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Charles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach

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Charles William Frederick
Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Portrat of Charles William Frederick
Born(1712-05-12)12 May 1712
Ansbach
Died3 August 1757(1757-08-03) (aged 45)
Gunzenhausen
SpousePrincess Friederike Luise of Prussia
IssueCharles, Hereditary Prince of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
HouseHohenzollern
FatherWilliam Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
MotherDuchess Christiane Charlotte of Württemberg

Charles William Frederick (German: Karl Wilhelm Friedrich; 12 May 1712 – 3 August 1757), nicknamed der Wilde Markgraf (the Wild Margrave), was the margrave of the Principality of Ansbach from 1723 to his death.

Early life

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Charles William Frederick was the son of William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1686–1723) and his wife Duchess Christiane Charlotte of Württemberg (1694–1729). During his youth, his mother ruled as regent.

Biography

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When he came to power, Charles William Frederick ruled as a typical absolute monarch with a luxurious court life. He left his heir Charles Alexander a total debt of 2.3 million Reichsthaler, and he spent 10% of the state budget on hunting. He had 56 churches and many palaces built, among them a building in Triesdorf for his falcons, his greatest passion, on which he spent more than a half million guilders between 1730 and 1748. His love of hunting, particularly with his falcons, is what earned him his nickname, the Wild Margrave.

Charles William Frederick died of a stroke on 3 August 1757.

Marriage and children

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Friederike Luise of Prussia

Charles William Frederick married Princess Friederike Luise of Prussia (1714–1784), sixth child and second surviving daughter of King Frederick William I of Prussia and his wife, Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.

They had two children:

He also had four children with his mistress Elisabeth Wünsch (1710-1757), a falconer's daughter. Both illegitimate sons, Friedrich Karl (1734–1796) and Friedrich Ferdinand Ludwig (1748–1811), and daughters Wilhelmine Eleonore (1743–1768) and Louise Charlotte (1746–1747) all married into the German nobility and received palaces and the hereditary titles Freiherren and Freiinen von Falkenhausen.[1]

Ancestors

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References

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Charles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Born: 12 May 1712 Died: 3 August 1757
Preceded by Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
1723–1757
Succeeded by