Ferdinand Albrecht II.
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Ferdinand Albrecht II., second son of Ferdinand Albrecht I. (1636-1687), was the first duke to rule in the principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from the branch line of Bevern. In 1712 Ferdinand Albrecht II. married Antoinette Amalia, the daughter of Ludwig Rudolph (1671-1735), the last duke from the line of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. With the death of Ludwig Rudolph in 1735, Ferdinand Albrecht II. succeeded his father-in-law in the rule of Wolfenbüttel. However, before Ferdinand Albrecht assumed the rule, he participated in the Turkish War as quartermaster from 1716-1717. Outside Belgrade, under the supreme command of prince Eugène of Savoy (1663-1736), he led twenty-two battalions of infantry and twenty-one companies of grenadiers to victory against the Turkish army. The emperor promoted Ferdinand Albrecht II. to general field marshal and governor of the fortress of Komorn at Pressburg. In the next year Ferdinand Albrecht became one of the most important assistants of prince Eugène. Ferdinand Albrecht won the trust of king Friedrich Wilhelm I. (1688-1740) of Prussia (soldier king), and from that resulted the famous Prussian-Brunswick marriage alliance. On the news of the death of his father-in-law, Ferdinand Albrecht resigned his position as imperial field marshal and in 1735 took up the rule as duke in the capital city of Wolfenbüttel. Just half a year later, duke Ferdinand Albrecht II. died surprisingly soon. At twenty-two years of age, his eldest son, duke Karl I. (1713-1780), took up the rule in the principality of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel.
--Adapted from the website, Die Welfen
Sources
- Römer, Christof. In the catalogue for the exhibition "Braunschweig - Bevern." Brunswick, 1997.
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