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Frederick William I, King Of Prussia
Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick the Great. Early years He was born in Berlin to King Frederick I of Prussia and Princess Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. During his first years, he was raised by the Huguenot governess Marthe de Roucoulle. When Great Northern War plague outbreak devastated Prussia, the inefficiency and corruption of the king's favorite ministers and senior officials were highlighted. Frederick William with a party that formed at the court brought down the leading minister Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg and his cronies following an official investigation that exposed Wartenberg's huge-scale misappropriation and embezzlement. His close associate August David zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was impri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antoine Pesne
Antoine Pesne () (29 May 1683 – 5 August 1757) was a French-born court painter of Prussia. Starting in the manner of baroque, he became one of the fathers of rococo in painting. His work represents a link between the French school and the Frederican rococo style. Early life Born in Paris, Pesne first studied art under his father and uncle. From 1704 to 1710 he received a stipend for advanced training at the Académie Royale in Italy. Career In 1710, Pesne was called to Berlin by King Frederick I in Prussia. The king had seen and liked a painting of a German nobleman Pesne had completed in Venice and wanted Pesne to complete a study of himself. Upon the death of the king in 1713, Pesne worked in the courts of Dresden and Dessau, and later visited London and Paris, where he was made a full member of the Académie Royale in 1720. While there, he painted the a portrait of a well-known collector Pierre-Jean Mariette in 1723. Mariette had extensive international connections w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent states, Berlin is surrounded by the State of Brandenburg and contiguous with Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital. Berlin's urban area, which has a population of around 4.5 million, is the second most populous urban area in Germany after the Ruhr. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's third-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main regions. Berlin straddles the banks of the Spree, which flows into the Havel (a tributary of the Elbe) in the western borough of Spandau. Among the city's main topographical features are the many lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs formed by the Spree, Havel and Dahme, the largest of which is Lake Müggelsee. Due to its l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spandau Citadel
The Spandau Citadel (german: Zitadelle Spandau) is a fortress in Berlin, Germany, one of the best-preserved Renaissance military structures of Europe. Built from 1559–94 atop a medieval fort on an island near the meeting of the Havel and the Spree, it was designed to protect the town of Spandau, which is now part of Berlin. In recent years it has been used as a museum and has become a popular tourist spot. Furthermore, the inner courtyard of the Citadel has served as an open air concert venue in the summertime since 2005. History In 1157, Albert the Bear built a frontier fortress at this site, and by the middle of the 15th century, the site was the Margrave of Brandenburg seat of government. By 1560, Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg engaged Christoph Römer to build an Italian style fortress, incorporating the older castle, Palas, and Julius Tower. In 1562, Römer was replaced by Francesco Chiaramella de Gandino. In 1578 Rochus Graf zu Lynar took over. In 158 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
August David Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
Graf August David of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (14 April 1663 – 1735) was a Prussian politician. He was a member of the Cabinet of Three Counts, with Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg and Alexander Hermann, Count of Wartensleben, also known due to their heavy taxation as "the great W(oes)" of Prussia (Wartenberg, Wartensleben, Wittgenstein). As a favorite of Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, he was later imprisoned at Spandau Citadel, fined 70,000 thalers and banished subsequently by Frederick William due to corruption, wastage and inefficiency. Early life He was born as a third son of Count Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein and his wife, Huguenot noblewoman Anna Helene de la Place, daughter of François de La Place, Vicomte de Machaut and Anna Margaretha of Brederode. First marriage He married firstly in 1703 in Weilburg to Countess Concordia zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Vallendar (1679-1709). He had following children: 1. His first daughter was Charlotte Sophie of Say ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Kasimir Kolbe Von Wartenberg
Johann Kasimir Kolbe, ''Graf'' von Wartenberg (6 February 1643, in Wetterau – 4 July 1712, in Frankfurt am Main) was the first ever Minister-President (effectively Prime Minister) of the kingdom of Prussia, and the head of the "Cabinet of Three Counts". Life In his youth he was Oberstallmeister and Geheimer Rat in the council of Mary of Orange (1642–1688), sister-in-law of the Great Elector and wife of Pfalzgraf Ludwig Heinrich von Simmern (1640–1674). On her death he transferred to the service of Frederick III of Brandenburg, where he rose quickly through the ranks - in 1691 he became Schlosshauptmann of Berlin, in 1694 Hauptmann der Dompropstei Havelberg, in 1696 Oberstallmeister and Oberkammerherr. On the fall of first minister Eberhard von Danckelmann in 1697 he became minister and finance minister and quickly eliminated his competitors Hans Albrecht von Barfus and Paul von Fuchs via targeted intrigue and filled important court posts with his henchmen. On 18 Januar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Northern War Plague Outbreak
During the Great Northern War (1700–1721), many towns and areas around the Baltic Sea and East-Central Europe had a severe outbreak of the plague with a peak from 1708 to 1712. This epidemic was probably part of a pandemic affecting an area from Central Asia to the Mediterranean. Most probably via Constantinople, it spread to Pińczów in southern Poland, where it was first recorded in a Swedish military hospital in 1702. The plague then followed trade, travel and army routes, reached the Baltic coast at Prussia in 1709, affected areas all around the Baltic Sea by 1711 and reached Hamburg by 1712. Therefore, the course of the war and the course of the plague mutually affected each other: while soldiers and refugees were often agents of the plague, the death toll in the military as well as the depopulation of towns and rural areas sometimes severely impacted the ability to resist enemy forces or to supply troops. This plague was the last to affect the area around the Baltic, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marthe De Roucoulle
Marthe de Roucoulle or ''de Rocoulle'' (1659–1741) was a French Huguenot educator and salon (gathering), ''salonnaire'' active in Prussia. She was the governess first of Frederick William I of Prussia and later of his son Frederick the Great. Life Marthe de Roucoulle was originally from Normandy in France, reportedly "of gentle blood, never very rich". She was Protestant and belonged to those French Huguenots who chose to flee France for Prussia after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. She arrived in Prussia as a penniless widow under the name Marthe de Montbail with her mother-in-law and her daughter and namesake. She was received at the Prussian court by the future Queen Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Sophie Charlotte, who liked her company and found her suitable as governess for her son because of her intelligence and good manners. Governess to Frederick William I She was appointed governess to the future Frederick William I after his return from Hanover in 1692. As she never ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bezanson Hugues (1491–1532?), was in common use by the mid-16th century. ''Huguenot'' was frequently used in reference to those of the Reformed Church of France from the time of the Protestant Reformation. By contrast, the Protestant populations of eastern France, in Alsace, Moselle, and Montbéliard, were mainly Lutherans. In his ''Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', Hans Hillerbrand wrote that on the eve of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572, the Huguenot community made up as much as 10% of the French population. By 1600, it had declined to 7–8%, and was reduced further late in the century after the return of persecution under Louis XIV, who instituted the '' dragonnades'' to forcibly convert Protestants, and then finally revoke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Of Neuchâtel
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The female equivalent is a princess. The English word derives, via the French word ''prince'', from the Latin noun , from (first) and (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble ruler, prince". Historical background The Latin word (older Latin *prīsmo-kaps, literally "the one who takes the first lace/position), became the usual title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire, the ''princeps senatus''. Emperor Augustus established the formal position of monarch on the basis of principate, not dominion. He also tasked his grandsons as summer rulers of the city when most of the government were on holiday in the country or attending religious rituals, and, for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. It emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible. Calvinists broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. Calvinists differ from Lutherans (another major branch of the Reformation) on the spiritual real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, theories of worship, the purpose and meaning of baptism, and the use of God's law for believers, among other points. The label ''Calvinism'' can be misleading, because the religious tradition it denotes has always been diverse, with a wide range of influences rather than a single founder; however, almost all of them drew heavily from the writings of Augustine of Hippo twelve hundred years prior to the Reformation. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of Berlin, and lies embedded in a hilly morainic landscape dotted with many lakes, around 20 of which are located within Potsdam's city limits. It lies some southwest of Berlin's city centre. The name of the city and of many of its boroughs are of Slavic origin. Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser until 1918. Its planning embodied ideas of the Age of Enlightenment: through a careful balance of architecture and landscape, Potsdam was intended as "a picturesque, pastoral dream" which would remind its residents of their relationship with nature and reason. The city, which is over 1000 years old, is widely known for its palaces, its lakes, and its overall historical and cultural significance. Landmarks include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanssouci Park
Sanssouci Park is a large park surrounding Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Germany, built under Frederick the Great in the mid-1700s. Following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, the surroundings were included in the structure. A baroque flower garden with lawns, flower beds, hedges and trees was created. In the hedge quarter 3,000 fruit trees were planted. The greenhouses of the numerous nurseries contained oranges, melons, peaches and bananas. The goddesses Flora and Pomona, who decorate the entrance obelisk at the eastern park exit, were placed there to highlight the connection of a flower, fruit and vegetable garden. Along with the Sanssouci Palace and other neaby palaces and parks, Sanssouci Park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990 for its unique architectural unity and testimony to 18th and 19th century landscaping in Europe. Overview With the expansion of the site after the creation of more buildings, a 2.5 km long st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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