Frederick, Burgrave of Dohna (4 February 1621 in Küstrin – 27 March 1688 in

Lutry Lutry () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, located in the Lavaux-Oron District, Lavaux-Oron, which includes the Lavaux region, a UNESCO World Heritage site. History ...

, near

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

) was a German nobleman, an officer in Dutch service and a governor of the

Principality of Orange The Principality of Orange (French language, French: Principauté d'Orange) was, from 1163 to 1713, a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the east bank of the river Rhone, north of the city of Avignon, and surrounded ...

. He later also rendered services to the

Electorate of Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the fifth-largest German state b ...

. Near the end of his life, he chose

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he was highly regarded, as his adopted country.

Ancestry

He was a member of the

Vianen Vianen () is a city and a former municipality in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located south of the Lek river. Before 2002 it was part of the province of South Holland. Vianen is made up of a historic town centre tha ...

line of the noble von

Dohna Dohna is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, Saxony, Germany. It is located south of Heidenau, in the Müglitz (river), Müglitz valley and lies at the northeastern foot of the Eastern Ore Mountains. It is accessed by the P ...

family. His parents belonged to the retinue of Elector Palatine

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

during his time as

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...

. His father,

Christopher von Dohna Burgrave Christopher von Dohna (; 27 June 1583 – 1 July 1637) was a Germans, German politician and scholar during the time of the Thirty Years' War. He came from the Prussian family of the Burgraves of Dohna. Biography Dohna was born in 1583 ...

, was Lord Chamberlain and secret councillor at Frederick V's Bohemian court. After Frederick's fall, the family fled to Küstrin, where Frederick was born. Later they moved to Carwinden,

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

and finally to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, where Christopher was governor from 1629 onwards. His mother was Ursula of Solms-Braunfels. Her sister,

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (31 August 1602 – 8 September 1675) was Princess of Orange by marriage to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. She acted as the political adviser of her spouse during his reign, and acted as his de facto deputy and regent ...

had married the Dutch military commander

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry (; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his ...

. Thus, Frederick was related to the

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

of Holland. His brothers Christian Albert and Christopher Delphicus served as officers in the army of Brandenburg-Prussia.

Career

Frederick himself served in the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army () was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This army was brought to such a size ...

under Prince Henry Casimir II from 1636. He was eventually promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. Prince

William II, Prince of Orange William II (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Willem II''; 27 May 1626 – 6 November 1650) was sovereign Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrecht, Guelders, Lordship of Ove ...

of Orange appointed him

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 1649. This was a difficult task, due to unrest in the principality and strife within the Orange-Nassau family. The situation was further complicated by Elector

Frederick William The name Frederick William usually refers to several monarchs and princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty: * Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620–1688) * Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713) * Frederick William I of ...

of Brandenburg, who was a relative of the Orange-Nassau family, and by King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

of France, who wanted to annex the principality. Frederick served as governor, until France annexed Orange in 1660. In 1657, he purchased the barony of

Coppet Coppet is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Nyon (district), Nyon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Coppet is first mentioned in 1294 as ''Copetum''. In 1347 it was mentioned a ...

in the Swiss region of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

, on the north shore of

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

. Back then, Vaud was not yet a separate canton, it was a territory held by the canton of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. After Orange was occupied by France, Frederick moved to Coppet and transformed the castle in the town into a

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

. He rendered various diplomatic services for Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. During the run-up to the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, he tried in vain to talk Switzerland into joining the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV. He did manage to convince a substantial number of Swiss farmers to settle in Brandenburg. When in 1667, an attack on

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

threatened, Frederick commanded the troops in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. He was highly regarded in Switzerland, and was granted citizenship in the canton of

. His children were educated by the polymath

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...

. Towards the end of his life, he suffered from various medical problems. His feet were paralyzed, which prevented him from returning to the Dutch military service. He nevertheless advised the new stadtholder, Prince William III. He died on 27 March 1688 and, at the instigation of the government of Bern, he was buried in

Marriage and issue

In 1656, Frederick married Espérance, a daughter of Jean du Puy de Montbrun, Comte de Ferrassières et de Pont-de-Vesle. They had the following children together: * Henriette Catharina Amalia (12 November 1658 – 18 September 1707), married Julius Henry of Friesen (17 Juni 1657 – 28 August 1706) in Epeysolles on 5 May 1680 * Frederick Albert (1659-1662) * Louise Antoinette (1 October 1660 – 16 January 1716), married to Frederick Christopher, Burgrave of Dohna-Carwinden (7 January 1664 – 15 July 1727) in Geneva on 15 March 1685 *

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

(1661-1728), married: *# in Wismar, on 29 July 1684, to Louise Amalia (20 July 1661 – 2 April 1724), a daughter of Frederick's brother Christopher Delphicus *# in Reichterswalde on 25 December 1725, to Johanna Sophia of Dohna-Lauck (27 August 1682 – 2 April 1735) * John Frederick, (9 November 1663 – 24 July 1712), Marquis de Ferrassieres, lieutenant general in the Dutch army, married: *# on 14 March 1692 to Lady Helen McCarthy (1671 – 24 April 1698) *# on 5 March 1702 to Countess Albertine Henriette of Bylandt (26 October 1673 – 1725) * Henriette Ursula (25 January 1663 – 2 May 1712), married in Detmold on 29 March 1695 to Count Frederick Christian of Lippe-Detmold (13 September 1668 – 18 October 1724) *

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

(1665-1733), married Frederike Marie (21 December 1660 – 22 November 1729), a daughter of Frederick's brother Christian Albert * Espérance Geneva Magdalena (16 May 1668 – 2 August 1729) * Sophia Albertine (12 August 1674 – 23 September 1746), married in Schlobitten on 16 April 1713 to Henry William of Solms-Wildenfels-Laubach

References

* *

External links

Genealogy of Dohna

WW-person database by Herbert Stoyan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick, Burgrave of Dohna Burgraves of Germany 17th-century Swiss nobility 1621 births 1688 deaths 17th-century German nobility 17th-century Dutch military personnel