Heinrich von Brühl
Encyclopedia
Heinrich, count von Brühl (August 13, 1700 – October 28, 1763), was a German
statesman at the court of Saxony
and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The incumbency of the ambitious politician went along with the decline of both states.
the son of Johann Moritz von Brühl, a noble who held the office of the Oberhofmarschall
at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels
, ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin. His father was ruined and compelled to part with his family estate, which passed into the hands of the prince. Under Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels
von Brühl was first placed as page
with the dowager
duchess, and was then received at her recommendation into the court of Electoral Saxony at Dresden
as a Silberpage on April 16, 1719. He rapidly acquired the favour of the Elector Frederick Augustus I of Wettin
, surnamed the Strong, who, in 1697, had been elected King of Poland (as Augustus II). Brühl was largely employed in procuring money for his extravagant master. He became Chief Receiver of Taxes and Minister of the Interior of Saxony in 1731.
He was at Warsaw
when his master died in 1733, and obtained the confidence of the Electoral Prince Frederick Augustus II
, who was at Dresden at the time, by acquiring the papers and jewels of his late father and bringing them promptly to his successor. Von Brühl raised money to secure the election of Frederick Augustus II as Polish king (Augustus III the Saxon), who in the following War of the Polish Succession
prevailed against his rival Stanisław Leszczyński.
During most of the thirty years of the ineffective reign of August III the Saxon, he was the major confidant of the king and the de facto head of the Saxon court. For a time he had to acquiesce to the influence of old servants of the electoral house, but after 1738 he was in effect sole minister, a position for which he actually had neither the skills nor the knowledge. The title of a Prime Minister was created for him in 1746, but as a classic court favourite
his power extended beyond that office. Besides securing huge grants of land for himself, he acquired numerous titles, and he drew the combined salaries of these offices. He also worked closely with Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk of Kraków.
Brühl had cunning and skill sufficient to govern his master and get rid of his rivals and succeeded in keeping everybody at a distance from the king. No servant entered the king's service without the consent of Brühl, and even when the king went to the chapel all approach to him was prevented. A typical interaction of the king with Brühl has the king loitering about smoking, and asking, without looking at his favorite, “Brühl, have I any money?” “Yes, sire,” was the continual answer, and to satisfy the king's demands, Brühl exhausted the state, plunged the country into debts and greatly reduced the army.
Brühl kept 200 domestics; his guards were better paid than those of the king himself, and his table more sumptuous. Frederick II said of him, “Brühl had more garments, watches, laces, boots, shoes and slippers, than any man of the age. Caesar would have counted him among those curled and perfumed heads which he did not fear.”
of 1756 and the convergence of Habsburg and France
. However he was wholly responsible for a ruinous fiscal policy which decisively weakened the position of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire
between 1733 and 1763; for the mistaken ambition which led Frederick Augustus II to become a candidate for the throne of Poland, which led to a civil war
and did sustainable damage to the Polish sovereignty; for the engagements into which he entered in order to secure the support of Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg
; for the shameless and ill-timed tergiversations of Saxony during the War of the Austrian Succession
; for the intrigues which entangled the Electorate in the alliance against King Frederick II of Prussia
, which led to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War
; and for the waste and want of foresight which left the bankrupt country utterly unprepared to resist the immediate attack of the Prussian
king.
At the beginning of the Seven Years' War the Saxon army comprised but 17,000 men. After a few weeks, the decimated army, under Frederick Augustus Rutowsky
, was compelled to surrender at Pirna
from want of the necessary supplies. The army was dissolved, while Saxony remained a war theatre.
Brühl was not only without political or military capacity, but was so garrulous that he could not keep a secret. His indiscretion was repeatedly responsible for the king of Prussia's discoveries of the plans laid against him. Nothing could shake the confidence of his master, which survived the ignominious flight into Bohemia
, into which he was trapped by Brühl at the time of the Battle of Kesseldorf, and all the miseries of the Seven Years' War. They fled with the pictures and the china, but the archives of the state were left to the victor.
The favourite abused the confidence of his master shamelessly. Not content with the 67,000 talers a month which he drew as salary for his innumerable offices, he was found when an inquiry was held in the next reign to have abstracted more than five million talers of public money for his private use. He left the work of the government offices to be done by his lackeys, whom he did not even supervise.
caused an inquiry to be held into his administration. His fortune including large palaces at Pförten
(present-day Brody), Oberlichtenau
and Wachau
-Seifersdorf was found to amount to a million and a half talers, and was sequestered but afterwards restored to his family.
The inquiry showed that Brühl owed his immense fortune to the prodigality of the king rather than to unlawful means of accumulation.
His profusion was often beneficial to the arts and sciences.
In 1736 the architect Johann Christoph Knöffel had begun to build a city palace and terrace for the count on the bank of the Elbe in the heart of Dresden. This was originally called "Brühl's Garden" and is today known as Brühl's Terrace
. The Brühl Palace
at Warsaw
was rebuilt according to the designs by Joachim Daniel von Jauch
from 1754 to 1759.
Brühl was a dedicated collector and protector of the arts - Francesco Algarotti
called him a Maecenas. He owned a large gallery of pictures, which was bought by Empress Catherine II of Russia
in 1768, and his library of 70,000 volumes was one the biggest private libraries in the Holy Roman Empire
.
and married the countess Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska, a favourite of the wife of Frederick Augustus. Four sons and a daughter survived him. His eldest son, Alois Friedrich von Brühl
, was also a Saxon politician, and a soldier and dramatist as well. His youngest son, Hans Moritz von Brühl (1746-1811), was before the Revolution of 1789
a colonel in the French service
, and afterwards general inspector of roads in Brandenburg
and Pomerania
. By his wife Margarethe Schleierweber, the daughter of a French corporal, and renowned for her beauty and intellectual gifts, he was the father of Carl von Brühl
who as intendant-general of the Prussian royal theatres was of some importance in the history of the development of the drama in Germany. Another granddaughter was Marie von Brühl
, who married Carl von Clausewitz
.
Heinrich von Brühl also had a nephew named Hans Moritz von Brühl
, the same as that of his youngest son. The nephew was a diplomat and astronomer, and lived much of his life in England
.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
statesman at the court of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The incumbency of the ambitious politician went along with the decline of both states.
Career
Heinrich was born in GangloffsömmernGangloffsömmern
Gangloffsömmern is a municipality in the Sömmerda district of Thuringia, Germany....
the son of Johann Moritz von Brühl, a noble who held the office of the Oberhofmarschall
Hofmarschall
The Hofmarschall was the administrative official in charge of a princely German court, supervising all its economic affairs....
at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels
Saxe-Weissenfels
Saxe-Weissenfels was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656/7 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony upon the extinction of the line....
, ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin. His father was ruined and compelled to part with his family estate, which passed into the hands of the prince. Under Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels
Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels
Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels , was a duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and member of the House of Wettin....
von Brühl was first placed as page
Page (servant)
A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
with the dowager
Dowager
A dowager is a widow who holds a title or property, or dower, derived from her deceased husband. As an adjective, "Dowager" usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles....
duchess, and was then received at her recommendation into the court of Electoral Saxony at Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
as a Silberpage on April 16, 1719. He rapidly acquired the favour of the Elector Frederick Augustus I of Wettin
Augustus II the Strong
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....
, surnamed the Strong, who, in 1697, had been elected King of Poland (as Augustus II). Brühl was largely employed in procuring money for his extravagant master. He became Chief Receiver of Taxes and Minister of the Interior of Saxony in 1731.
He was at Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
when his master died in 1733, and obtained the confidence of the Electoral Prince Frederick Augustus II
Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
, who was at Dresden at the time, by acquiring the papers and jewels of his late father and bringing them promptly to his successor. Von Brühl raised money to secure the election of Frederick Augustus II as Polish king (Augustus III the Saxon), who in the following War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
prevailed against his rival Stanisław Leszczyński.
During most of the thirty years of the ineffective reign of August III the Saxon, he was the major confidant of the king and the de facto head of the Saxon court. For a time he had to acquiesce to the influence of old servants of the electoral house, but after 1738 he was in effect sole minister, a position for which he actually had neither the skills nor the knowledge. The title of a Prime Minister was created for him in 1746, but as a classic court favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
his power extended beyond that office. Besides securing huge grants of land for himself, he acquired numerous titles, and he drew the combined salaries of these offices. He also worked closely with Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk of Kraków.
Brühl had cunning and skill sufficient to govern his master and get rid of his rivals and succeeded in keeping everybody at a distance from the king. No servant entered the king's service without the consent of Brühl, and even when the king went to the chapel all approach to him was prevented. A typical interaction of the king with Brühl has the king loitering about smoking, and asking, without looking at his favorite, “Brühl, have I any money?” “Yes, sire,” was the continual answer, and to satisfy the king's demands, Brühl exhausted the state, plunged the country into debts and greatly reduced the army.
Brühl kept 200 domestics; his guards were better paid than those of the king himself, and his table more sumptuous. Frederick II said of him, “Brühl had more garments, watches, laces, boots, shoes and slippers, than any man of the age. Caesar would have counted him among those curled and perfumed heads which he did not fear.”
Politics
Brühl was a capable diplomat, who played a vital role in the Diplomatic RevolutionDiplomatic Revolution
The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 is a term applied to the reversal of longstanding diplomatic alliances which were upheld until the War of the Austrian Succession and then reversed in the Seven Years' War; the shift has also been known as "the great change of partners"...
of 1756 and the convergence of Habsburg and France
Early Modern France
Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...
. However he was wholly responsible for a ruinous fiscal policy which decisively weakened the position of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
between 1733 and 1763; for the mistaken ambition which led Frederick Augustus II to become a candidate for the throne of Poland, which led to a civil war
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
and did sustainable damage to the Polish sovereignty; for the engagements into which he entered in order to secure the support of Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
; for the shameless and ill-timed tergiversations of Saxony during the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
; for the intrigues which entangled the Electorate in the alliance against King Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, which led to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
; and for the waste and want of foresight which left the bankrupt country utterly unprepared to resist the immediate attack of the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
king.
At the beginning of the Seven Years' War the Saxon army comprised but 17,000 men. After a few weeks, the decimated army, under Frederick Augustus Rutowsky
Frederick Augustus Rutowsky
Frederick Augustus, Count Rutowsky , was a Saxon Field Marshal who commanded Saxon forces in the Siege of Pirna during the Seven Years War.-Early years:...
, was compelled to surrender at Pirna
Pirna
Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...
from want of the necessary supplies. The army was dissolved, while Saxony remained a war theatre.
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, into which he was trapped by Brühl at the time of the Battle of Kesseldorf, and all the miseries of the Seven Years' War. They fled with the pictures and the china, but the archives of the state were left to the victor.
The favourite abused the confidence of his master shamelessly. Not content with the 67,000 talers a month which he drew as salary for his innumerable offices, he was found when an inquiry was held in the next reign to have abstracted more than five million talers of public money for his private use. He left the work of the government offices to be done by his lackeys, whom he did not even supervise.
Legacy
Brühl died at Dresden on 28 October 1763, having survived his master only for a few weeks. The new elector, Frederick ChristianFrederick Christian, Elector of Saxony
Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony was the Prince-Elector of Saxony for less than three months in 1763...
caused an inquiry to be held into his administration. His fortune including large palaces at Pförten
Brody, Zary County
Brody is a village in Żary County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, close to the German border. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Brody. It lies approximately north-west of Żary and west of Zielona Góra...
(present-day Brody), Oberlichtenau
Oberlichtenau
Oberlichtenau is a village and a former municipality in the district of Bautzen, near Chemnitz in Saxony. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the town Pulsnitz.-General history:...
and Wachau
Wachau, Saxony
Wachau is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany....
-Seifersdorf was found to amount to a million and a half talers, and was sequestered but afterwards restored to his family.
The inquiry showed that Brühl owed his immense fortune to the prodigality of the king rather than to unlawful means of accumulation.
His profusion was often beneficial to the arts and sciences.
In 1736 the architect Johann Christoph Knöffel had begun to build a city palace and terrace for the count on the bank of the Elbe in the heart of Dresden. This was originally called "Brühl's Garden" and is today known as Brühl's Terrace
Brühl's Terrace
Brühl's Terrace is a historic architectural ensemble in Dresden, Germany. Nicknamed "The Balcony of Europe", the terrace stretches high above the shore of the river Elbe in a city which is quite large as measured by area relative to its half a million inhabitants...
. The Brühl Palace
Brühl Palace, Warsaw
The Brühl Palace , otherwise known as Sandomierski Palace standing at Piłsudski Square. It was a large palace and one of the most beautiful rococo buildings in pre-World War II Warsaw.-History:...
at Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
was rebuilt according to the designs by Joachim Daniel von Jauch
Joachim Daniel von Jauch
Joachim Daniel von Jauch was a German architect who supervised the baroque development of the city of Warsaw.-Early life and work:...
from 1754 to 1759.
Brühl was a dedicated collector and protector of the arts - Francesco Algarotti
Francesco Algarotti
Count Francesco Algarotti was an Italian philosopher and art critic.He also completed engravings.He was born in Venice to a rich merchant. He studied at Rome for a year, and then Bologna, he studied natural sciences and mathematics...
called him a Maecenas. He owned a large gallery of pictures, which was bought by Empress Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
in 1768, and his library of 70,000 volumes was one the biggest private libraries in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
.
Family
In 1736 Brühl had received the title of a Saxon ReichsgrafGraf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
and married the countess Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska, a favourite of the wife of Frederick Augustus. Four sons and a daughter survived him. His eldest son, Alois Friedrich von Brühl
Alois Friedrich von Brühl
Alois Friedrich von Brühl was a Polish-Saxon diplomat, politician, Freemason, soldier, actor and playwright.-Biography:He was the eldest son of minister Heinrich von Brühl, one of the advisors to King August II of Poland...
, was also a Saxon politician, and a soldier and dramatist as well. His youngest son, Hans Moritz von Brühl (1746-1811), was before the Revolution of 1789
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
a colonel in the French service
Military of France
The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force and the National Gendarmerie. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title "chef des armées" . The President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who...
, and afterwards general inspector of roads in Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
and Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
. By his wife Margarethe Schleierweber, the daughter of a French corporal, and renowned for her beauty and intellectual gifts, he was the father of Carl von Brühl
Carl von Brühl
Carl Friedrich Moritz Paul von Brühl was a friend of Goethe, who, as intendant-general of the Prussian royal theatres, was of some importance in the history of the development of the drama in Germany.-Family:...
who as intendant-general of the Prussian royal theatres was of some importance in the history of the development of the drama in Germany. Another granddaughter was Marie von Brühl
Marie von Brühl
Marie Sophie Gräfin von Brühl was a member of the German von Brühl noble family originating in Thuringia....
, who married Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz
Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier and German military theorist who stressed the moral and political aspects of war...
.
Heinrich von Brühl also had a nephew named Hans Moritz von Brühl
Hans Moritz von Brühl
Hans Moritz von Brühl was a German diplomat and astronomer, resident for much of his life in London, where he was known as John Maurice, Count of Brühl.-Life:...
, the same as that of his youngest son. The nephew was a diplomat and astronomer, and lived much of his life in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
See also
- Nicholas RepninNicholas RepninPrince Nikolai Vasilyevich Repnin was an Imperial Russian statesman and general from the Repnin princely family who played a key role in the dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.- Rule of Poland :...
- Count Wenzel Anton Kaunitz-Rietberg
- BrühlBrühl-Places and locations:Germany* Brühl * Brühl * Brühl , a street in LeipzigPoland* Brühl Palace, Warsaw-People:* Alois Friedrich von Brühl , a Polish-Saxon diplomat, politician, soldier, actor and playwright...