Friedrich Casimir of Hanau (born 4 August 1623 in Bouxwiller; died 30 March 1685 in Hanau) was a member of the Hanau-Lichtenberg branch of the House of Hanau. He was the ruling Count of

Hanau-Lichtenberg The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged between 1456 and 1480 from a part of the County of Hanau and one half of the Barony of Lichtenberg. Following the extinction of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg in ...

from 1641 and of

Hanau-Münzenberg The County of Hanau-Münzenberg was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged when the County of Hanau was divided in 1458, the other part being the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Due to common heirs, both counties were merged from 1642 t ...

from 1642.

Childhood and youth

Friedrich Casimir was born in Bouxwiller (german: Buchsweiler), the residence of the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg, as the son of Count Philipp Wolfgang (1595–1641) and his wife, Countess Johanna of

Oettingen-Oettingen The House of Oettingen was a high-rank noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank of ...

(1602–1639). During his childhood, his parents and he had to flee to Strasbourg several times, due to the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

. On 14 February 1641, Friedrich Casimir succeeded his father as ruler of the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Legally, he was still a minor at the time, so that a guardianship had to be set up. Just one year later, in 1642, he also inherited the County of Hanau-Münzenberg. For the first time since 1458 all parts of Hanau were again united in one hand. From 1643 to 1645, he made the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

that was usual for youngers of his standing. He visited countries that were not affected by the Thirty Years' War: France, Spain, Italy, England and the Netherlands. He was probably safer there than in his war-torn homeland.

Guardianship

Under the law at the time, he was a minor until the age of 25. A committee of guardians was established for him and his two brothers, Johann Philipp and Johann Reinhard II. Initially, the committee consisted of Johann Ernst of Hanau-Münzenberg and Baron

Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl Georg II of Fleckenstein Dagstuhl (2 February 1588 – 31 January 1644) was the last baron of the house of Fleckenstein. He was the eldest son of Philipp Wolfgang of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl (d. 1618) and his first wife, Anna Alexandria of Rappoltstei ...

, who was a great-grandson of Count Philipp IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg. When Johann Ernst died in 1642, the Baron remained as the sole guardian. After he died in 1644, Count Georg Albrecht of acted as guardian, until his death in 1647. Since only a few months remained until the age of majority, no further attempt was made to establish a guardianship.

Family

When Friedrich Casimir took office in Hanau-Münzenberg, the county was financially in a precarious situation, due to the Thirty Years' War. When he arrived in Hanau, he was greeted by Sibylle Christine of Anhalt-Dessau, the widow of Count Philipp Moritz, who had been the ruling count until 1638. She had received Steinau Castle as her widow seat. As widow of a ruling count, she could raise substantial claims against the county. To avoid this, it was decided to marry Friedrich Casimir to the widow, who was 44 years old at the time, almost 20 years older than he. An added advantage of this marriage was that the Calvinist majority in the county was suspicious that the Lutheran count might undermine their position; the marriage with the Calvinist widow laid their fears to rest. The marriage was plagued by differences. One problem was that the count was continuously in financial difficulties and he sometimes dipped into his wife's resources to alleviate his problems. The marriage with the elderly widow remained childless. Shortly before his death, Friedrich Casimir adopted his nephews Philipp Reinhard and Johann Reinhard III as his heirs.

Rule

Inheriting Hanau-Münzenberg

When Count Johann Ernst of Hanau-Münzenberg died on 12 January 1642, Friedrich Casimir was his next-of-kin. He was only a distant relative, but he was nevertheless the closest male relative and his hereditary claims were confirmed in a treaty of inheritance between Hanau-Lichtenberg and Hanau-Münzenberg dated 1610. Accepting the throne was not without its problems. Friedrich Casimir had to travel through enemy territory in disguise, accompanied by his guardian

and a small security detail. He arrived in Hanau on 21 January 1642. Several liege lords of Hanau-Münzenberg, in particular the

Archdiocese of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

, but also the Electorate of Saxony,

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

, the

Bishopric of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

and the Imperial Abbey of Fulda held that the family relationship between Friedrich Casimir and Johann Ernst was too distant and that Johann Ernst therefore had no male heir, so the

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

was completed and should be terminated. However weak their position might have been legally, in the confused situation of the

, the current power structure weighed more heavily than legal niceties. Georg of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl appreciated the situation and made sure that Hesse-Kassel would back Friedrich Casimir. Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg, the widow of Landgrave Wilhelm V of Hesse-Kassel, who was regent of Hesse-Kassel for her minor son Wilhelm VI, would provide diplomatic and political support. She aimed at Hanau-Münzenberg keeping all its territories, not least because the county was heavily indebted to Hesse-Kassel. In return, Friedrich Casimir signed a treaty of inheritance, promising that if Hanau-Münzenberg were to die out in the male line, the country would fall to Hesse-Kassel. This would eventually happen in 1736. Friedrich Casimir also gave Hesse-Kassel the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Schwarzenfels Schwarzenfels is a village in the German municipality of Sinntal in Main-Kinzig-Kreis in the state of Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. It ...

and the Winery of

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...

(the secularized Naumburg Abbey) as collateral for the debt. Hanau, the capital of Hanau-Münzenberg, consisted at the time of the legally separate cities: ("Old Hanau") and ("New Hanau"). The latter had been settled at the turn of the 16th to the 17th Century by

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 Ca ...

refugees from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

(present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

). Its leadership was composed of wealthy merchants and traders who took advantage of the weak position of the new count to negotiate favourable conditions, in particular, they demanded guarantees that the religious would be maintained. After ten days of negotiating, Georg of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl gave this guarantee, so that Friedrich Casimir could finally accept his inheritance. Friedrich Casimir was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, like the rest of the Hanau-Lichtenberg family. Hanau-Münzenberg, however, had been

since the days of count Philipp Ludwig II. Back then, Philipp Ludwig II had been able to decide the denomination for himself and his subjects under the principle of , Friedrich Casimir not only had to allow the Calvinists to retain their religion; initially Friedrich Casimir could only hold Lutheran services for himself and his court in the chapel in the City Palace. It wasn't until 1658 that he was able to build the Lutheran Johann Church, with substantial contributions from foreign Lutherans, in particular Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony, after whom the church was named. Lutheran congregation were formed in many communities in the county, leading to considerable controversy. In 1650 and 1670, the two sides in the religious dispute came to agree on a compromise. The 1670 compromise is known as the ("religious main recess"). The compromise puts the two

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

denominations on an equal footing and gives each its own church administration, so that there were two established churches in the County of Hanau and the count had to waive his . The ''Religionshauptrezeß'' became a permanent and solid foundation for a bi-confessional county until the early 19th Century. It did not, however, stop the continuing debate between the two confessions. It wasn't until 1818 that the two churches formally merged.

The political framework

Under the Peace of Westphalia the county of Hanau got off lightly. The county was allowed to keep most of the territory it had held before 1618. Friedrich Casimir succeeded in re-establishing a balanced relationship with the imperial court in Vienna and was appointed as imperial councillor by Emperor Ferdinand II. Even so, the county suffered from a substantial debt, which burdened Friedrich Casimir's entire reign. This was particularly problematic because Friedrich Casimir lacked any sense of financial matters. His court was modeled on the large Baroque courts and his expenses exceeded the capacity of his county. In order to finance his expenses, such as his art collection and his wax museum, he resorted to selling off real estate, ultimately selling the

of Rodheim to

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

for 9000 taler. The political landscape in which Friedrich Casimir had to operate, remained marked by uncertainty, even after the Peace of Westphalia. This was particularly true for the Hanau-Lichtenberg part of the country, which was within reach of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

and had repeatedly been occupied during the war. The part of Hanau-Lichtenberg on the left bank of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

had been separated from the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

by the Peace of Westphalia and were placed under the sovereignty of the French crown. After the

Peace of Nijmegen The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ('; german: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republi ...

of 1678 and a verdict of the Chamber of Reunion in 1681, Friedrich Casimir had to pay homage to the French king for these areas. In 1672, French troops even occupied Friedberg,

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the Aschaffenburg (district), district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative sea ...

and

Seligenstadt Seligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany's oldest towns and was already of great importance in Carolingian times. Geography Location Seligenstadt ...

. Hanau had declared itself neutral, but was completely surrounded by French troops. Among his advisors were the doctor and Alchemist Friedrich Kretschmar, a vagabond and princely advisor with a dubious reputation, Swedish councillor Bengt Skytte, a self-styled philosopher,

Johann Joachim Becher Johann Joachim Becher (; 6 May 1635 – October 1682) was a German physician, alchemist, precursor of chemistry, scholar and adventurer, best known for his development of the phlogiston theory of combustion, and his advancement of Austrian cameral ...

, a doctor and economic theorist, Landgrave Georg Christian, a soldier and diplomat, and the author

Johann Michael Moscherosch Johann Michael Moscherosch (7 March 1601 – 4 April 1669), German statesman, satirist, and educator, was born at Willstätt, on the Upper Rhine near Strassburg. His bitterly brilliant but partisan writings graphically describe life in a G ...

. They provided no counterweight to Friedrich Casimir's ambition.

Successful projects

After decades of construction, the construction of the National High School was completed in 1665. The Lutheran School in Hanau, which had been founded in 1647, was expanded to a Lutheran High School in 1680. In 1813, it would be converted to a

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

. During Friedrich Casimir's reign, one of the first

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major a ...

manufacturing plants in Germany was founded by Daniel Behaghel and Jacob van der Walle, using a countly privilege issued on 5 March 1661; it would operate successfully until the early 19th century. In 1678, the , one of Germany's oldest newspapers, was founded. Friedrich Casimir was a member of the literary

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

. Several treaties were concluded with the

and the

, which were both administered by

Johann Philipp von Schönborn Johann Philipp von Schönborn (6 August 1605 – 12 February 1673) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz (1647–1673), the Bishop of Würzburg (1642–1673), and the Bishop of Worms (1663–1673). Life Johann Philipp was born in ...

in apersonal union, on the one hand resolving disputes which had arisen during the

, on the other hand exchanging territories in order to make both countries more convex. To compensate for the loss of population of the war, he promoted immigration of Swiss people from the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

into the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg. These people held

beliefs and Hanau-Lichtenberg was still predominantly

, but Calvinism was tolerated.Erhard Bus: ''Die Folgen des großen Krieges - der Westen der Grafschaft Hanau-Münzenberg nach dem Westfälischen Frieden'', in:

Hanauer Geschichtsverein Hanauer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Hanauer (born 1966), American businessman *Chip Hanauer (born 1954), American motorboat racer *J. E. Hanauer (1850–1938), Palestinian writer and photographer * Milton Hanauer ...

: ''Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Hanau und Umgebung'' = ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter'', issue 45, 2011, , pp. 277-320 (289)

Fantasies

Many of Count Friedrich Casimir's projects remained castles in the sky. These include an Academy of Sciences and Arts. It would be established in Hanau and named Sophopolis. The high point of his fantastic projects was the foundation of the ''

Hanauish Indies German attempts at the colonization of the Americas consisted of German Venezuela (german: Klein-Venedig, also german: Welser-Kolonie), Saint Thomas (Brandenburg colony), St. Thomas and Vieques, Puerto Rico, Crab Island in the 16th and 17th cent ...

'', a colony that would arise on the Orinoco river on the north coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. The idea probably came from Johann Joachim Becher. This project progressed as far as a final contract with the Dutch West India Company. Friedrich Casimir probably already saw himself as king of a tropical empire, however, he was derided as ''King of Cockaigne'' by the population of Hanau. What was lacking was the money to implement such a project. Consequently, nothing happened in South America, and the project left behind huge debts in the county of Hanau. To compensate for this financial disaster, Friedrich Casimir considered pledging the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg to the

Duke of Lorraine The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...

and converting to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith in order to secure support from the Catholic side. Landgrave Georg Christian of

was alleged to have stood behind this project. He was also alleged to try to transfer the

of Dorheim to his own Landgraviate, including the

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a wor ...

, which was vital for the economy of Hanau. Friedrich Casimir's relatives opposed this plan; to get them out of the way, Georg Christian tried to have himself appointed

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of Hanau.

Disempowerment

Friedrich Casimir's relatives then pulled the emergency brake. His brother,

Johann Philipp of Hanau-Lichtenberg Count Johann Philipp of Hanau-Lichtenberg ( in Bouxwiller – 18 December 1669 in Babenhausen) was a son of Count Philipp Wolfgang (1595–1641) and his wife, Countess Johanna of Oettingen-Oettingen (1602–1639). During his childhood, his ...

staged a coup in November 1669 and seized power while Friedrich Casimir was absent. However, his emergency government broke down after three days. His relatives and the guardians of successors,

Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld Christian II (22 June 1637 – 26 April 1717) was the Duke of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler from 1654, the Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from 1671, and the Count of Rappoltstein from 1673 until 1699. Life Christian was born in Bischwiller in 1637 a ...

and

Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (14 February 1640 – 12 December 1693) was a daughter of Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (1598–1654) and his first wife, Countess Palatine Magdalene Catherine ...

asked Emperor Leopold I to be appointed regents and heads of a new administration. They were appointed co-regent and given the right to veto any decision made by Friedrich Casimir. Friedrich Casimir's councillor were dismissed and a new government was installed, led by President of the Chamber Johann Georg Seyfried, who was later ennobled as Baron von Edelsheim. In practice, this limitation of the Count's power often led to conflicts with the government. The regents tried to implement rigorous financial policies to repay government debt; the Count was still far more generous. In the end, a sweeping financial turnaround did not materialize.

Death and inheritance

Friedrich Casimir died on 30 March 1685 in Hanau. He was buried in the crypt of the

St. Johann Church in Hanau. The County of Hanau-Münzenberg was inherited by his nephew Philipp Reinhard, the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg by his nephew Johann Reinhard III. This division was reconfirmed in a treaty in 1691. Friedrich Casimir's widow, Sibylle Christine of Anhalt-Dessau, survived him by less than a year. She was buried in the crypt of the Reformed St. Mary's Church, also in Hanau.

Ancestors

References

* * Reinhard Dietrich: ''Die Landesverfassung in dem Hanauischen'', in: ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter'', vol. 34, Hanau, 1996, * Reinhard Dietrich: ''… wegen geführten großen Staats, aber schlechter Zahlung der Schulden …. Zur finanziellen Lage der Grafschaft Hanau im 17. Jahrhundert'', in: ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter'', vol. 31, Hanau 1993, p. 123–148 * Ferdinand Hahnzog: ''Das Hanauer „tolle Jahr“ 1669'', in: ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter'', vol. 20, 1965, p. 129–146 * Ferdinand Hahnzog: ''Hanauisch-Indien einst und jetzt'', Hanau, 1959 * Margarete Hinterreicher: ''Georg Christian von Hessen-Homburg (1626–1677). Offizier, Diplomat und Regent in den Jahrzehnten nach dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg'', in: ''Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte'', vol. 58, Darmstadt,1985, p. 176ff * Paul Jung: ''Beiträge zur Kirchenpolitik des Grafen Friedrich Casimir von Hanau'', in: ''Hanauisches Magazin'', vol. 6, 1927, pp. 53–56, 61–63, 70–72 * Johannes Koltermann: ''Flugschriften zur Geschichte des Grafen Friedrich Casimir von Hanau bei Bernhard'', in: ''Hanauisches Magazin'', vol. 16, 1937, p. 43–52 * Johannes Koltermann: ''Die Reise des Grafen Friedrich Casimir von Hanau zum Regensburger Reichstag 1664'', in: ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter'', vol. 20, 1965, p. 129–146 * J. G. Lehmann: ''Urkundliche Geschichte der Grafschaft Hanau-Lichtenberg im unteren Elsasse'', 2 vols, 1862, reprinted: Pirmasens 1970, p. 512 ff * Reinhard Suchier: ''Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses'', in: ''Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894'', Hanau, 1894 * Richard Wille: ''Die letzten Grafen von Hanau-Lichtenberg'', in: ''Mitteilungen des Hanauer Bezirksvereins für hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde'', vol. 12, Hanau 1886, p. 56–68 * Ernst J. Zimmermann: ''Hanau Stadt und Land'', 3rd ed., Hanau, 1919, reprinted: 1978

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Casimir, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg Counts of Hanau-Münzenberg Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg 1623 births 1685 deaths 17th-century German people House of Hanau