Karl August Friedrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont (24 September 1704 – 29 August 1763) was

Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and ...

and commander of the Dutch forces in the

War of Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King George's War in Nort ...

Royal life and military career

Karl was the second son of

Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (; 27 November 16761 January 1728) was the first reigning Prince of Waldeck (state), Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1712 to 1728. He was the son of Christian Louis, Count of Waldeck and Countess Ann ...

and Countess Palatine Louise of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, youngest child of

Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld Christian II (22 June 1637 – 26 April 1717) was the Duke of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler from 1654, the Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from 1671, and the Count of Rappoltstein from 1673 until 1699. Life Christian was born in Bischwiller in 1637 ...

. In 1728 his father and his elder brother Christian Philip died, and so he became Prince of

Waldeck and Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and ...

. The Waldecks had a tradition of military service in the Dutch Army.

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck (31 January 1620 – 19 November 1692) was a German and Dutch Field Marshal and, for the last three years of his life, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg). In 1641, Waldeck ent ...

had already led the Dutch army in the

War of the Grand Alliance The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. In the War of Austrian Succession, Karl was appointed as commander of the Dutch Army by the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated i ...

, as counterbalance to

William IV, Prince of Orange William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso; 1 September 1711 – 22 October 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751. During his who ...

, who relied completely on his brother-in-law the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...

. The Dutch army under Waldeck's command was defeated in the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

, the

Battle of Rocoux The Battle of Rocoux took place on 11 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession, at Rocourt (or Rocoux), near Liège in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, now modern Belgium. It was fought between a French army under Marshal Saxe a ...

and the

Battle of Lauffeld The Battle of Lauffeld took place on 2 July 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fought between the towns of Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht, a French army of 80,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragma ...

. In 1746, Karl became Fieldmarshal of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

Marriage and children

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

, on 19 August 1741, Karl August married his first cousin

Countess Palatine Christiane Henriette of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld Christiane Henriette of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (16 November 1725, Ribeauvillé – 11 February 1816, Arolsen) was a Countess of Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld by birth and by marriage a Princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Life Chr ...

(1725–1816), daughter of

Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (Strassburg, 7 November 1674 – Zweibrücken, 3 February 1735) was a German nobleman. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, a cadet branch of the House of ...

. The couple had seven children: *Prince Charles of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1742–1756) *

Friedrich Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Friedrich Karl August (; 25 October 174324 September 1812) was Prince of Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1763 to 1812. Early life He was the second son of Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Countess Palatine Christiane Henriette of ...

(1743–1812) * Christian August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1744–1798), a Field Marshal in the Portuguese army *

George I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

(1747–1813); married Princess Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen * Princess Caroline of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1748–1782), married

Peter von Biron Peter von Biron (15 February 1724 – 13 January 1800) was the last duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1769 to 1795, when it was annexed by the Russian Empire. Life and reign Peter was born in Jelgava () as the oldest son of Ernst Johann ...

, last

Duke of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a duchy in the Baltic region, then known as Livonia, that existed from 1561 to 1569 as a nominal vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently made part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdo ...

* Princess Luise of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1751–1816), married

Frederick Augustus, Duke of Nassau Friedrich August, Duke of Nassau, Prince of Nassau-Usingen (23 April 1738 in Usingen – 24 March 1816 in Wiesbaden) was the last Prince of Nassau-Usingen and, jointly with his cousin, Friedrich Wilhelm of Nassau-Weilburg, first Duke of Nassau. ...

*Prince Louis of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1752–1793), killed in action near

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

Ancestry

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karl August Of Waldeck And Pyrmont, Prince 1704 births 1763 deaths People from Hanau Dutch generals Princes of the Holy Roman Empire Princes of Waldeck and Pyrmont Field marshals of Austria Dutch military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession House of Waldeck and Pyrmont Generals of the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Dutch military personnel