Duke William Frederick Philip of Württemberg (27 December 1761, in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

– 10 August 1830, in Schloss von Stetten im Remstal) was a prince of the

House of Württemberg The House of Württemberg is an uradel, ancient German nobility, German dynasty and former royal family of the Kingdom of Württemberg. History County The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors ...

and a minister for war.

Early life

William was the fourth son of

Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (21 January 1732 – 23 December 1797) was the fourth son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis. He was born in Stuttgart. From 1795 until 1797, he was Duke ...

and Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt, eldest daughter of

Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt Frederick William of Brandenburg-Schwedt (17 November 1700 – 4 March 1771) was a German nobleman. In his lifetime, from 1711 to 1771, he held the titles Prince in Prussia and Margrave of Brandenburg, with the style Royal Highness. He was made ...

and

Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia (; 25 January 1719 – 13 November 1765) was the ninth child and fifth daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. By marriage, she was a Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt. ...

, a niece of

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

Military career

In 1779 he joined the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army (; ; ) is the land-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods ...

and quickly rose to the rank of

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

. In 1781 he commanded his own regiment, being promoted to major general in 1783, moved to the Danish Foot Guards in 1785 and promoted to lieutenant general in 1795. In 1801 he became governor of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and later the same year faced the Battle of Copenhagen in that role. In 1806 he paid 10,000

Reichstaler The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for the ...

to leave the Danish army. His brother

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

had just been made king of Württemberg and in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

made William a field marshal and Württemberg's minister for war. From 1810 to 1821 William temporarily lived in his manor house at

Hirrlingen Hirrlingen is a municipality in the district of Tübingen (district), Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Hirrlingen is located about 15 kilometers southwest from Tübingen. Geography Geographic location Hirrlingen is located roug ...

near Rottenburg but more often in the Schloss Stetten in Remstal. On 29 June 1811 he took on Freiherr

Friedrich von Phull Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

as vice-president of the War Department (and de facto Minister for War, though William remained minister de jure until 1815). In 1815, on leaving office, William shifted to studying science and successfully practised as a physician. In 1817 the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

awarded him an honorary degree in medicine. As a member of the royal

, William also held a seat in the House of Lords (Kammer der Standesherren) of the Württembergische Landstände parliament from 1819 to his death in 1830.

Marriage and issue

On 23 August 1800, in Coswig, Frederick married one of his mother's

ladies in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but o ...

, Wilhelmine Freiin von Tunderfeldt-Rhodis (1777–1822), the daughter of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Karl August Wilhelm von Tunderfeldt-Rhodis (1746-1802) and his wife, ''Therese'' Wilhelmine Henriette, Baroness Schilling von Cannstatt (1745-1795). By birth, Wilhelmine was a member of an aristocratic military family from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, originally belonging to the

Baltic-German nobility Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

. The couple had six children, only three of whom reached adulthood: * Count Alexander of Württemberg (1801–1844), poet; married Countess Helene Festetics von Tolna (1812–1886), daughter of Count Ladislas Festetics von Tolna (1785-1846) and his wife, Princess Josephine Maria von

Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen () was a small principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the House of Hohenzollern#Swabian branch, Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern dynasty. History The County of Hohenzollern- ...

(1791-1856). * Count August of Württemberg (1805–1808) *

Wilhelm, Duke of Urach Count Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand of Württemberg, 1st Duke of Urach (6 July 1810 – 17 July 1869), was the son of William Frederick Philip, Duke of Württemberg, Duke Wilhelm of Württemberg (1761–1830), younger brother of Frederic ...

, Count of Württemberg (1810–1869); married firstly Princess Théodolinde of Leuchtenberg (1814–1857). He married secondly

Princess Florestine of Monaco Princess Florestine Gabrielle Antoinette of Monaco (22 October 1833 – 4 April 1897) was the younger child and only daughter of Florestan I, Prince of Monaco, and his wife, Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz. Florestine was a member of the Hous ...

(1833–1897) and had issue from both marriages. * Count Friedrich August of Württemberg (1811–1812) * Count Franz of Württemberg (1814–1824) * Countess Marie of Württemberg (1815–1866); married Count Wilhelm von Taubenheim (1805–1894) and had issue - three daughters and one son. Since this was a

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

marriage, on 1 August 1801 William renounced his descendants' claim to the throne of Württemberg. This had an effect in 1921, on the death of

William II of Württemberg William II (; 25 February 1848 – 2 October 1921) was the last King of Württemberg. He ruled from 6 October 1891 until the dissolution of the kingdom on 30 November 1918. He was the last German ruler to abdicate in the wake of the November Rev ...

, when his descendants were excluded from inheriting. However, by then the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

had itself been superseded.

Ancestry

Honours

* Grand Cross of the

Order of the Württemberg Crown Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

Königlich Württembergisches Hof- und Staatshandbuch 1824'', S. 8 * Grand Cross of the Württemberg Military Merit Order * 1803 Knights' Cross of the Danish

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

* Grand Cross of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Bibliography

* Wolfgang Schmierer: ''Wilhelm, Herzog von Württemberg'', in Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens,

Volker Press Volker Press (1939 – 1993) was a German historian. Life and career Volker Press studied history and English studies, English from 1957 to 1965 at the University of Munich. He completed his doctorate in 1966 with Friedrich Hermann Schubert with ...

eds. ''Das Haus Württemberg: Ein biographisches Lexikon.'' Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1997, , S. 380 f. * Frank Raberg: ''Biographisches Handbuch der württembergischen Landtagsabgeordneten 1815–1933''.

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-la ...

, Stuttgart 2001, S. 1050 f.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:William Frederick Philip, Duke Of Wurttemberg 1761 births 1830 deaths People from Szczecin People from the Province of Pomerania William Frederick Philip Danish army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars German Lutherans Sons of dukes Ministers of war of Württemberg Danish generals