Friedrich Wilhelm
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Duke Friedrich Wilhelm
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
Reign25 March 1816 – 6 July 1825
PredecessorFriedrich Karl Ludwig
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Reign6 July 1825 – 17 February 1831
SuccessorKarl
Born(1785-01-04)4 January 1785
Lindenau near Königsberg, East Prussia, Prussia
Died17 February 1831(1831-02-17) (aged 46)
Gottorf Castle, Schleswig, Schleswig
SpousePrincess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel
Issue
Names
Frederick William Paul Leopold
Friedrich Wilhelm Paul Leopold (German)
HouseSchleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (until 1825) Glücksburg (from 1825)
FatherFriedrich Karl Ludwig, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
MotherCountess Friederike of Schlieben

Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Paul Leopold; Danish: Frederik Vilhelm Paul Leopold; 4 January 1785 – 17 February 1831)[1] was a German-Danish prince and officer who was the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck from 1816 to 1825, and the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg from 1825 to 1831. Friedrich Wilhelm is the progenitor of the House of Glücksburg and founded a line that includes the Royal Houses of Denmark, Greece, Norway, and the Commonwealth realms.

Friedrich Wilhelm was the only son of Friedrich Karl Ludwig, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck and Countess Friederike of Schlieben,[1] and was a member of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, a junior male branch of the House of Oldenburg. From 1804, he lived in his family's original home in Denmark-Norway, where he made a career as an officer of the Danish army during the Napoleonic Wars. His 1810 marriage to Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel meant that Friedrich Wilhelm became brother-in-law to King Frederick VI of Denmark, as his wife's elder sister was married to the king.[2] At the death of his father in 1816, he inherited the title of Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck as Frederick William IV, and in 1825, upon the extinciton of the elder Glücksburg line in 1824, King Frederick VI transferred Glücksburg Castle to his brother-in-law and changed his title to Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.[1]

Duke Friedrich Wilhelm and Duchess Louise Caroline had ten children, of which his eldest son Karl succeeded him as Duke of Glücksburg, and his fourth son became King of Denmark in 1863 as King Christian IX. His grandchildren include among others Frederik VIII of Denmark, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, George I of Greece, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, Crown Princess Thyra of Hanover, Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale, and Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

Early life

Birth and family

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm's childhood home, the manor house in Lindenau, photographed in 2008.

Friedrich Wilhelm was born on 4 January 1785 at the manor house in Lindenau, near the town of Braunsberg in East Prussia, the most northeastern province of the Kingdom of Prussia (today Lipowina in Poland).[3] He was the third and youngest child and only son of Friedrich Karl Ludwig, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1757–1816) and Countess Friederike of Schlieben (1757–1827).[3] He was baptized with the names Frederick William Paul Leopold[lower-alpha 1] and had his distant relative, Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (later King Frederick VI), as his godfather.

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm's father was the head of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, a junior male branch of the House of Oldenburg. The family descended from King Christian III of Denmark's younger son, John the Younger, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, whose grandson Duke August Philipp severed his ties with Denmark and emigrated to Germany. There he acquired the manor of Haus Beck in Westphalia, after which the lineage was named Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck.[4] His sons and their descendants went into Prussian, Polish and Russian service.[5] Most recently, both Friedrich Wilhelm's father and grandfather held important positions in the Royal Prussian Army.[2]

Childhood and education

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm grew up with his two sisters at Lindenau, where he received his first education at home.[2] In 1798, Wilhelm's father retired from his Prussian military service in Königsberg and settled in Leipzig to study for a few years.[3] At the same time, the thirteen year old Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was sent to the Knight academy in Brandenburg an der Havel where he received his education from 1798 to 1802, after which he studied at the University of Leipzig from 1803 under the supervision of the father.[6]

The Royal Horse Guards Barracks in Copenhagen in the 19th century.

Although Friedrich Wilhelm's ancestors had been in Prussian service, the father was no longer on good terms with the Prussian king due to some unfortunate dispositions, and therefore wanted to find career opportunities for his son elsewhere.[3] In 1804, his father sent him to the family's original home in Denmark-Norway. Already in 1803, the boy's godfather, Crown Prince Frederick, had appointed him rittmeister à la suite in the Royal Horse Guards and the following year he moved to Copenhagen where he was housed in the Royal Horse Guards Barracks by Frederiksholms Kanal in central Copenhagen.[7]

Military career

Subsequently, he made a career as an officer of the Danish army during the Napoleonic Wars. After just one year in Copenhagen, Friedrich Wilhelm was, at his own request, transferred to the Duchy of Holstein, where the Danish army maintained guard duty along the Danish monarchy's southern border. From 1805 to 1807, he served there as second rittmeiser in the Life Regiment Dragoons, where he took part in guarding the border and several times had the opportunity to demonstrate good military skills, especially in reconnaissance.[8]

Marriage

Friedrich Wilhelm's wife, Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel. Portrait by Carl Andreas August Goos, 1829 (Glücksburg Castle).

In 1809, Friedrich Wilhelm was appointed a major at the general staff of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and was quartered with the army's chief of staff, Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel, at Gottorp Castle. There, he met Prince Carl's youngest daughter and his distant relative, the twenty year old Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel (28 September 1789 – 13 March 1867), who was a granddaughter of Frederik V of Denmark through her mother, Princess Louise of Denmark. Friedrich Wilhelm and Louise Caroline were engaged in November 1809, and were married on 26 January 1810 in the chapel of Gottorp Castle.[1] The wedding was a quiet wartime wedding without the participation of Friedrich Wilhelm's parents or his godfather, King Frederick VI.

This marriage meant that Friedrich Wilhelm had now also become brother-in-law to King Frederick VI of Denmark, as his new wife's elder sister, Marie of Hesse-Kassel, was married to the king.[2] Friedrich Wilhelm and Louise Caroline had ten children.

Duke

Glücksburg Castle, seat of the eponymous ducal branches of the House of Oldenburg (2005).

On 25 March 1816, Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded his father as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck.[9] On 6 July 1825, King Frederick VI transferred Glücksburg Castle to his brother-in-law and changed his title to Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, after the elder Glücksburg line had become extinct in 1824.[9] Friedrich Wilhelm died just aged 46 on 17 February 1831 at Gottorp Castle.[1]

Legacy

Duke Friedrich Wilhelm is the progenitor of the House of Glücksburg and founded a line that includes the Royal Houses of Denmark, Greece, Norway, and the Commonwealth realms.

His grandchildren include among others Frederik VIII of Denmark, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, George I of Greece, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, Crown Princess Thyra of Hanover, Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale, and Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

Honours

Issue

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ↑ German: Friedrich Wilhelm Paul Leopold; Danish: Frederik Vilhelm Paul Leopold. In Germany he is usually known under the names Friedrich Wilhelm, whereas in Denmark he is usually just known under the name Vilhelm.[2][1]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rockstroh 1943, p. 586.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Tuxen 1904, p. 583.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Lohmeier 1987, p. 385.
  4. ↑ Bramsen 1992, p. 50.
  5. ↑ Bramsen 1992, p. 63.
  6. ↑ von Leers, Walter (1913). "778. Prinz von Holstein-Beck-Glücksburg, Friedrich Wilhelm Paul Leopold". Die Zöglinge der Ritterakademie zu Brandenburg a. H. 1705 – 1913 [The pupils of the Knight Academy in Brandenburg a. H. 1705 – 1913] (in German). Vol. I. Belzig, Ludwigslust: Verein der ehemaligen Zöglinge der Ritterakademie zu Brandenburg a. H. p. 152.
  7. ↑ Tuxen 1904, p. 583-584.
  8. ↑ Tuxen 1904, p. 584.
  9. 1 2 Rockstroh 1943, p. 588.
  10. 1 2 3 Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1829) [1st pub.:1801]. Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Stats-Calender for Aaret 1829 [Court and State Calendar of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1829] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p. 5, 8, 51. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via da:DIS Danmark.

Bibliography

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