Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg

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Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (11 February 1728 – 24 October 1793) was the eldest son of Duke Karl I Alexander and Maria Augusta Anna of Thurn and Taxis (11 August 1706 – 1 February 1756).

[edit] Maternal ancestry

His maternal grandparents were Anselm Franz, Fürst of Thurn und Taxis (30 January 1681 – 8 November 1739) and Maria Ludovika Anna von Lobkowicz (20 October 1683 – 20 January 1750). Maria Ludovika was daughter of Ferdinand August Leopold von Lobkowicz zu Sagan and Maria Anna Wilhelmine of Baden-Baden.

Maria Anna was a daughter of Wilhelm, Marquess of Baden-Baden (1593 - 1677) and Maria Magdalena von Oetingen-Baldern (c. 1619 - 1688). Her paternal grandparents were Edward Fortunatus of Baden (1565 - 1600) and Maria, Baroness of Eicken (c. 1569 - 1636).

Edward was a son of Christoph, Marquess of Baden-Rodemachern (1537 - 1575) and Cecilia of Sweden. (1540 - 1627).

[edit] Life

Born in Brussels, 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 against Prussia Karl Eugen advanced into Saxony.^[1] He ruled until his death in 1793, when he was succeeded by his younger brother.

He was an early patron^{[citation needed]} of Friedrich Schiller. In 1765, Karl Eugen founded a public library in Ludwigsburg (now the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart) and 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 Schlossplatz, Castle Solitude and Castle Hohenheim.

Karl Eugen married twice, first to Elisabeth Fredericka Sophie of Brandenburg-Bayreuth with whom he had one daughter who died after 13 months. Elisabetha left Karl Eugen in 1756 to return to her parents' court in Bayreuth although they never divorced. In the meantime Karl Eugen had fathered 11 children through a string of "mistresses", the last of whom, Franziska of Hohenheim he raised to the status of Countess. She became his second wife in 1785.

Karl Eugen was known for his interest in agriculture and travel and is considered the inspiration behind today's Hohenheim university. His original botanical gardens form the basis for today's Landesarboretum Baden-Württemberg 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. For example in 1744 he ordered that the corpse of his father's executed financial advisor - Joseph Süß Oppenheimer - be suspended in an iron cage as a warning to others. The decaying corpse was suspended by Stuttgart's Prag gallows for six years.

Karl Eugen died in Hohenheim.

[edit] References

1. ^ (German) Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition

Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg House of Württemberg Born: 11 February 1728 Died: 24 October 1793
Regnal titles
Preceded by Karl Alexander	Duke of Württemberg 1737-1793	Succeeded by Ludwig Eugen