheim in Rheinhessen from 1769 to 1777 to the Principality of Nassau-Usingen . In 1770 he applied to Emperor Joseph II to set up a debt repayment commission, which was dissolved in 1782. Committed to thrift when keeping the court, he moved his seat of government to the smaller hunting lodges in the Saarbrücken area.
Despite a policy of thrift, Ludwig managed to continue building work. In 1769 he had the Ludwigsberg palace and gardens laid out on the Malstatter Bann. He had the Ludwigskirche (Saarbrücken) begun under his father by Friedrich Joachim Stengel completed in 1775. As the ruler of enlightened absolutism , he implemented numerous internal reorganizations in agriculture and forestry, the school system and the rules of procedure, including the abolition of torture in the interests of the Enlightenment . He was a Freemason and a member of the St. Heinrichs Lodge in Saarbrücken.
In 1793, Ludwig, who was in poor health, fled from the French Revolution to exile in Kurmainz in Aschaffenburg . He died there in 1794. His remains were buried in the castle church in Usingen .
Louis bones were in on 23 November 1995 Castle Church (Saarbrücken) reburied .
progeny
On October 30, 1766, he married Wilhelmine von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1751–1780), the daughter of Prince Johann Friedrich von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, at Schwarzburg Castle . The marriage was unhappy, so that Wilhelmine retired to Monplaisir Castle on Halberg and raised their son, the first-born Hereditary Prince
- Heinrich Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken (March 9, 1768 - April 27, 1797)
With his mistress Friederike Amalie Freifrau von Dorsberg (originally Frederike Amalie Dern, * March 12, 1753, † April 12, 1802) Ludwig fathered two illegitimate children:
- Frederika Luisa von Dorsberg (born February 18, 1771) ⚭ 1797 François Leclerc d'Alteville
- Ludwig Carl Philipp von Dorsberg (February 23, 1774 - January 10, 1871)
On September 1, 1774, Ludwig entered into a morganatic marriage with Friederike's maid Katharina Kest . Six other children came from this relationship:
- Ludwig Albrecht (1775–1784)
- Ludwig Carl (1776–1799, fallen), Count of Ottweiler
- Luise (1778–1855), Countess von Ottweiler; ⚭ 1802 in Berlin Anton Joseph Fischer (1780–1862), chamber singer
- Heinrich (1779–1781)
- Ludwig (1785–1796)
- Luise Katharina (1786–1818), Countess von Ottweiler; ⚭ September 25, 1810 in Mauer near Heidelberg Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelmi (1786–1860), pastor
On February 28, 1787, seven years after Princess Wilhelmine's death, the Prince confirmed the connection with a proper marriage "on the right hand". Since Katharina was a commoner, Ludwig raised her to Countess von Ottweiler , endowed her with rule over Dillingen and, against the resistance of the House of Nassau, proclaimed her princess. The youngest son Adolph was born as the last legitimate descendant of Ludwig, who survived the Hereditary Prince, who died in 1797, for another 15 years:
- Count Adolph von Ottweiler (1789–1812)
literature
- Albert Ruppersberg : History of the county of Saarbrücken. Volume 2, 2nd edition. Saarbrücken 1910, pp. 295-372. (Reprint: St. Ingbert 1979)
- Kurt Hoppstädter , Hans-Walter Herrmann : Historical regional studies of the Saarland. From hand ax to winding tower . Saarbrücken 1960. (on Freemasonry, p. 395 and 491)
Web links
- Christel Bernard: The burial of Prince Ludwig of Nassau-Saarbrücken
- Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken in the Saarland biographies
- Friederike Amalie von Dorsberg in the Saarland biographies
- Dorsberg children
- Katharina Kest in the Saarland biographies
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl August Schleiden : Illustrated history of the city of Saarbrücken. Dillingen an der Saar 2009, p. 192.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Wilhelm Heinrich |
Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken 1768–1794 |
Heinrich Ludwig |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ludwig |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 3, 1745 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saarbrücken |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 2, 1794 |
| Place of death | Aschaffenburg |