Duke of Wurttemberg from 1733 to 1737
Charles Alexander of Wurttemberg
(24 January 1684 ? 12 March 1737) was a
Wurttemberg
Duke
from 1698 who governed the
Kingdom of Serbia
as regent from 1720 until 1733, when he assumed the position of
Duke of Wurttemberg
, which he held until his death.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Stuttgart
, he was the eldest son of
Frederick Charles, Duke of Wurttemberg-Winnental
and his wife,
Margravine Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach
.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
He succeeded his father as Duke of
Wurttemberg-Winnental
in 1698. As a successful army-commander in service of the
Holy Roman Emperor
, he had converted to
Roman Catholicism
in 1712. He was militarily successful under
Prince Eugene of Savoy
in the
Spanish War of Succession
as well as in the
Ottoman?Venetian War
. In 1719 he was appointed imperial governor of
Belgrade
.
In 1720 Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI
appointed him governor of the
Kingdom of Serbia
in Belgrade. While in this post he married
Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis
(1706?56) in 1727; they had 4 children.
After 13 years of autocratically ruling over Serbia, in 1733 Charles Alexander inherited the
Duchy of Wurttemberg
from his cousin,
Eberhard Louis
. As Duke of Wurttemberg he moved the court back from
Ludwigsburg
to the nearby capital of
Stuttgart
. He ruled over the Duchy until his sudden death in 1737, and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son,
Charles Eugene
.
During his reign, he employed as his financier the ill-fated
Joseph Suss Oppenheimer
, who was executed in 1738 for abuse of office during the reign of the duke.
Family
[
edit
]
In 1727, he married
Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis
(1706?1756). They had 6 children:
King
Charles III
is his descendant through his great-grandmother
Mary of Teck
.
In literature and film
[
edit
]
Although the story of Duke Karl Alexander and Joseph Suß Oppenheimer constituted a relatively obscure episode in German history, it became the subject of a number of literary and dramatic treatments over the course of more than a century; the earliest of these having been
Wilhelm Hauff
's 1827 novella, titled
Jud Suß
.
[2]
The most successful literary adaptation was
Lion Feuchtwanger
's 1925
novel
titled
Jud Suß
based on a play that he had written in 1916 but subsequently withdrew.
Ashley Dukes
and
Paul Kornfeld
also wrote dramatic adaptations of the Feuchtwanger novel. In 1934,
Lothar Mendes
directed "
Jew Suss
", a film adaptation of the novel. The role of Karl Alexander was played by
Frank Vosper
.
[3]
Charles Alexander and his relationship with Oppenheimer is fictionally portrayed in
Veit Harlan
's 1940 Nazi propaganda film titled
Jud Suß
. He is portrayed by
Heinrich George
.
Although inspired by the historical details of Suß's life, Hauff's novella, Feuchtwanger's novel, and Harlan's film only loosely correspond to the historical sources available at the Landesarchiv Baden-Wurttemberg.
Ancestors
[
edit
]
Ancestors of Charles Alexander, Duke of Wurttemberg
|
---|
|
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Charles Alexander, Duke of Wurttemberg
Born:
24 January 1684
Died:
12 March 1737
|
Regnal titles
|
Preceded by
|
imperial regent of
Kingdom of Serbia
1720?1733
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Duke of Wurttemberg
-Stuttgart
1733?1737
|
Succeeded by
|
|
---|
|
1st generation
| |
---|
2nd generation
| |
---|
3rd generation
| |
---|
4th generation
| |
---|
5th generation
| |
---|
6th generation
| |
---|
7th generation
| |
---|
8th generation
| |
---|
9th generation
| |
---|
10th generation
| |
---|
11th generation
| |
---|
12th generation
| |
---|
13th generation
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|