Frederick Ernest of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (15 December 1703 – 23 June 1762 in Drage) was a member of the

Brandenburg-Kulmbach The Principality of Bayreuth (german: Fürstentum Bayreuth) or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynas ...

branch of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...

. His most significant position was governor of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein-Glückstadt.

Background

He was the son of Margrave Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and his wife

Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein (24 October 1667 – 23 August 1737) was Countess of :de:Wolfstein (Adelsgeschlecht), Wolfstein by birth and Margravine of List of consorts of Brandenburg, Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach by marriage. Early life a ...

. His sister,

Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach Sophia means " wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to: * Sophia (wisdom) *Sophia (Gnosticism) *Sophia (given name) Places *Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu *Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana *Sophia, North Carolina, an unincor ...

was married with King

Christian VI of Denmark Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

. At the time, Denmark was in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

with the Duchies of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

and

Holstein-Glückstadt Holstein-Glückstadt or Schleswig-Holstein-Glückstadt is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein that were ruled by the Kings of Denmark in their function as dukes o ...

, the royal share in the Duchy of

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

. Christian VI appointed his brother-in-law Frederick Ernest as

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

of the duchies.

Life

Frederick Ernest was made a Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional ...

by his royal brother-in-law. In 1731, he received

Gottorf Castle Gottorf Castle (german: Schloss Gottorf, da, Gottorp Slot, Low German: ''Gottorp'') is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein, and ha ...

as his seat, the former seat of the Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp. However, he preferred to build his own residence at the site of the manor at Drage, which the king had given to him on the occasion of his wedding with Christine Sophie, the daughter of Duke Ernest Ferdinand of Brunswick-Bevern. The old manor house was demolished and

Friedrichsruh Castle Friedrichsruh () is a district in the municipality of Aumühle, Herzogtum Lauenburg district, Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany. Friedrichsruh manor is known as a residence of the princely House of Bismarck, mainly of Chancellor Otto von Bi ...

was constructed between 1744 and 1751, after a design of the Danish court architect

Nicolai Eigtved Nicolai Eigtved, also known as Niels Eigtved (4 June 1701 – 7 June 1754) was a Danish architect. He introduced and was the leading proponent of the French rococo or late baroque style in Danish architecture during the 1730s–1740s. He designe ...

. Frederick Ernest and his wife lived far beyond their means, and when he died childless in 1762, he left a heavily indebted estate. Frederick Ernest and his wife were buried in the St. Michael's Church in Hohenaspe. He was succeeded as governor of Schleswig and Holstein-Glückstadt by

Friedrich Ludwig von Dehn Friedrich may refer to: Names * Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' * Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other * Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...

. The ''Margrave Room'' in

Glücksburg Castle Glücksburg Castle (German: Schloss Glücksburg, Danish: ''Lyksborg Slot'') is one of the most significant Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. The castle was the headquarters of the ducal lines of the house of Glücksburg and temporarily served ...

is named after Frederick Ernest. He resided there for a while.

References

* Rudolf Irmisch: ''Schloß Drage und sein Besitzer, Markgraf Friedrich Ernst von Brandenburg-Kulmbach'', in: ''Steinburger Jahrbuch 1973'', Itzehoe, 1972, pp. 6–17 * Bernd Langmaack: ''Friedrich Ernst Markgraf zu Brandenburg-Culmbach. Eine glanzvolle Persönlichkeit, mit Königen verschwägert'', in: ''Steinburger Jahrbuch 2000'', Itzehoe 1999, pp. 61–72 House of Hohenzollern 1703 births 1762 deaths {{Germany-noble-stub