Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach (29 July 1661, in
Bayreuth
Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...
– 5 April 1708, in
Weferlingen), was a German prince and member of the
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...
and
nominal Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach.
Family
He was the fifth of the six children born to
Georg Albrecht of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach by his first wife, Princess Marie Elisabeth of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
Christian Heinrich was the fourth-born son, but was the first to survive to adulthood: His two older brothers, Christian Philipp (b. and d. 1653) and Georg Frederick (b. 1657 - d. 1658) died before his own birth, and the third but eldest who survived infancy, Erdmann Philipp, died after falling from his horse in 1678, aged nineteen. His younger brother - and with him, the two only children of his parents who survived to adulthood - Karl August, died unmarried and childless in 1731 aged sixty-eight. Between the older brothers, a short-living sister, Sophie Amalie, was born.
From his father's second marriage with Countess Sophie Marie of
Solms-Baruth, Christian Heinrich had a half-brother, Georg Albrecht, who was born three months after the death of his father in 1666.
Life
In 1694 he accepted the invitation of his kinsman, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, to move in with his family in the
Castle Schönberg, Ansbach
enclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...
in the Imperial City (German: ''Reichsstadt'') of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
. With a modest allowance and heavily indebted, Christian Heinrich signed, in 1703, the
Contract of Schönberg. Under the terms of this treaty, he renounced his succession rights over the Franconian estates of the House of Hohenzollern (the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth) in favour of Prussia. As a compensation of these renunciation, the King
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I (; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) List of margraves and electors of Brandenburg, Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg–Pr ...
secured the financial situation of Christian Heinrich and his family in Prussia and assigned to him as a new domicile the
Schloss Weferlingen near
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
. The following year (1704) he moved there with his family. Four years later he died in Weferlingen, aged forty-seven and three months before the birth of his last child.
After Christian Heinrich's death, his oldest son Georg Frederick Karl pursued the abolition of the Contract of Schönberg; only in 1722, after long and difficult discussions, did he finally recover the succession rights of his family to Bayreuth and Ansbach.
Marriage and children
In the
Castle Obersulzbürg on 14 August 1687, Christian Heinrich married Countess
Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein. They had fourteen children:
#
Georg Frederick Karl (b. Schloss Oberzulzbürg, 30 June 1688 – d. Bayreuth, 17 May 1735), who finally inherited Bayreuth in 1726.
#
Albert Wolfgang (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 8 December 1689 – killed in action, near Parma, 29 June 1734).
# Dorothea Charlotte (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 15 March 1691 – d. Weikersheim, 18 March 1712); married on 7 August 1711 to Karl Ludwig, Count of
Hohenlohe-Weikersheim.
# Frederick Emanuel (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 13 February 1692 – d. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 13 January 1693).
# Christiane Henriette (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 29 August 1693 – d. Schönberg, 19 May 1695).
# Frederick Wilhelm (b. Schönberg, 12 January 1695 – d. Schönberg, 13 May 1695).
# Christiane (b. and d. Schönberg, 31 October 1698).
# Christian August (b. Schönberg, 14 July 1699 – d. Schönberg, 29 July 1700).
#
Sophie Magdalene (b. Schönberg, 28 November 1700 – d. Christiansborg Castle, 27 May 1770);
married on 7 August 1721 to 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 of Denmark, Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's m ...
.
# Christine Wilhelmine (b. Schönberg, 17 June 1702 – d. Schönberg, 19 March 1704).
#
Frederick Ernest (b. Schönberg, 15 December 1703 – d. Schloss Friedrichsruhe in
Drage, 23 June 1762); married on 26 December 1731 to Duchess Christine Sophie of
Brunswick-Bevern. The union was childless.
# Marie Eleonore (b. Schönberg, 28 December 1704 – d. Schönberg, 4 June 1705).
#
Sophie Caroline (b. Weferlingen, 31 March 1705 – d. Sorgenfri Castle, 7 June 1764); married on 8 December 1723 to
George Albert, Prince of East Frisia.
#
Frederick Christian (b. posthumously, Weferlingen, 17 July 1708 – d. Bayreuth, 20 January 1769),
inherited Bayreuth in 1763.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach, Christian Heinrich Of
1661 births
1708 deaths
People from Bayreuth
Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
