George Albert (13 June 1690 – 11 June 1734) was a member of the family of the
Cirksena
The House of Cirksena was the ruling family of East Frisia (). They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel.
East Frisia
In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, the town of Emden was first ...
and was the fourth Prince of
East Frisia
East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...
. He ruled from 1708 to 1734.
Life
He was the second son of Prince
Christian Eberhard. On 24 September 1709, he married in Idstein his first wife, Princess Christine Louise of
Nassau-Idstein (31 March 1691 – 13 April 1723), daughter of
George August, Prince of Nassau-Idstein. They had five children:
* George Christian (13 October 1710 – 28 April 1711).
* Henriette Charlotte (23 October 1711 – 29 October 1711).
* Charles Christian (4 January 1715 – 14 Jan 1715).
*
Charles Edzard (18 June 1716 – 25 May 1744).
* Henriette Auguste Wilhelmine (22 April 1718 – 21 April 1719).
East Frisia was hit hard by the
Christmas flood of 1717
The Christmas Flood of 1717 was the result of a northwesterly storm, which hit the coast area of the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia on Christmas night of 1717. In total, about 14,000 people drowned.
It was the last large storm flood in t ...
: 2,752 people drowned and large tracts of land were devastated.
Christine Louise died on 13 April 1723; on 8 December of that year, in
Berum, George Albert married his second wife,
Sophie Caroline, daughter of
Christian Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. She received from George Albert the manor in the
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
Carolinengroden as a present. She drew revenues from it until her death in 1764.
During George Albert's rule the old conflict between the Prince and a part of the
Estates escalated into the so-called ''
Appeal War'' of 1726–1727. The Estates were in divided into a ''obedient'' and a ''renitent'' faction; the former sided with the Prince; the latter raised troops to fight him. George Albert emerged victorious from this conflict. Even the city of Emden, which had led the renitent faction, submitted to him. However, due to the poor negotiating skills of George Albert's Chancellor
Enno Rudolph Brenneysen, no peace could be agreed between the warring factions. The Chancellor and the Prince demanded that the rebels be punished harshly, but in 1732, they were pardoned by the Emperor.
When Prince George Albert died on 11 June 1734, his son
Charles Edzard, took office at the age of 18. Charles Edzard was the George Albert's last surviving descendant. He could not resolve the conflicts with the Estates, either.
Legacy
In 1715, George Albert issued the world's first Stallion Inspection Regulation.
In 1729-1730 Prince George Albert built a port at
Carolinensiel,
[A ''siel'' is a kind of lock with a single set of doors; it was used to maintain a constant water level in the dock, allowing the water of the river Harle to flow out into the North Sea at low tide, without letting the North Sea water into the ]polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
at high tide. now a museum harbor. The port was named after his second wife, Sophie Caroline.
In an attempt to keep
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
under control, George Albert forbade
ball shooting matches on 9 February 1731. He sharply condemned the "disorders, excessive drinking, eating, solding, swearing, cursing and severe beatings" that often occurred at ball shooting matches. This, too, stressed the relationship between the prince and his subjects.
Ancestors
Footnotes
References and sources
* Martin Jhering: ''Hofleben in Ostfriesland. Die Fürstenresidenz Aurich im Jahre 1728'', Hannover, 2005
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:George Albert, Prince of East Frisia
Princes of East Frisia
1690 births
1734 deaths