Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach (29 July 1661, in

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital o ...

– 5 April 1708, in

Weferlingen Weferlingen is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Low ...

), was a German prince and member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

and nominal Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach.

Family

He was the fifth of the six children born to

Georg Albrecht of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Georg Albrecht of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (Bayreuth, 20 March 1619 – Schretz, 27 September 1666), was a German prince and member of the House of Hohenzollern. He was the eighth of the nine children of Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, ...

-Kulmbach by his first wife, Princess Marie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Christian Heinrich was the fourth-born son, but was the first to survive to adulthood: His two older brothers, Christian Philipp (b. and d. 1653) and Georg Frederick (b. 1657 - d. 1658) died before his own birth, and the third but eldest who survived infancy, Erdmann Philipp, died after falling from his horse in 1678, aged nineteen. His younger brother - and with him, the two only children of his parents who survived to adulthood - Karl August, died unmarried and childless in 1731 aged sixty-eight. Between the older brothers, a short-living sister, Sophie Amalie, was born. From his father's second marriage with Countess Sophie Marie of

Solms-Baruth Solms-Baruth was a Lower Lusatian state country, from 16th century until 1945. History The House of Solms had its origins at Solms, Hesse, and ruled several of the many minor states of the Holy Roman Empire. These lost their independence in the ...

, Christian Heinrich had a half-brother, Georg Albrecht, who was born three months after the death of his father in 1666.

Life

In 1694 he accepted the invitation of his kinsman, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, to move in with his family in the Castle Schönberg, Ansbach

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

in the Imperial City (German: ''Reichsstadt'') of

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. With a modest allowance and heavily indebted, Christian Heinrich signed, in 1703, the

Contract of Schönberg A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

. Under the terms of this treaty, he renounced his succession rights over the Franconian estates of the House of Hohenzollern (the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth) in favour of Prussia. As a compensation of these renunciation, the King

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...

secured the financial situation of Christian Heinrich and his family in Prussia and assigned to him as a new domicile the Schloss Weferlingen near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

. The following year (1704) he moved there with his family. Four years later he died in Weferlingen, aged forty-seven and three months before the birth of his last child. After Christian Heinrich's death, his oldest son Georg Frederick Karl pursued the abolition of the Contract of Schönberg; only in 1722, after long and difficult discussions, did he finally recover the succession rights of his family to Bayreuth and Ansbach.

Marriage and children

In the Castle Obersulzbürg on 14 August 1687, Christian Heinrich married Countess

Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein (24 October 1667 – 23 August 1737) was Countess of Wolfstein by birth and Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach by marriage. Early life and ancestry Sophie Christiane was a daughter of Count Albrecht F ...

. They had fourteen children: # Georg Frederick Karl (b. Schloss Oberzulzbürg, 30 June 1688 – d. Bayreuth, 17 May 1735), who finally inherited Bayreuth in 1726. # Albert Wolfgang (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 8 December 1689 – killed in action, near Parma, 29 June 1734). # Dorothea Charlotte (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 15 March 1691 – d. Weikersheim, 18 March 1712); married on 7 August 1711 to Karl Ludwig, Count of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim. # Frederick Emanuel (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 13 February 1692 – d. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 13 January 1693). # Christiane Henriette (b. Schloss Obersulzbürg, 29 August 1693 – d. Schönberg, 19 May 1695). # Frederick Wilhelm (b. Schönberg, 12 January 1695 – d. Schönberg, 13 May 1695). # Christiane (b. and d. Schönberg, 31 October 1698). # Christian August (b. Schönberg, 14 July 1699 – d. Schönberg, 29 July 1700). # Sophie Magdalene (b. Schönberg, 28 November 1700 – d. Christiansborg Castle, 27 May 1770); married on 7 August 1721 to King

Christian VI of Denmark Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

. # Christine Wilhelmine (b. Schönberg, 17 June 1702 – d. Schönberg, 19 March 1704). # Frederick Ernest (b. Schönberg, 15 December 1703 – d. Schloss Friedrichsruhe in Drage, 23 June 1762); married on 26 December 1731 to Christine Sophie of Brünswick-Bevern. The union was childless. # Marie Eleonore (b. Schönberg, 28 December 1704 – d. Schönberg, 4 June 1705). # Sophie Caroline (b. Weferlingen, 31 March 1705 – d. Sorgenfri Castle, 7 June 1764); married on 8 December 1723 to

George Albert, Prince of East Frisia George Albert (13 June 1690 – 11 June 1734) was a member of the family of the Cirksena and was the fourth Prince of East Frisia. He ruled from 1708 to 1734. Life He was the second son of Prince Christian Eberhard. On 24 September 1709, he ...

. # Frederick Christian (b. posthumously, Weferlingen, 17 July 1708 – d. Bayreuth, 20 January 1769), inherited Bayreuth in 1763. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach, Christian Heinrich Of 1661 births 1708 deaths People from Bayreuth Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth