Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Rudolf August ( born May 16, 1627 Hitzacker; † January 26, 1704 in Hedwigsburg ) was Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg and from 1666 to his death, Prince of Brunswick- Wolfenbüttel.
Life
Rudolf August was the eldest son of the Duke August the Younger and Dorothea of Anhalt- Zerbst (1607-1634), daughter of Rudolf von Anhalt- Zerbst.
In 1666 he succeeded his father as Duke of Brunswick -Lüneburg and Prince of Brunswick- Wolfenbüttel. However, Rudolf August devoted himself more to his studies and hunting. He had to create a comprehensive library and had been appointed in 1663 by his father to " Jägermeister ". However, even before his accession, he proved that he wants to help the citizens. According to the regulations of him of 24 December 1660, he was free to Calvördern to obtain the necessary construction and firewood from the forest Calvörder.
In 1667, a year after he took office, he appointed his younger brother Anton Ulrich power-conscious ( 1633-1714 ) as governor. Rudolf August withdrew more and more from government transactions to which he left to his brother. 1671 succeeded Rudolf August and Anton Ulrich to occupy the city of Braunschweig after about three weeks of siege. Thus ended the era of the independent city of Braunschweig. In 1685 he appointed Anton Ulrich duke and equal co-regent.
In 1650 he married Countess Elisabeth Christiane of Barby ( 1634-1681 ). The couple had three daughters, one of whom died before their first birthday. To secure the family inheritance agreed the Dukes in 1681 the marriage of Rudolf August daughter Christine Sophie ( 1654-1695 ) with her cousin August Wilhelm ( 1662-1731 ), the son of Anton Ulrich. August Wilhelm therefore followed in 1714 his father Anton Ulrich, who in 1704, took over the sole rule after the death of Rudolf August.
Rudolf August himself married in the same year, on the 7th of June or July 7, 1681, a few weeks after the death of his first wife Christiane Elisabeth, in a morganatic marriage, and eighteen- year-old Elisabeth Rosine Menthe ( 1663-1701 ), daughter of a barber surgeon. The marriage remained childless.
During his thirty-eight reign of Rudolf August developed a construction boom. After 1671 he made a way through the Lechlumer wood between Wolfenbüttel and Braunschweig create, now a section of national road 79 This so-called " Stately Way" led as a " New Way ", parallel to the old trade route ( " Old Way " ), in a straight line from later summer residence Antoinettenruh about the baroque palace, the later " star House ", to the Great walk home in Stöckheim.
In the years 1695-1702 he let go of his fortress builder Caspar Peoples (1655-1730) built the Seesener Court and Castle Church of St. Andrew. Noteworthy are the lavish interiors, the organ and the excellent acoustics of the church.
For Rosine Elizabeth Duke was in 1695, the water castle in Vechelde in Braunschweig, probably by the architect Hermann basket ( 1656-1735 ), converted to a princely castle Vechelde.
His private library, the Bibliotheca Rudolphea, gave Rudolf August 1702, two years before his death, the University Library Helmstedt. He caused a significant enhancement of the Bibliotheca Julia.
Under the company name The, meditative, he was accepted as a member of the Fruitbearing society.
Rudolf August died on January 26, 1704 at his hunting lodge in Hedwigsburg, south of Wolfenbüttel.
Marriages and descendants
∞ 1 1650 Countess Christiane Elisabeth von Barby ( 1634-1681 ).
∞ 2 1681 Rosine Elisabeth Menthe ( 1663-1701 ), childless.