Ludwig Rudolf (Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel)

Duke Ludwig Rudolf of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (portrait by Johann Conrad Eichler )

Duke Ludwig Rudolf of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

Duke Ludwig Rudolf of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

Tomb of Duke Ludwig Rudolf in Braunschweig Cathedral

Ludwig Rudolf von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (* July 22, 1671 in Wolfenbüttel ; † March 1, 1735 in Braunschweig ) was Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg from the House of Welfs and from 1731 to 1735 ruling Prince of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . In addition, in 1707 he became the first prince of Blankenburg , which had been a county until then.

Life

Ludwig Rudolf was the youngest son of Duke Anton Ulrich and Princess Elisabeth Juliane, daughter of Friedrich von Schleswig-Holstein-Norburg . Since he, too, was automatically excluded from the line of succession as the youngest, Ludwig Rudolf began to pursue his interest in scientific studies. In addition to the sciences, he was also interested in warfare. At the age of 19 he was called to the military service of Emperor Leopold I as major general . When he was defeated by the troops of King Louis XIV in the Battle of Fleurus (Fleury) in 1690 , he was taken prisoner by the French.

Due to his origins, Ludwig Rudolf was allowed to return home that same year. Through a family contract, the dukes Anton Ulrich and Rudolf August, with the consent of his brother, Duke August Wilhelm, assured him of the government of the County of Blankenburg am Harz , although since Heinrich II. (The younger), Prince of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , all dukes have been indivisible committed to their lands.

In 1707 the county of Blankenburg was raised to a principality. However, there was the restriction that the vote in the Imperial Council of the Holy Roman Empire was by no means hereditary and only borrowed from the Elector of Braunschweig-Lüneburg ( Grubenhagensche vote). Ludwig Rudolf, now the Prince of Blankenburg, was thus only a sovereign ruler dependent on Kurhannover .

After his military career, he had an expensive and shiny court in Blankenburg. Together with his wife Christine Luise , he promoted the German theater reform and became the great patron of Friederike Caroline Neuber (Neuberin). The process of the 4 major factors testifies to his chronic lack of money .

When his childless brother August Wilhelm died in 1731, Ludwig Rudolf took over the government of the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and Blankenburg. However, he found out that his brother had left him a highly corrupted and indebted country. Ludwig Rudolf dismissed the responsible ministers of his predecessor and concentrated on the restructuring of the state budget, with the result that through his prudent policy, which consisted largely of a thrifty court, the state treasury slowly began to fill up again. Ludwig Rudolf could possibly have achieved more, but he died after a short reign in 1735.

family

From his marriage to Christine Luise von Oettingen-Oettingen , which was closed on April 22, 1690, four daughters were born. Since he did not have a male heir, the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel fell to his cousin Ferdinand Albrecht II from the Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern branch after Ludwig Rudolf's death .

The father Anton Ulrich pursued his dynastic marriage policy with the marriage of the daughters of Ludwig Rudolf. Elisabeth Christine (1691–1750) married King Charles III in 1708. of Spain, the later Emperor Charles VI. , and was the mother of Empress Maria Theresa . Charlotte Christine (1694–1715) was the wife of Tsarevich Alexei of Russia , son of Tsar Peter the Great . However, Alexei died in 1718 before his father. Antoinette Amalie (1696–1762) married Duke Ferdinand Albrecht II, who was to take over Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel as son-in-law and next male relative.

literature

• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 461 .
• Paul Zimmermann :  Ludwig Rudolf . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, pp. 541-543.
• Paul Zimmermann:  Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Braunschweig. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 87 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Ludwig Rudolf (Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Works by and about Ludwig Rudolf  in the German Digital Library
• Ludwig Rudolf on welfen.de
• The coins of the Guelphs - Ludwig Rudolf (1731–1735) on welfen-muenzen.de
• Report from January 12, 2013 about Ludwig Rudolf in the article Glanz und Gloria for blossom city. on volksstimme.de

predecessor	Office	successor
Anton Ulrich	Count of Blankenburg 1690 - 1707	himself as prince

predecessor	Office	successor
himself as a count	Prince of Blankenburg 1707 - 1731	back to Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

predecessor	Office	successor
August Wilhelm	Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1731 - 1735	Ferdinand Albrecht II.