Frederick Bernard, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen

Frederick Bernard, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen
Born	(1697-05-28)28 May 1697 Gelnhausen
Died	5 August 1739(1739-08-05) (aged 42) Gelnhausen
Noble family	House of Wittelsbach
Spouse(s)	Ernestine Louise of Waldeck-Pyrmont
Father	John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen
Mother	Esther Maria of Witzleben-Elgersburg

Frederick Bernard, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen (28 May 1697 in Gelnhausen – 5 August 1739, ibid.) was Count Palatine and Duke of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen.

Life

Frederick Bernard was the eldest son of the Duke and Count Palatine John Charles of Gelnhausen (1638-1704) from his second marriage, Esther Maria (1665-1725), the daughter of Baron George Frederick of Witzleben-Elgersburg.

In 1704, he succeeded his father as Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen. He served in the French army as a colonel of the Royal Alsatian regiment. He was a knight of the Order of Saint Hubert. A treaty of 1736 with Caroline, the regent of Zweibrücken, granted Frederick Bernard an annual allowance of 12000guilders.[1]

Frederick Bernard died in 1739 without a male heir.[2] Gelnhause was inherited by his younger brother John.

Marriage and issue

Frederick Bernard married on 30 May 1737 in Arolsen to Ernestine Louise (1705-1782), the daughter of prince Frederick Anton Ulrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Her mother was Frederick Bernard's cousin Louise of Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler. Frederick Bernard and Ernestine Louise had two daughters:

• Caroline Louise (1738-1782)
• Ernestine Friederike Auguste (1739-1746)

Ancestors

Ancestors of Frederick Bernard, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen

16. Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 8. Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld 17. Anna of Hesse 4. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler 18. William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 9. Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg 19. Dorothea of Denmark 2. John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen 20. John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 10. John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 21. Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg 5. Countess Palatine Magdalene Catherine of Zweibrücken 22. René II, Viscount of Rohan 11. Catherine of Rohan 23. Catherine of Parthenay 1. Frederick Bernard, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen 24. Job William of Witzleben 12. Eric Frederick of Witzleben 25. Maria Magdalena of Wangenheim 6. George Frederick of Witzleben-Elgersburg 26. George Frederick of Erffa 13. Anna Agnes of Erffa 27. Sabina of Dohlau 3. Esther Maria of Witzleben-Elgersburg 28. Caspar of Hantein 14. Rudolf of Hanstein 29. Sibylla of Hoheneck 7. Maria Magdalena of Hanstein 30. Bernard of Bibra 15. Maria Sibylla of Bibra 31. Sibylla of Witzleben

References

• Johann Samuel Ersch: Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste. Section 2, H–N, part 21, Johann (Infant von Castilien) – Johann-Boniten, p. 189
• Maximilian V. Sattler: Lehrbuch der bayerischen Geschichte, Lindauer, 1868, p. 412
• Carl Renatus Hausen: Abhandlungen und Materialien zum neuesten deutschen Staatsrechte und Reichsgeschichte, vol. 5, p. 160 ff

Footnotes

1. Andreas Sebastian Stumpf: Geschichte des hohen Kurhauses Pfalzbayern im Grundrisse, 1804, p. 113 Online
2. Hardt: Wilhelm Herzog in Bayern, Verl. d. Literar.-Artist.-Inst., 1838, p. 6

Frederick Bernard, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen House of Wittelsbach Born: 28 May 1697 Died: 5 August 1739
Preceded by John Charles	Count Palatine of Gelnhausen 1704-1739	Succeeded by John