Wilhelm von Urach

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Duke Wilhelm I of Urach, Count of Württemberg

Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand Count of Württemberg , since 1867 Wilhelm I Duke of Urach (born July 6, 1810 in Stuttgart ; † July 17, 1869 at Lichtenstein Castle ) was a German nobleman from a branch of the House of Württemberg and an officer in the Württemberg army .

origin

He was born as the son of Duke Wilhelm Friedrich Philipp von Württemberg (1761-1830), brother of King Friedrich von Württemberg , and born Wilhelmine. Born Freiin von Tunderfeld-Rhodis.

Life

Wilhelm received his first upbringing in his parents' spirited house and came in 1819 with his older brother Count Alexander , the well-known poet, to stay at the Fellenberg Institute in Hofwyl near Bern for four years . He was returned to his parents' home to Stuttgart to in its eighteenth year captain in the riding artillery appointed in 1835 to the Major for 1837 Colonel promoted and commander of the artillery.

When in 1848 Württemberg appointed a field brigade to march to Schleswig-Holstein as part of a combined division of the southern German states under the command of Lieutenant General von Miller , it was placed under the command of the Count, who had commanded an infantry brigade as major general since 1841 . The Malmö armistice hit the brigade in Altona / Elbe and the surrounding area and prevented them from taking part in the actual action. The greater part of them with their leader - with the exception of a battalion that remained in Schleswig - was used for observation against the troops in the Baden Oberland, especially in the Seekreis, but was taken back to Württemberg at the end of July without having achieved any serious activity. Count Wilhelm was appointed lieutenant general in 1855 and also governor of Ulm in 1857 . In 1862 he converted to the Catholic denomination. The year 1867 brought him the promotion to general of the infantry and on May 28th the status increase to Duke of Urach while retaining the dignity of Count of Württemberg.

Duke Wilhelm's favorite weapon was and remained the artillery. He was considered an excellent mathematician and officer of his weapon and also made some inventions, especially in the mounting of the guns. Here he tried the idea of reducing the violent impact caused by pendulum oscillation when the barrel was firmly connected to the gun mount by hanging the barrel in movable glasses. The duke's universally educated and extremely active spirit was not satisfied with the military profession during the long period of peace.

Art and science, especially natural sciences, art history and archeology, met with keen interest, which he gained through extensive trips, co-founding and continued support of the Württemberg Antiquities Association (1843) and the Association for Patriotic Natural History (1844), as well as through repeated assumption of the presidency at meetings of the general association of German history and antiquity associations. His artistry he showed among other things, in the years 1840 and 1841 on the site of the long totally ruined castle Lichtenstein (famous by Wilhelm Hauff 's novel) was building of the castle Lichtenstein . There he also saved a considerable number of the sculptures from the splendid Renaissance style Stuttgart Lusthaus , which was demolished in 1844 to make way for the then royal court theater. The honorary membership of numerous scientific associations and learned societies, such as the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , as well as the dignity of an honorary doctor of the philosophical faculty of the University of Tübingen (1845) brought the well-deserved recognition of scientific endeavors, the literary fruits of which are to be mentioned: "Guide through all Painting schools and painting collections from WW ” ; "Graphical-archaeological comparisons" , and from the field of natural sciences: "Enlightenment words about weather prophecy from WW" . "Political sketches about Germany and Württemberg from the portfolio of a conservative" appeared anonymously in 1852 .

After Duke Wilhelm had been hit by a stroke in 1867 and had sought a cure in vain in the southern climate and in Wildbad in the Black Forest , he succumbed to another attack in 1869 at his Lichtenstein Castle.

Marriage and offspring

On February 8, 1841, Count Wilhelm married Princess Theodelinde von Leuchtenberg , a daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais . They had four daughters:

  • Auguste-Eugénie Wilhelmine Marie Pauline Friederike (1842–1916)
⚭ 1865 Count Parzival Rudolf von Enzenberg
⚭ 1877 Count Franz von Thun and Hohenstein
  • Marie Joséphine Friederike Eugénie Wilhelmine Théodelinde (1844–1864)
  • Eugénie-Amalie Auguste Wilhelmine Théodelinde (1848–1867)
  • Mathilde Auguste Pauline Wilhelmine Théodelinde (1854–1907) ⚭ 1874 Prince Paolo Altieri of Viano

Widowed in 1857, he married Princess Florestine of Monaco for the second time on February 16, 1863 . They had two sons:

  • Duke Wilhelm Karl von Urach , Count of Württemberg (1864–1928), pretender to the throne of Lithuania in 1918
⚭ 1892 Duchess Amalie in Bavaria (1865–1912)
⚭ 1924 Princess Wiltrud of Bavaria (1884–1975)

literature

  • Nicole Bickhoff u. a. (Ed.): Romantics on the Lichtenstein. Living worlds of Duke Wilhelm von Urach (1810-1869). Book accompanying the exhibition of the Baden-Württemberg State Archives , Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-17-035361-9 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm von Urach
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilhelm I Duke of Urach; Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand Count of Württemberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobleman from the House of Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH July 17, 1869
Place of death Lichtenstein (Württemberg)