Wilhelm (Saxe-Weimar)

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Duke Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar

Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar (* April 11 jul. / 21st April  1598 greg. In Altenburg , † May 17 jul. / 27. May  1662 greg. In Weimar ) was from 1620 until his death Duke of Saxe-Weimar . He came from the family of the Ernestine Wettins . In the series of Wettin princes he is occasionally counted as Wilhelm IV .

Life

Duke Wilhelm IV was the son of Duke Johann von Sachsen-Weimar and his wife Dorothea Maria von Anhalt , a sister of Prince Ludwig I von Anhalt-Köthen . His twin brother died in childbirth and was buried three days later in the Altenburg castle church. The dukes Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar , Johann Ernst d. J. von Sachsen-Weimar , Albrecht von Sachsen-Eisenach , Johann Friedrich von Sachsen-Weimar , Ernst I von Sachsen-Gotha and Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar were his brothers, with whom he was later to become a member of the Fruitful Society.

Like his brothers Johann Ernst d. J. and Friedrich studied Duke Wilhelm at the University of Jena . He then accompanied his brother, Duke Friedrich, on his cavalier tour. This began at the end of August 1617 and passed through France , Great Britain and the Netherlands . In 1619 he returned home with his brother.

Shortly before, on August 24, 1617, the Fruit-Bringing Society was founded. Duke Wilhelm took part and even became its second head in 1651. As a member name he was given the tasty and as an emblem a pear hanging on the tree with the wasp and its sting ; goodness recognized as a motto . Duke Wilhelm's entry can be found in the Koethen Society Register under no.5.

At the age of 23, Duke Wilhelm and friends founded the Order of Persistence . At the turn of the year 1622/23 he founded a patriotic federation, Deutscher Friedbund , to preserve class and religious liberty. This Friedbund was financially extremely generously supported by Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen .

At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War , Duke Wilhelm followed his brothers into the Bohemian War. He served as colonel under Count Ernst von Mansfeld and the Margrave of Durlach . Later he advanced to general under Christian von Halberstadt .

After the landing of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden , his early partisanship for the king was extremely conducive to Duke Wilhelm's rapid career. But after the death of the king, the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna prevented Duke Wilhelm from taking command as lieutenant general, because of his repeatedly proven military incapacity and because of his unauthorized and unsuccessful actions during the siege of Kronach . The regiments he recruited in Franconia came under the command of his brother Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar and were used in the battle for Regensburg . It is therefore not surprising that in 1635 Wilhelm acceded to the Peace of Prague , which was directed against the Swedes, on the side of the Elector of Saxony and the Emperor.

In the division of the regencies 1641 death fell to Duke Wilhelm among others, Weimar and Jena, by Duke Albrecht on December 20, 1644 also Eisenach.

When Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen died on January 7, 1650 , the members of the Fruitful Society were very much in agreement that Wilhelm should be his successor. After the obligatory year of mourning, he was elected the new head for life on May 8, 1651. In contrast to its predecessor, however, it was essentially limited to representative tasks.

Wilhelm's coffin (front left) next to his wife in the royal crypt

At the age of 64, Duke Wilhelm died on May 17, 1662 in Weimar. He was buried in the castle church in Weimar in a newly built crypt. In 1824 his coffin was brought to the historical cemetery in Weimar and buried in the royal crypt .

progeny

Prince Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

On May 23, 1625, Duke Wilhelm married Princess Eleonore Dorothea of ​​Anhalt-Dessau (1602–1664), a daughter of Prince Johann Georg I of Anhalt-Dessau . He had nine children with her:

Works

literature

  • Frank Boblenz : On the influence of Wilhelm IV of Saxony-Weimar (1598–1662) on the development of architecture in Thuringia. In: Residence culture in Thuringia from the 16th to the 19th century (PALMBAUM texts: Kulturgeschichte; 8). Bucha near Jena 1999, pp. 114-137.
  • Frank Boblenz: A dead portrait of Duke Wilhelm IV of Saxe-Weimar (1598–1662) in the Swedish Skokloster Castle. In: Weimar-Jena. The big city. The cultural history archive 5 (2012) H. 3, pp. 220–227. ISSN  1869-7895
  • Georg Philipp Harsdörffer : Propagation of the highly praiseworthy fruit-bearing society: That is / Kurtze's narration of everything / What happens when the high-ranking society is recommended and rescued / The ... tasty / ... happened. Including a number of congratulations / and an eulogy of the taste . Endter, Nuremberg 1651 ( digitized version )
  • Gustav Lämmerhirt:  Wilhelm (Duke of Saxe-Weimar) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 180-195.

Web links

Commons : William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Engerisser, Pavel Hrnčiřík: Nördlingen 1634. The battle of Nördlingen - turning point of the Thirty Years' War . Verlag Heinz Späthling Weißenstadt 2009, ISBN 978-3-926621-78-8, pp. 29, 30
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Herbst, Art. Wilhelm II. (IV.), Duke of Saxony-Weimar , in: Composers and songwriters of the Protestant hymn book , ed. v. dems. , Göttingen 1999 (Handbuch zum Evangelisches Gesangbuch Vol. 2), p. 350. ISBN 3525503180 ; Eberhard Weismann u. a. , Song studies. First part: Lied 1 to 175 , Göttingen 1970 ( Handbook for the Evangelical Church Hymn book , Volume III, Part 1 , edited by Christhard Mahrenholz and others), pp. 454–456.
predecessor Office successor
Johann Ernst I. Duke of Saxe-Weimar
1620–1662 		in Weimar: Johann Ernst II.
in Eisenach: Johann Georg I
in Jena: Bernhard
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar; Wilhelm IV of Saxony
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Saxe-Weimar
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1598
PLACE OF BIRTH Altenburg
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1662
Place of death Weimar