Duke Ludwig Friedrich Alexander of Württemberg (; 30 August 1756, in

Treptow an der Rega Treptow () was a former borough in the southeast of Berlin. It merged with Köpenick to form Treptow-Köpenick in 2001. Geography The district was composed by the localities of Alt-Treptow, Plänterwald, Baumschulenweg, Niederschöneweide, J ...

20 September 1817, in

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck ( Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximately ...

) was the second son of

Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (21 January 1732 – 23 December 1797) was the fourth son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (11 August 1706 – 1 February 1756). He was born in Stuttg ...

(1732–1797) and Margravine

Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt (Friederike Sophia Dorothea; 18 December 1736 – 9 March 1798) was Duchess of Württemberg by marriage to Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. She is an ancestor to many European royals of the 19th and ...

(1736–1798). His elder brother was

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

, the first

King of Württemberg King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, and his sister was the Russian Empress consort, Maria Feodorovna. Louis retained the pre-royal title of Duke.

Biography

Louis Frederick was a general in the cavalry. He was briefly a high ranking commander the

Army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

appointed the commander of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

's army, but betrayed the Commonwealth, refusing to fight against Russian troops throughout the

Polish–Russian War of 1792 The Polish–Russian War of 1792 (also, War of the Second Partition, and in Polish sources, War in Defence of the Constitution ) was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservati ...

, while feigning illness. For his betrayal he was dismissed from his post, but never prosecuted. His Polish wife, Duchess Maria, divorced him shortly afterward after his treason became public knowledge. Between 1807 and 1810, Duke Louis employed the composer

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

as his secretary with no musical duties. Weber and the duke's older brother Frederick mutually disliked each other, and the composer was banished from Württemberg after accusations of misappropriating some of the duke's money. He is an ancestor of Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during h ...

and her husband

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, King

Felipe VI of Spain Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and h ...

and

Charles Napoléon Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

Marriages and issue

He married on 28 October 1784 Princess Maria Czartoryska (1768–1854), daughter of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and Countess Isabella von Flemming. They had one child before they divorced in 1793 (Maria initiated the divorce upon the news of his betrayal of Poland): * Adam Karl Wilhelm Stanislaus Eugen Paul Ludwig (16 January 179227 July 1847) On 28 January 1797 in , near

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

, Louis Frederick was married to

Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg Princess Henriëtte of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (22 April 1780, in Kirchheimbolanden – 2 January 1857, in Kirchheim unter Teck) was a German duchess. She was a daughter of Prince Charles Christian and Carolina of Orange-Nassau, daughte ...

(then of Nassau), daughter of

Charles Christian, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg (Weilburg, 16 January 1735 – Münster-Dreissen, near Kirchheim, 28 November 1788), till 1753 Count of Nassau-Weilburg, was the first ruler of the Principality of Nassau-Weilburg between 1753 and 17 ...

and

Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (''Wilhelmine Carolina''; 28 February 1743 – 6 May 1787) was a Dutch regent. She was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and Anne, Princess Royal. She was regent of the ...

. The couple had five children: * Maria Dorothea Luise Wilhelmine Karoline (1 November 179730 March 1855); married in 1819 Archduke Joseph of Austria (9 March 177613 January 1847). * Amalie Therese Luise Wilhelmine Philippine (28 June 179928 November 1848) married in 1817

Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Joseph Georg Friedrich Ernst Karl, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (27 August 1789, in Hildburghausen – 25 November 1868, in Altenburg), was a Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. Biography He was the second but first surviving son of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildb ...

(27 August 178925 November 1868). * Pauline Therese Luise (4 September 180010 March 1873); married in 1820 her first cousin,

William I of Württemberg William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl; 27 September 178125 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death. Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", ...

. * Elisabeth Alexandrine Konstanze (27 February 18025 December 1864); married in 1830

Prince William of Baden Margrave Wilhelm of Baden (8 April 1792 in Karlsruhe – 11 October 1859 in Karlsruhe) was the second son of Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden and his second wife, Luise Karoline, Baroness Geyer von Geyersberg (26 May 1768 – 23 July 18 ...

(8 April 179211 October 1859). * Alexander Paul Ludwig Konstantin (9 September 18044 July 1885); married, morganitically, on 2 May 1835,

Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde Countess Claudine Susanna Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (; 21 September 18121 October 1841) was the Hungarian wife of Duke Alexander of Württemberg. Her son, Francis, Duke of Teck, was the father of Mary of Teck, queen consort to George V of the Uni ...

, and had issue (21 September 18121 October 1841); founded the second branch of the

House of Württemberg The House of Württemberg is a German dynasty and former royal family from Württemberg. History County The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors of modern Württemberg, which was then called ...

, known as the

Dukes of Teck Duke of Teck is a title which was created twice in Germanic lands. It was first borne from 1187 to 1439 by the head of a cadet line of the German ducal House of Zähringen, known as the "first House of Teck". The ''caput'' of his territory was Te ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis of Wurttemberg 1756 births 1817 deaths People from Trzebiatów Generals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Lieutenant generals of Prussia Louis Frederick Alexander People of the Polish–Russian War of 1792 People from the Province of Pomerania Imperial Russian Army generals German Lutherans Sons of monarchs