Karl August Friedrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont (24 September 1704 – 29 August 1763) was Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Commander of the Dutch forces in the War of Austrian Succession.

Royal life and military career

Karl was the second son of

Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (german: Friedrich Anton Ulrich Fürst zu Waldeck und Pyrmont; 27 November 16761 January 1728) was the first reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1712 to 1728. He was the son of Christ ...

and Countess Palatine Louise of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, youngest child of

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 as ...

. In 1728 his father and his elder brother Christian Philip died, and so he became Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. The Waldecks had a tradition of military service in the Dutch Army.

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck (31 January 1620 – 19 November 1692) was a German and Dutch Field Marshal and, for the last three years of his life, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg). In 1641, Waldeck e ...

had already led the Dutch army in the War of the Grand Alliance. In the War of Austrian Succession, Karl was appointed as commander of the Dutch Army by the States-General of the Netherlands, as counterbalance to William IV, Prince of Orange, who relied completely on his brother-in-law the Duke of Cumberland. The Dutch army under Waldeck's command was defeated in the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by ...

, the

Battle of Rocoux The Battle of Rocoux took place on 11 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession, at Rocourt (or Rocoux), near Liège in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, now modern Belgium. It was fought between a French army under Marshal Saxe a ...

and the Battle of Lauffeld. In 1746, Karl became Fieldmarshal of 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 unt ...

Marriage and children

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; old ...

, on 19 August 1741, Karl August married his first cousin Countess Palatine Christiane Henriette of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (1725–1816), daughter of Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken. The couple had seven children: *Prince Charles of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1742–1756) * Friedrich Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1743–1812) * Christian August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1744–1798), a Field Marshal in the Portuguese army * George I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1747–1813); married Princess Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen *

Princess Caroline of Waldeck and Pyrmont Caroline Louise of Waldeck and Pyrmont (14 August 1748 – 18 August 1782), was a Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont by birth and Duchess of Courland by marriage. Early life Karoline Luise was born as the eldest daughter of Karl August, Prince of ...

(1748–1782), married Peter von Biron, last Duke of Courland and Semigallia *

Princess Luise of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a s ...

(1751–1816), married

Frederick Augustus, Duke of Nassau Friedrich August, Duke of Nassau, Prince of Nassau-Usingen (23 April 1738 in Usingen – 24 March 1816 in Wiesbaden) was the last Prince of Nassau-Usingen and, jointly with his cousin, Friedrich Wilhelm of Nassau-Weilburg, first Duke of Nassau. ...

*Prince Louis of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1752–1793), killed in action near

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and larg ...

Ancestry

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karl August Of Waldeck And Pyrmont, Prince 1704 births 1763 deaths People from Hanau Dutch generals German princes Princes of Waldeck and Pyrmont Field marshals of Austria Dutch military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession House of Waldeck and Pyrmont Generals of the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Dutch military personnel