Charles Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (6 January 1665 – 6 December 1723) was the son of Count Gustav Adolf of Nassau-Saarbrücken and Countess Clara Eleanor of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein. He was born in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

, but was brought up by Wolfgang Julius of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein the brother of his mother, and continued his studies in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

, he served as an officer in the army of Emperor Leopold I. When his brother Louis Crato died in 1713 he took up the government in Nassau-Saarbrücken. That same year he married Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler, the daughter of his cousin Frederick Louis of Nassau-Ottweiler. During his reign, he promoted the industrialization of his country. In

Warndt The Warndt () is an extensive forest area of approximately including parts of the German Saarland and the French region Grand Est west of Saarbrücken. The geology of the Warndt is composed of Buntsandstein permeated by veins of iron ore and dep ...

he expanded the glass works, which had been established already under Louis II by settling

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

refugees. In Sulzbach, he built a new salt works in 1719 and a

graduation tower A graduation tower (occasionally referred to as a thorn house) is a structure, used in the production of salt, that removes water from a saline solution by evaporation, increasing its concentration of mineral salts. The tower consists of a wo ...

. He founded the town of Karlings (now: Carling), which was named after him. When his second cousin, Count George August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, died in 1721, he took up government in Nassau-Idstein-Wiesbaden, jointly with his cousin Frederick Louis of Nassau-Ottweiler. He moved briefly to Wiesbaden in 1722, but returned to Saarbrücken later that year, then moved to Idstein in 1723. He died there on 21 December 1723 and was buried in the chapel of Idstein. A plaque in the castle church in Saarbrücken refers to him. As both his sons died in infancy, the government of Nassau-Saarbrücken was inherited by father-in-law Frederick Louis of Nassau-Ottweiler.

Marriage and issue

Charles Louis married Christiane Charlotte of Nassau-Ottweiler, the daughter of his cousin Frederick Louis of Nassau-Ottweiler. They had two sons: * Charles Frederick (1718–1719) * Charles Louis (1720–1721)

References and sources

* * Albert Ruppersberg: ''Geschichte der Grafschaft Saarbrücken'', vol. 2, Saarbrücken, 2nd ed., 1910 (reprinted: St. Ingbert, 1979), pp. 195–203

External links

Entry in "Saarland biographies"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrucken Counts of Nassau House of Nassau 1665 births 1723 deaths 17th-century German people 18th-century German people Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken