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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Ancestors of Charles Alexander, Duke of Wurttemberg
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See also
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Notes
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Charles Alexander, Duke of Wurttemberg
Born:
24 January 1684
Died:
12 March 1737
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Regnal titles
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Preceded by
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imperial regent of
Kingdom of Serbia
1720?1733
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Succeeded by
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Preceded by
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Duke of Wurttemberg
-Stuttgart
1733?1737
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Succeeded by
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