![Carl Eugen von Pompeo Batoni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Carl_Eugen_von_Pompeo_Batoni.jpg)
Charles Eugene (German: ''Carl Eugen''; 11 February 1728 – 24 October 1793),
Duke of Württemberg
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
, was the eldest son, and successor, of
Charles Alexander; his mother was
Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis
, house = Thurn and Taxis
, father =Anselm Franz, 2nd Prince of Thurn and Taxis
, mother =Maria Ludovika Anna Franziska, Princess of Lobkowicz
, birth_date =
, birth_place =Frankfurt am Main, Hesse
, death_date =
, ...
.
Life
Born in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, he succeeded his father as ruler of Württemberg at the age of 9, but the real power was in the hands of ''Administrators''
Carl Rudolf, Duke of Württemberg-Neuenstadt (1737–1738) and
Carl Frederick von Württemberg-Oels (1738–1746).
He was educated at the court of
Frederick II of Prussia. In the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
against
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
, Charles Eugene advanced into
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
.
[ ''Brockhaus Geschichte'', Second Edition] He ruled until his death in 1793, when he was succeeded by his younger brother.
He was an early patron of
Friedrich Schiller. He also studied keyboard with
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
in the 1740s (Bach's "Württemberg" sonatas, published in 1744, were dedicated to Charles Eugene). In 1761, Charles Eugen founded an Académie des Arts in
Stuttgart (now the
State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart), in 1765 a public library in
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
(now the
Württembergische Landesbibliothek
The State Library of Württemberg (german: Württembergische Landesbibliothek or WLB) is a large library in Stuttgart, Germany, which traces its history back to the ducal public library of Württemberg founded in 1765. It holds c. 4 million vol ...
, Stuttgart), and he was responsible for the construction of a number of other key palaces and buildings in the area including the
New Palace which still stands at the centre of the
Schlossplatz,
Castle Solitude and
Castle Hohenheim.
Charles Eugene married twice, first in
Bayreuth on 26 September 1748 to
with whom he had one daughter, Friederike Wilhelmine Augusta Luise Charlotte, who was born in Stuttgart on 19 February 1750 and died after 13 months in Stuttgart on 12 March 1751. Elisabetha left Charles Eugene in 1756 to return to her parents' court in
Bayreuth although they never divorced. In the meantime, Charles Eugene kept a string of mistresses and fathered eleven children by them. The last of these mistresses was
Franziska von Hohenheim, whom he raised to the status of Countess and married in Stuttgart on 10 or 11 January 1785.
Charles Eugene was known for his interest in agriculture and travel and is considered the inspiration behind today's
Hohenheim
Hohenheim () is one of 18 outer quarters of the city of Stuttgart in the borough of Plieningen that sits on the Filder in central Baden-Württemberg. It was founded in 1782.
Geography
Hohenheim sits on the Filder, a large and fertile plateau i ...
university. His original botanical gardens form the basis for today's
Landesarboretum Baden-Württemberg
The Landesarboretum Baden-Württemberg (16.5 hectares) is a historic arboretum and part of the Hohenheim Gardens maintained by the University of Hohenheim, on Garbenstrasse in the Hohenheim district of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Th ...
and
Botanischer Garten der Universität Hohenheim, which still contain some of the specimens he planted. He also built a large number of palaces and bankrupted his lands through courtly extravagance, accepting huge French government loans in exchange for maintaining large numbers of support troops in Württemberg.
In his early years he ruled with an iron fist. However, he also displayed humanist tendencies. For example, in 1744 he ordered that the corpse of
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer (1698? – February 4, 1738) was a German Jewish banker and court Jew for Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg in Stuttgart. Throughout his career, Oppenheimer made scores of powerful enemies, some of whom conspired to b ...
– the executed Jewish financial advisor of his father,
Charles Alexander – whose decaying corpse had been suspended in an iron cage by Stuttgart's
Prag gallows for six years – be taken down and given a decent burial. He was also well known for his extensive library, his extravagant interest in opera, and interest in large scale horticulture for the feeding of the masses.
Between 1751 and 1759 Karl Eugen was involved in an increasingly bitter struggle with his adviser, the eminent
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
jurist
Johann Jakob Moser
Johann Jakob Moser (18 January 1701 – 30 September 1785) was a German jurist, publicist and researcher, whose work earned him the title "The Father of German Constitutional Law" and whose political commitment to the principles of Liberalism cau ...
who strongly opposed the Duke's
absolutist tendencies. In 1759 Charles Eugene had Moser charged with authoring "a subversive writing" and cast into prison for the next five years. However, in 1764 Moser was released, due in part to the intercession of
Friedrich the Great of Prussia, and was rehabilitated and restored to his position, rank and titles.
Charles Eugene died in
Hohenheim
Hohenheim () is one of 18 outer quarters of the city of Stuttgart in the borough of Plieningen that sits on the Filder in central Baden-Württemberg. It was founded in 1782.
Geography
Hohenheim sits on the Filder, a large and fertile plateau i ...
.
Charles Eugene made the first of his five trips to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and the
Palace of Versailles in 1748 with his first wife. He used these trips to sightsee and acquire Parisian goods for
Ludwigsburg Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...
while touring the workshops those goods were manufactured in. From 1776 Etienne Sollicoffre, a banker Charles Eugene had met in Paris, befriended the Duke and acted as the agent of his purchases in the city.
Mistresses and illegitimate issue
By an unknown mistress he had:
* Karoline (31 December 1755 – 14 May 1839), unmarried and without issue
By Luisa Toscani he had:
* Karl von Ostheim (1761 –
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
, 24 February 1793), unmarried and without issue
* Karl Alexander von Ostheim (31 December 1765 – after 1821), unmarried and without issue
By an unknown mistress he had:
* Charlotte (9 February 1762 – 31 August 1811), married 30 June 1783 Julius Friedrich von Lützow (? – 4 July 1833), without issue
By Teresa Bonafoni he had:
* Karl Bonafoni (2 July 1768 – 30 April 1769)
* Karl genannt Borel (18 May 1770 – before 1821), who committed suicide, unmarried and without issue
By
Anna Eleonora Franchi he had:
* Eugen Franchi (5 October 1768 – c. 1794), unmarried and without issue
* Eleonore Franchi, Freiin von Franquemont (17 January 1771 – 1833), married in 1792 Jean François Louis Marie
Albert Gaspard Grimod, Comte d'Orsay (15 June 1772 – 26 December 1843), and had issue
By an unknown mistress he had:
* Friedrich Wilhelm (? – 19 December 1790), unmarried and without issue
By Katharina Kurz he had:
* Karl=David von Franquemont (13 March 1769 – 20 July 1830), married firstly in May 1795 to a Freiin von Hügel, by whom he had a daughter, and married secondly in May 1795 to Luise Sophie Henriette von Jett (September 1783 – 24 January 1852), by whom he had a daughter:
** Charlotte Elisabeth Piron von Franquemont (1797–1868), who lived in
Ceylon and married Hendrik Rademaker, without issue
** Karoline Luise von Franquemont (
Samarang
Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between th ...
, 20 July 1800 –
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
, 3 April 1857), married on 21 October 1819 Johann von Raben (? – 18 November 1853), without issue
By Regina Monti he had:
* Friedrich, Graf von Franquemont (
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
, 5 March 1770 – 3 January 1842), unmarried and without issue, general and War minister.
Ancestry
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Eugene Of Wurttemberg, Duke
1728 births
1793 deaths
18th-century dukes of Württemberg
Nobility from Brussels
Wurttemberg
Hereditary Princes of Württemberg
Modern child rulers