Frederick Augustus of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (29 October 1740,
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...
– 8 October 1805,
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
) was a German nobleman and Prussian general. A prince of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and thus one of the
Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
, in 1792 he was granted the
Duchy of Oels
The Duchy of Oels (german: Herzogtum Oels) or Duchy of Oleśnica ( pl, Księstwo Oleśnickie, la, Ducatus Olsnensis) was one of the duchies of Silesia with its capital in Oleśnica in Lower Silesia, Poland.Zofia Uszyńska, University of Michigan ...
and the
Duchy of Bernstadt
The Duchy of Bernstadt (german: Herzogtum Bernstadt, pl, KsiÄ™stwo bierutowskie, cz, BernÅ¡tatské knÞectvÃ) was a Silesian duchy centred on the city of Bernstadt (present-day Bierutów) in Lower Silesia (now in Poland) and formed by separ ...
and thus also became the ruling duke of these duchies.
Life
One of thirteen children of
Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and his wife
Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia
Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia (13 March 1716, in Berlin – 17 February 1801, in Brunswick) was Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by marriage to Duke Charles I. Philippine Charlotte was a known intellectual in contemporary Germany. ...
, in 1754 he became a captain in the Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Lifeguard regiment and on 28 April 1761 became an
oberst
''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...
and commander of the Zastrow Foot Regiment. During the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
he fought at Vellinghausen,
Wilhelmsthal
Wilhelmsthal is a municipality in the district of Kronach in Bavaria, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, an ...
,
Melsungen
Melsungen () is a small climatic spa town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany. In 1987, the town hosted the 27th ''Hessentag'' state festival.
Geography
Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highlands. The str ...
, Homburg and Fritzlar. On 17 August 1761 he was made a major general and in October that year fought at
Ölper and thus in the liberation of the city of
Brunswick from its last siege. In her ode ''Ãœber den Entsatz von Braunschweig'' (1761),
Anna Luise Karsch wrote:
In 1764 she followed it with an ''Ode über die Vorzüge des Prinzen Friedrichs von Braunschweig''.
He and two of his brothers (Wilhelm Adolf and
Leopold
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name)
* Leopold (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
) were freemasons and from 1771 he was a ''Socius, Amicus et Fautor ordinis'' member of the
Rite of Strict Observance
The Rite of Strict Observance was a Rite of Freemasonry, a series of progressive degrees that were conferred by the Order of Strict Observance, a Masonic body of the 18th century.
History
Baron Karl Gotthelf von Hund (1722–1776) introduced a ...
, in which he was made Prefect of the Temple (Berlin) in 1773 as ''Superior und Protector ordinis''. From 1772 to 1799 he was made National Grand Master of the Grand National Mother Lodge 'Zu den drei Weltkugeln', another of whose members was Frederick II of Prussia. The ''Freimaurerlexikon'' of 1932 states he had a strong mystical predisposition and called him an alchemist,
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...
, exorcist and miracle-working doctor, in constant contact with the "great swindlers of the order" (namely Gottlieb Franz Xaver Gugomos and the Leipzig cafe owner Schröpfer). With his uncle
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
and despite warnings from Du Bosc and Karl Eberhard von Wächter, he kept in contact with the
Count of Saint Germain, an internationally-famous alchemist and occultist.
In 1763 Frederick Augustus became a lieutenant general and commander of the Tettenborn Foot Regiment (later 19th Regiment) in Prussian service, becoming a favourite of his uncle
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
and from then on always accompanying him on manoeuvres. He was also made governor of the fortress at
Küstrin. On 1 October 1763 he was made a knight of the
Order of the Black Eagle
The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...
. On 20 December 1764 he was made an honorary member of the
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
.
On 6 September 1768 he married Princess Friederike Sophie Charlotte Auguste of Württemberg-Oels (1 August 1751 – 4 November 1789), daughter of
Charles Christian Erdmann, Duke of Württemberg-Oels
Karl Christian Erdmann of Württemberg-Oels (26 October 1716 in Wilhelminenort near Bernstadt – 14 December 1792 in Oels) was ruling duke of Württemberg-Oels and Bernstadt.
He was the only son of Christian Ulrich II, Duke of Württemberg- ...
(1716–1792), though the marriage remained childless right up to her death in 1789. In 1774 he was appointed provost of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
. On 21 May 1787 he was made a
General of Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to:
* General of the Infantry (Austria)
* General of the Infantry (Bulgaria)
* General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...
and on 13 December 1792 he was made duke of Oels in Lower Silesia. On 28 December that year he was put in command of a Prussian army corps intended to be deployed in Westphalia, but for health reasons he first delegated the command to lieutenant general
Knobelsdorff on 26 March 1793 and then on 20 March 1794 was finally dismissed. He then retired to his Schloss
Sibyllenort in Lower Silesia to translate French plays and to literary works. He died in October 1805 while visiting his sister
Anna Amalia in Eisenach, and was buried in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
. The duchy of Oels passed to his nephew
Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 9 October 1771 – 16 June 1815), was a German prince and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Oels. Nicknamed "The Black Duke", he was a military officer who led th ...
, the so-called 'Black Duke'.
Works
*''Militärische Geschichte des Prinzen Friedrich August von Braunschweig-Lüneburg'', Oels 1797
Bibliography
* Hermann Hengst: ''Die Ritter des Schwarzen Adlerordens''. 1901
* Benno von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff: ''Die Städte Braunschweig und Wolfenbüttel und das Gefecht bei Ölper am 13./14.10.1761'', In: ''Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch'' Nr. 71, Braunschweig 1990, S. 7–26
* Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner: ''Internationales Freimaurerlexikon''. 1932
* Ferdinand Spehr: ''Friedrich August (Herzog von Braunschweig)''. In: ''
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB). Band 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, S. 505–507.
External links
*
Anna Louise Karschin's Ode ''Ueber den Entsatz von Braunschweig''*
Correspondence with Frederick the Great
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Augustus Brunswick Wolfenbuttel Oels
1740 births
1805 deaths
Lieutenant generals of Prussia
New House of Brunswick
Dukes of Silesia
Sons of monarchs