You are bidding on one Letter from Greene (Einbeck) from 1840.

Addressed to the wing adjutant of Duke Wilhelm von Brunswick.

TheSuperintendentby Greene Friedrich Christian Ernst Schmid (1779-1844) thanks to Duke Wilhelm von Braunschweig for his support of his son Dr. legal Align Albert Schmid in Jena.

Albert Schmid (* 18. July 1812 in Leinde; † 14 November 1891 in Braunschweig) was a German lawyer and first President of the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig. 1In 831 he was one of the students who armed and stormed the town hall as part of the so-called Göttingen Revolution; In 1832 he took part in the Hambach Festival.

DatedGreene, the 10th August 1840.

About the author (Source: LMU website, Historical Seminar "Early Modern History"): "Friedrich Christian Ernst Schmid ( * 1779 in Halchter, † 30. January 1844 Greene), son of a preacher, was a preacher in St. Leonhard and at the Werkhaus from 1810-1813. In 1813 he became pastor at Leinde, 1833 superintendent at Hasselfelde, 1839 superintendent at Greene. He died there at the age of 65."

Addressed to Anton Reinhold Wilhelm Liebig Edler von Lübeck (born 17. July 1783 in Koenigsberg, died. 24. June 1863 in Braunschweig), Brunswick military and Hofmann. 1813 adjutant to Duke Friedrich Wilhelm, 1830 chamberlain, 1829/30 director of the court theatre, 1837 adjutant to Duke Wilhelm, 1847 major general, court marshal and chamberlain, 1854 chief court marshal. -- From a bundle of letters to v. Lübeck (I offer others in parallel).

Scope: 2 described on four pages (26.2 x 21.3 cm).

Condition: Letter folded, stained and more creased. Please note Sie also the pictures!

Internal note: MM files 1-3

About son Albert Schmid and Duke Wilhelm von Braunschweig (source: wikipedia & NDB):

Albert Schmidt (* 18. July 1812 in Leinde; † 14 November 1891 in Braunschweig) was a German lawyer and first President of the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig.

Life: Albert Schmid's father Friedrich Christian Ernst Schmid was a pastor in Leinde. Albert Schmid joined the revolutionary ideas of the Vormärz period early on. Even as a schoolboy, he came into contact with the national-liberal ideas of the gymnastics movement around gymnastics father Jahn. In 1828 he founded a gymnastics community with classmates in Wolfenbüttel.

In 1830 he enrolled to study law at the Georg-August University in Göttingen. There he joined in 1830 the old Göttingen fraternity, which had been banned since 1819 but was tolerated; In 1830 he also became a member of the Fäßlinaner Heidelberg fraternity, in 1831 of the Old Heidelberg Franconia fraternity and in 1832 of the Jena fraternity / Germania.[1] In 1831 he was one of the students who armed and stormed the town hall as part of the so-called Göttingen Revolution. The ringleader Dr. He helped von Rauschenplatt to escape and therefore had to leave the city as well. He wanted to continue his studies in Heidelberg. Because of his participation in the Hambach Festival in May 1832, his academic citizenship was revoked. Schmid then went to Jena, where he joined the Germania fraternity and made a decidedly revolutionary appearance. After committing acts of violence against the university attendants, he was punished with perpetual expulsion and had to move to Kiel. There he was born on June 6th. Arrested in November 1833 and detained in Eisenach. After a year-and-a-half investigation, he was sentenced to one year in prison for high treason.

After his release in July 1836 he was pardoned and was able to complete his studies. Schmid acquired his doctorate in law in 1839. He was admitted to the first state examination in 1840. He passed his second state examination in 1846 and then worked at the office in Seesen. He was then an assessor at the district court in Wolfenbüttel until 1848. In 1848 he ran unsuccessfully for the Frankfurt National Assembly. At that time he was an official assessor in Schöningen, and from 1850 he was an official judge. In 1851 he became a public prosecutor in Holzminden. After the third state examination in 1854, he was elected by the state assembly to the Supreme Court Councilor in Wolfenbüttel.

In addition to his legal work, he was elected to the extraordinary state parliaments in 1856 and 1871. In 1867 he was elected as a member of the constituency Braunschweig 3 (Holzminden - Gandersheim) in the constituent Reichstag of the North German Confederation.[2] Here he joined the parliamentary group of the National Liberal Party and supported Bismarck's ideas of a German federal state.

In 1875 Schmid was appointed Vice President of the High Court. After the so-called Imperial Justice Laws of 1879 came into force, the High Court was replaced by the Higher Regional Court, which was based in Braunschweig. Albert Schmid was born on 01. October 1879 appointed the first President of the Higher Regional Court. In this function he was also a member of the five-strong Regency Council, which after the childless death of Duke Wilhelm in 1884 took over the leadership of the Duchy of Brunswick until the appointment of Prince Albrecht of Prussia in 1885.

At his death on 14 On November 1, 1891, Albert Schmid was still in office as the President of the Higher Regional Court.

Wilhelm August Ludwig Maximilian Friedrich (* 25. April 1806 in Brunswick; † 18 October 1884 in Sibyllenort), Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, and Oels was Duke of Brunswick from 1830 until his death.

Life and work: Wilhelm was the second son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg and Maria von Baden (1782-1808), daughter of Karl Ludwig von Baden (1755-1801).

He grew up in London after the death of his mother. When his father fell in Quatre-Bras shortly after his return to Brunswick in 1815, he and his brother Karl came under the guardianship of their uncle George, King of Hanover and Prince Regent of Great Britain. De facto Braunschweig statesmen exercised their guardianship or they were in the care of educators.

The brothers stayed in Lausanne from 1820 to 1822, after which Wilhelm went to Göttingen to study until the autumn of 1823. Finally, he did the Prussian military service, which he himself described as the happiest time of his life.

He and his brother Karl inherited the Silesian Duchy of Oels from his father, which they jointly owned until 1824. When Karl was able to take over the government in Brunswick after he had come of age, he left the Duchy of Oels to Wilhelm. Wilhelm spent a lot of time in Oels until the end of his life and also died there.

Military career: On 30. On October 18, 1821 Wilhelm was first appointed Rittmeister in the Hanoverian Guard Hussar Regiment and on 17. February 1826 also in the Prussian 2. Gardelandwehr Cavalry Regiment. He was promoted to major on April 22. October 1828.[2] At 6. On March 1, 1843 he became Major General in charge of the Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10 and a little later appointed Lieutenant General. From 30. March 1844 he was general of the cavalry and finally on 27. June 1848 Royal Hanoverian field marshal. He was the owner of the Hanoverian Guard Cuirassier Regiment and the Bohemian Dragoon Regiment No. 7.[3]

On the Brunswick throne 1830–1884: In September 1830 there was a popular uprising in Brunswick against Duke Karl II, Wilhelm's older brother. Karl had infuriated the population with his style of government, which was reminiscent of absolutist times. The conflict culminated in the residential palace going up in flames and Karl fleeing town and country. At the request of the Braunschweig magistrate, Wilhelm took over the regency for his brother just two days later. With the beginning of the regency, the Duchy of Brunswick also got a new constitution, the Landschafts-Ordnung, which guaranteed the citizens important basic rights. The aim was to get the country back on calm waters as quickly as possible. However, the question of the throne remained unresolved for some time.

In May 1831, the German Confederation declared the fled Duke Karl II. finally found to be incapable of governing, and Wilhelm was thus the legitimate successor, which Austria later recognized. However, the incapacity to govern referred only to Karl as a person, not to his possible heirs. The succession to the throne thus remained explicitly open.[4] As a result, Wilhelm had to reckon with the fact that he would not be able to enforce a claim to the throne for his own heirs. How significant this uncertainty was for him is unclear. The fact is, however, that he refrained from marrying and remained without legitimate heirs - just like his brother Karl. With Wilhelm's death in 1884, the "New House of Brunswick", which had ruled in the Welf homeland since 1533 and which represented the older Welf line alongside the "New House of Lüneburg" (later the House of Hanover), became extinct.

Succession: After Wilhelm's death, a regency council took over the affairs of state in Braunschweig. Since Prussia and the House of Hanover had been enemies since the annexation of the Hanoverian kingdom in 1866, the actual heir to the throne, Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland, was denied the right to govern the Brunswick lands. From 1885 to 1913, members of other royal houses took over the regency. It was only in 1913 that reconciliation between the Guelphs and Hohenzollerns took place, when Ernst August, the son of the Duke of Cumberland, married Victoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. As a result, Ernst August, the last Guelph, returned to Braunschweig as the reigning duke.

Miscellaneous: In 1875, 100,000 gold coins of the German Empire with a nominal value of 20 marks were minted. The gold pieces showed a relief portrait of Wilhelm on the head side. These imperial gold coins were minted in the Berlin (A) mint.[5]

In 1902 the Braunschweiggasse in the 13th district was named Vienna district Hietzing after him, since he was an honorary citizen of Hietzing from 1861 and owner of the Palais Cumberland from 1878. In 1909 a memorial was erected in Rühle.

Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, the younger son of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm and Duchess Marie, née Princess of Baden, was born in Brunswick on April 25. April 1806 born and 11. May baptized August Ludwig Wilhelm Maximilian Friedrich. At that time the father was in the garrison of Prenzlau as a major general in the Prussian service and not long afterwards he went out to fight Napoleon, who, after the victories of Jena and Auerstadt, humiliated Prussia to the utmost and struck the Duchy of Brunswick from the list of independent states. Before the French were advancing, the Duchess Marie fled with her two small sons, Karl and Wilhelm, under the leadership of Major Fleischer on 18. October first to Stralsund on Swedish territory, then across the sea to her sister, Queen Friederike, in Malmö. The two husbands did not get together again until the spring of 1807; they settled first in Ottensen, then in Dockenhude on the Elbe. In September they moved to Bruchsal to live with Mary's mother, Margravine Amalie von Baden. It was here that the husband and sons suffered the heaviest blow when, on 20 April 1808 the Duchess died in childbirth. Since the duke, who in the following year began the war against Napoleon in alliance with Austria, did not believe that the children would be safe in Bruchsal, he first let them go to Oels, then to Kolberg and, when he himself reached Heligoland after his glorious journey through northern Germany brought to England via Sweden, where they died on April 14. October in Greenwich met his father and spent the next few years in London. When Duke Friedrich Wilhelm took possession of his duchy after the Battle of Leipzig, his sons did not follow him to Brunswick until the following year, where they died on 13 November 1941. arrived September. Immediately afterwards, her father brought her to her grandmother, Margravine Amalie, in Karlsruhe, in order to travel on to the congress in Vienna himself. They spent only a few months together again in Brunswick; Friedrich Wilhelm's death near Quatrebras on 16. June 1815 made the sons completely orphaned. They were now as good as lonely in the world, without any close relatives who could have compensated them for the loss of their father and especially their mother. Her uncle Duke August was blind and quite unfit for such a task; the widow of his eldest brother, Friederike Luise Wilhelmine, born Princess of Orange, did not want to settle down permanently in Brunswick, as was hoped, and died on 15. Already died October 1819. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm had in his will dated 5. May 1813 determined that the sons should receive their last education at the court of their grandmother, Margravine Amalie, but then later the care for his children, as for his country to the then Prince Regent, later King George IV. transferred from England. If anyone, then this one, who at first was in the worst imaginable relationship to his wife, the prince's aunt, at least through his own grave fault, was certainly not the right man to win the affection and trust of the young relatives and to win them over to guide the right way. He also stayed far from Germany in England. Thus the princes were placed entirely under the supervision of their tutors and the leading statesmen in Brunswick, none of whom knew how to win their love or gain great respect. Only [5] the Minister of State, Graf von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg, demanded real respect from them, but unfortunately he already died on April 25. December 1818 deceased. The educators whom Friedrich W. himself had chosen were honest people, but not quite up to the difficult task that awaited them. For much had already been missed in the young prince's sons. Her troubled childhood, the repeated change of residence, the death of her mother, the lack of any noble female influence, for which at times the pampering of the kind-hearted grandmother offered no substitute, the frequent absences of her father, who with the best of intentions in his passionate, coarse Approaching manner also did not have the gift of attracting children's hearts: all this had hitherto had the most unfavorable effect on the development of mind and heart of the princes. Not only was their knowledge very poor; what was worse, though by no means untalented by nature, they were unaccustomed to intellectual exertion, fickle and flighty. Bad character traits were noticeable in Karl from a young age, defiance, arrogance, selfishness, avarice, etc., while Wilhelm, although he flared up in anger more easily, was far more manageable and above all showed great good nature. From England she had as tutor (since 1811) an English chaplain, Thomas Prince, accompanied, who, after the duke's death, posed as the actual guardian with an overstretched mind. For this reason, and because they wanted to give the prince a German education, he was sent back to England, where he finally died in a madhouse. The education now fell to Pastor Hoffmeister and Professor Eigner, who possessed the best will, but the latter, because of his stiff, pedantic nature, was nothing short of in the right place here. Among the playmates of the princes from this period were several, such as v. Geyso, Langerfeldt, zimmermann , whom Duke W. later called to his side as privy councillors. At 19. On April 18, 1820, the two princes were confirmed together. Then they went to Lausanne for their further education, where they stayed until the middle of 1822. They were accompanied by the chamberlain v. Linsingen as governor and owner as scientific teacher. The relationship between the princely pupils and both of them - certainly caused mainly by Karl's fault, but greatly promoted by the clumsiness of these men - became worse and worse and finally took on a form that was hardly bearable. After Lausanne had been left, the princes stayed longer to visit their grandmother. Then the brothers, who had been separated from each other for barely an hour, parted ways. Karl went to Vienna, W. under the direction of Colonel v. Dörnberg (in whose place later Major Frhr. v. Münchhausen) went to the University of Göttingen, where he was responsible for various studies until the autumn of 1823 and had informal dealings with several people from Braunschweig.

He then returned to Braunschweig, where he died on April 13. January 1824 shared his father's fortune with his brother and mainly received the then still heavily indebted principality of Oels. In the next two years he stayed partly here and partly on trips. Then he entered the Prussian military service. Although King George IV had him. already under 30. October 1821 appointed Rittmeister à la suite in the Hanoverian Guard Hussar Regiment; but the bad relationship between the brothers and that king, which was soon to lead to an open rupture with Charles, prompted him to turn to Berlin for active service. King Friedrich Wilhelm III. appointed him under the 17th February 1826 to Rittmeister in the 2. Gardelandwehr cavalry regiments; on [6] 22. October 1828 he was promoted to major. He himself has always described the four years he spent as an officer here in Berlin as the happiest of his life. Young, fun-loving, free from worries and oppressive constraints, richly wealthy, he enjoyed to the fullest the joys that the great residential city offered him; He was a stately, chivalrous figure of captivating form in the circle of his comrades, as well as in the company of the court, and was a welcome companion everywhere; A special friendship connected him with the then Prince Wilhelm and with the later Queen Elisabeth, the daughter of his mother's sister, with whom he remained in lively, intimate correspondence until her death. In his youthful thirst for action he would have gladly exchanged garrison service for actual field service. In 1828 he wished to take part in the Russian campaign against Turkey, but could not obtain permission to do so.

Suddenly the news came from Brunswick that his brother Karl died on April 7th. September 1830 was chased out of the country. The chamberlain v. Weltzien had informed him of it at once by means of an estafette. After consultation with King Friedrich Wilhelm III, who, if necessary, put troops from Halberstadt or Magdeburg at his disposal, W. decided to rush to Brunswick, where he was already there by noon on the 10th. arrived in September. He had the firm intention of working here only for the good of his brother and only staying in the country as long as circumstances urgently required. In Charles' quarrel with the King of England and Count Munster he had sided with his brother, but had advised him to be moderate and could by no means always agree with his public conduct. But he had had no idea of ​​the seriousness of the situation, no precise knowledge of his brother's unworthy doings, and so he was now most unpleasantly surprised by everything he saw and heard. The municipal director Wilh. Bode (ADB III, 2 f.), who, despite the general disregard in which the ducal state ministry had fallen, stood at the head of that administration which in those days was almost alone in maintaining reputation and influence and maintaining public order had taken care of it successfully, first explained to the duke in detail the general course of events and their causes; he caused the duke to appear in the city that same day, where he was greeted with rejoicing, but with deep pain and violent anger against the instigators of the fire, saw the ruins of his fathers' castle. The duke saw that, given the simmering discord in the country, his brother's return was out of the question for the time being; He therefore complied with the general wish to take over the government for the time being in his name and, at Bode's suggestion, immediately appointed two men of general trust to the ducal state ministry, Hofrath Wilhelm Frh. v. Schleinitz and the Kammerrath Friedr. Schulz. Duke Karl presented his brother in London under the 21st Sept. 1830 issued a power of attorney to run the government on his behalf in the capacity of Governor-General until further notice. Peace and order was immediately restored, clear proof that the whole movement was directed only against the person of bad monarch, was in no way directed against the institutions of the state, which one rather strove to preserve with all zeal. So the landscape, which was on 27. September met, in the address written by the Landsyndicus Pricelius to the Duke W. rightly explain that "novelty and ideas swindle did not have the least part in the recently experienced, saddening events"; one [7] asked the duke “in view of the impossibility based on the principles of general constitutional law that the Durchl. Duke Karl continues the government of the country” that he would like to take over. W. said this in a patent dated 28 September “until further notice” closed; He did not mention the power of attorney granted to him by his brother, but did mention the negotiations that were connected with him. They were conquered by Kings William IV. of England, to which Duke Charles had gone, and Friedrich Wilhelm III. led by Prussia and had the purpose of inducing the duke to voluntarily give up the government; but he made impossible conditions for this, and in particular demanded such large sums of money that the country could not afford. on the 9th On November 10, Karl suddenly departed from England; at 16. of the month he revoked the power of attorney from Frankfurt that he had given to his brother; he asked him to come to Fulda for an interview, but W. refused. The governments of Hanover and Prussia strongly advised the latter to remain in his place; not only the militia, but also the officers of the field corps solemnly vowed to obey only Duke W. under 26 On November 1st he declared that, as his brother was unable to govern himself, he would continue it, though that consent had ceased until the fate of the country was finally decided. A few days later Karl made ridiculous attempts to repossess his country by force from the Harz Mountains. They failed miserably, but at least they had the success that Prussia and Hanover now got through, that the German federal assembly on 2. December commissioned the Duke W. to run the government of the country until further notice, while the agnates were to bring about a definitive order for the future. The longing for one grew stronger and stronger in the country, and the Ministry saw it as one Necessity and also W. felt the most embarrassing of his situation for a brother who publicly abused him in the most rude manner to lead the regency. on the 10th On March 1, 1831, the agnates asked the league to state that Charles was incapable of governing, that the Duchy of Brunswick was thus finished and that the government had to pass to Duke W. However, since Austria resolutely opposed such a beginning, the matter remained for the time being undecided; no decision was made. Gradually this lasted too long for the Brunswickers; They now wanted to put an end to the matter themselves and directly asked W. to "accept their hereditary homage in a constitutional manner". In order to prevent such a voluntary homage to a popular decision, W. declared on the advice of Berlin in a patent dated 20 April 1831 that, since the efforts to settle the dispute peacefully had been in vain, he took over the government of the finished duchy; at the same time he bet on the 25th place. April, his birthday, the general homage to the country, which was done everywhere without hesitation. But the extensions that the matter found in the Bund had not yet come to an end. At the meeting of 11 On May 1st, 1831, the request of the agnates was still not settled, but the unauthorized accession of the duke to the throne by Austria and other states met with an extremely sharp condemnation. Only on the 12th In July, 1832, the matter came to an end; it was decided to regard Duke W. as the voting member of the German Confederation. Earlier, on the 24th On October 1, 1831, the two lines of the Welf house had united to form a house law, in which the legality of the marriages of their members in future was linked to the consent of the ruling lord of their line. It was hoped [8] to be able to prevent Karl from concluding a marriage befitting his status. Even if he never entered into one, the main purpose that was being pursued was still missed. Duke W. also remained unmarried. Not of his own accord, but because the question of succession, whether Karl's or Wilhelm's children should one day take the throne of Brunswick, has never been decided, and the princely families to whom W. was courting a daughter, whose offspring are of such an uncertain future didn't want to expose. These conditions, but by no means As has probably been suspected, it was intrigues at the Hanoverian court that caused Duke Wilhelm's celibacy. Rumors of the Duke's engagements surfaced on various occasions; thus in 1836, when he had traveled to England, a connection with Princess Victoria was expected at home; in the same year he seems to have had serious intentions for a Württemberg princess. Presumably in order to get rid of that difficulty, negotiations with Karl about an amicable settlement took place later; so in 1842 through Metternich's mediation, but they were unsuccessful. Deprived of his only brother and without a wife, W. had to go through life. This loneliness, a result and a constant reminder of the revolutionary origins that his government could never deny, strengthened and kept alive in him the oppressive feeling that he was occupying a position that belonged by God and by law to someone else. He writes of the day on which homage was paid to him that it was “a day of joy” for him too, “which would have been perfect if he had been able to resist the saddening thought of his brother.” At first, against his will, he was forced by the force of circumstances to endure where the welfare of his house and his country made it his duty in equal measure. All this happened at the urging of the legal representatives of the country, with the consent of the agnates, and finally also of the German federal princes: with the strong sense of justice that animated him, a sharp thorn had to remain in his heart, and much of what was in exuberance the feeling that the people, in the best of opinions, offered him homage as a form of homage was bound to hurt his princely pride most sensitively. This inner restlessness also explains the zeal with which people from Brunswick watched the steps of Duke Karl abroad, and at home pursued the highly treasonous conspiracies hatched by him or for him, which were of very little importance. When Duke Karl on 18. Aug. 1873 died, the brother is said to have felt freed from a nightmare. Because of his estate, from which the duke only reclaimed the funds and works of art (Mantuan vessel) that belonged to the country or the ducal house fideicommiß, a deal was made with the city of Geneva, the heiress to the will, on 6 June March 1874 a mutually satisfactory agreement concluded.

Shortly after the definitive assumption of government, under 14. May 1831, W. received the requested farewell from the Prussian army with permission to wear the general's uniform. At 6. In March 1843, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV appointed him Major General and awarded him the 10. hussar regiment; on the 30th On March 27, 1844 he was appointed Lieutenant General; June 1848 promoted to general of the cavalry. Earlier (Aug. April 1831) King Wilhelm IV. appointed Hanoverian field marshal by England, and around the beginning of 1852 he received the guards cuirassier regiment stationed in Nordheim. A few years later (29. June 1854) Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria appointed him supreme proprietor of the 7th Cuirassier (later Dragoon) regiments.

[9] While the political system under the government of Duke Charles had made more regression than progress, a series of the most beneficial reforms began for the country immediately after Duke Wilhelm's accession to the throne. It is true that he was innately unprepared for rulership, but by nature he possessed sound judgement, a keen eye, and the fortunate gift of selecting the right men to advise him. He placed his full trust in experienced officials and gave them the freedom to develop their strengths. He always had the well-being of the country in mind and never let his own personal inclinations, whispers from court circles or other parties influence government affairs. The chief principles of his government were benevolence and justice; That was felt with gratitude everywhere in the country, and not without envy the inhabitants of many German states looked at the good administration that the Duchy of Brunswick enjoyed. So it is only natural that there has always been a good understanding between the country and the princes, and that there have never been any serious quarrels here. Even the great year 1848 passed Brunswick without any personal or constitutional conflict. Before that time, the state government had certainly had to carry out the federal decrees, but they had never pursued the hateful smelling of demagogues of the kind that flourished elsewhere. One had always exercised wise moderation, paid homage to level-headed progress, and now the demands of the new age were most willingly met. And when the reaction to the storms of the 1940s in Germany followed, Braunschweig restricted itself to the measures imperatively imposed by the federal government and the neighboring states. Above all, the deserving Frhr had an essential part in these beautiful successes. v. Schleinitz, who was the soul of government from 1830 until his death (1856). With regard to him and his ministerial activities, we can refer to ADB XXXI, 459 ff. We refer to what has been said and only want to briefly point out the most important things: The new basic state law of the Duchy, the "New Landscape Order" of 12. october 1832, which, still in force today, has proven itself to be the most excellent, the regulation of the judiciary through laws of exemplary character, the city and rural community code, which introduced the principle of self-government, which was still unheard of in many places, the agrarian legislation, which freed rural property and led to high development and in which v. Thielau (cf. ADB XXXVII, 746 ff.) was involved, among other things. When it came to mediating between the different interests of the country and the princely house, Duke W. was willing to make a cheap settlement. It was not possible to reach an agreement with Duke Karl about the chamber estates and forests. Now under the 12th october 1832 the so-called. Supplementary financial agreement concluded, according to which Duke W. received a certain civil list, but the remaining income was used for the state budget, which only then received a solid basis. As here, so also in 1843 he had the welfare of the whole in mind with the complaints of the feudal-minded nobility, who saw their privileges impaired by the newer legislation and had to influence the duke through memoranda, foreign intermediaries and v. tried to overthrow Schleinitz; he flatly rejected their concerns, which were in the interests of their class. The promotion that the transport system experienced was also of essential use for the material boom of the country. Not only good country roads were built; the construction of railways began very early on. The Braunschweig–Wolfenbüttel line, which opened on 1 Dec Opened in 1838 and continued to Harzburg in 1841, it was the first state railway [10] to be manufactured in Germany. This happened in particular at the instigation of the finance director v. Amsberg, according to whose well-calculated plan Brunswick was drawn into the center of major rail traffic for a long time. Brunswick's exit from the tax union and its connection to the German customs union, which Dec 1841 for the duchy with the exclusion of the Harz and Weser districts, on 1. Jan. 1844 also took place for this and had its first cause in disagreements with the Hanoverian government, brought many disadvantages with the tricky border conditions of the country at first, until at the beginning of the year 1854 the already mentioned v. Thielau succeeded in arranging the connection of the other tax union states to the customs union. Later, he also worked with great success for the continued existence of the Zollverein and the refusal of Austria's entry. During the reign of Herzog, there were also intellectuals Wilhelm's gratifying progress. A good elementary school ensured that education was widely disseminated, good gymnasiums and technical schools provided good preparation for the higher professions. The Collegium Carolinum was converted into a technical university in a contemporary way, richly equipped and brought to a new worthy home in 1877. Likewise, towards the end of Wilhelm's reign, new stately buildings were erected for the ducal museum in Brunswick and the library in Wolfenbüttel. Many other beautiful buildings were also built in his time, such as the residential palace of Ottmer (after the fire of 23. February restored in 1865) and some splendid monuments. Great care and considerable expense has gone into the restoration of the country's many fine church buildings. In ecclesiastical matters the country enjoyed a mild, conciliatory government, which was able to successfully do justice to various tendencies, particularly through the influence of Abbot Ernesti. The demands of the new era were also taken into account by setting up a state synod. So many things worked together to make the long reign of Duke Wilhelm a happy and beneficial one for the country.

In politics, especially in the German question, the duke showed good patriotic sentiments. He always stood up warmly for the rights of Schleswig-Holstein; the attempt to tear these countries apart was, according to his declaration, to be regarded as a case of war. He left on the 22nd. March 1848 his troops put on the German colors and on 10. march to Holstein in April. "I can't sit behind the stove when need comes to the man": with this attitude he appeared as the only German federal prince in the first year of the campaign even on the theater of war. Voices were raised at that time enthusiastically proposing the duke as the appointed commander-in-chief. He also complied with the demand that the military pay homage to the Archduke-Reichsverwester on April 6. August 1848, though with some reluctance; the form as it was set up had offended him, and some of the gross tactlessness that befell him in those days left him with a lasting irritation. He was happily willing to promote German unity efforts. As one of the first princes, he had his willingness to recognize a hereditary head at the head of the German Empire declared when deliberating on the German imperial constitution. Even after its failure, he remained true to the idea of ​​the Prussian hereditary empire. He immediately joined the "Three Kings Alliance" founded by Prussia, later also the Union, and also took part in the Congress of Princes in Berlin in May 1850. Only after the complete victory of Austria did he allow the May 1851 his return to the Federal Constitution in Frankfurt a. M. [11] explain. At that time he was also in close military contact with Prussia; to the great annoyance of King Ernst August of Hanover, with whom relations subsequently became very bad, he concluded on 1. Dec In 1849 he attended a military convention, from which he resigned after a few years (1854). The duke's German sentiments were also demonstrated by the mobilization of the Brunswick troops in 1859, when he showed a good deal of desire to take up arms for Austria against France, in contrast to Prussia's policy. In August 1863 the duke attended the princely congress at Frankfurt, which, since Prussia stayed away, was fruitless. At the end of the same year, when the question of the duchies of the Elbe became an urgent one again, he faithfully declared himself his motto: "Right must remain right" with all determination for the constitutional independence of these German federal states. We know how much the hopes of the small and medium-sized German states were soon disappointed. The duke's attitude in 1866 was prudent and unselfish. As is only natural given his friendship with the Habsburg imperial house, there was no lack of incentives to draw him over to the Austrian party, and it is quite credible that he personally leaned in this direction. But the well-being of his country, which bordered on Prussian territory on almost Allen sides, inevitably demanded the opposite policy. In the Bundestag session on 13. June 1866, where Nassau as the leading member of the 13th Curie (Brunswick and Nassau) voted in favor of the Austrian proposal, Braunschweig declared against it in a separate vote. The country remained neutral; only on the 6th In July the duke made an alliance with Prussia; military intervention by the Brunswick troops became unnecessary because of the quickly concluded peace. Since then, Duke W. has honestly fulfilled Allen obligations imposed on him by the North German federal constitution and later by the German imperial constitution. When, after the declaration of war, King Wilhelm August 1870 passed the city of Brunswick, the duke drove out to greet him. The aides-de-camp would not wake the king, who was asleep, but the duke came in and told him that he could be counted on on Allen occasions. Touched, the king threw his arms around the duke. The relationship between the two princes retained the old cordiality until 1875; the year before, the Kaiser had been with him for the last time for a hunt in Blankenburg. The duke's estrangement was mainly caused by the complaints about the lack of officers in the infantry regiment garrisoned in Alsace-Lorraine, and by the urging for the conclusion of a military convention, which was certainly in the interest of the Brunswick officer corps and for which the state parliament almost unanimously in 1871, but the duke could not make up his mind to do so, although the emperor, in the most friendly manner, offered him the prospect of any possible fulfillment of his wishes. Alongside this, many other circumstances, often unconsciously, lead to a gradual change in the mood of the aging duke have contributed, who grew up in different circumstances in the new time, the conversion of his princely position will not always have been easy. The difficult fate of the Hanoverian royal family also had to cast a shadow over his mind, even if he often hardly approved of King George's policy and in very intimate relations with him - their characters were also too different for that - probably never confessed. In any case, he faithfully supported him in the misfortune and granted him his villa in Hietzing near Vienna immediately after his expulsion in 1866. The relationship of the duke to duke Ernst August von Cumberland and his family assumed a very confidential character; he was Duke George of Cambridge's godfather to his eldest son, who received the name George William from them. It was evidently Wilhelm's keen desire; that Ernst August might one day succeed him as the legitimate heir in the government of his country, but he did not hide the difficulties that stood in the way of the immediate realization of this plan under the prevailing political conditions. In the event of his death, therefore, he sought, in order first of all to enable the government to proceed quietly, to appoint a regency. At first he thought of winning over a German prince for this task, who would then have the country managed by a governor. However, since Kaiser Wilhelm refused to accept the guarantee for such a draft law in 1873, he decided, mainly at the instigation of the Privy Councilor Trieps (cf. ADB XXXVIII, 601 f.), to arrange the question in general and to form a government from the forces of their own country. Thus, as an addition to the new landscape order, the Regency Act of 16th February 1879, which on the death of the duke offered the possibility of continuing state administration without external disturbances and of ensuring the undoubted rights of the dynasty for the future, taking into account the actual circumstances. He also appointed the Duke of Cumberland to inherit his property; he only took out his Silesian allodial estates, albeit a very considerable part of them, and bequeathed them to his maternal cousin, King Albert of Saxony, because, as the unpleasant events immediately after his death proved, he had good reason to fear that otherwise Prussia would confiscate these goods; the fiefdoms of the principality of Oels, etc., reverted to the Prussian crown upon his departure. The state and especially the city of Brunswick, which had counted on a rich inheritance, were not considered in the will. This was certainly done with the intention of combining the interests of the country and its traditional princely house, and not without a certain annoyance at covetous desires, which might not always have been conveyed to him in a tactful manner. Added to this was the fact that he had no more desire to be called a popular prince than he had the gift of becoming one. He was reluctant to appear in public and, inherited from his mother, became increasingly reluctant to show himself to his people over the years. Especially in the city of Brunswick, where he never completely lost the memory of the revolutionary origins of his rule, of some of the experiences of the year 1848, among other things. He lived much more freely and informally in Blankenburg and Sibyllenort, where he liked to stay, especially during the hunting season. So, in a lonely distance, he felt somewhat alien to his people, although they were devoted to him in loyal devotion and the blessings of his insightful government, the nobility of his attitude and his strict impartiality, which always allowed personal wishes and dislikes to take second place to objective considerations. appreciated in their full value. The celebration of his 25th and even more so his 50th anniversary of government (25. April 1856 and 1881) gave eloquent testimony of such a mood. W. spent the autumn of 1884 back in Sibyllenort when he fell ill there. His wish to be taken to Brunswick could no longer be fulfilled; in the morning of the 18th He died there in October 1884. On the night of the 22nd October his body was collected in Braunschweig and on 25. of the month in the old St. Blasius cathedral in the crypt of his fathers. With him, the older line of the House of Welf or the younger House of Brunswick went out. As the [13] case foreseen by the Regency Act actually came about, in which the rightful heir to the throne was prevented from taking over the government himself, according to that law the provincial administration was conducted for a year by the Regency Council, and then by the provincial assembly as regent of the duchy Prince Albrecht of Prussia elected who, since that disability unfortunately still holds true to his promise in the spirit of Duke Wilhelm's at the moment directs the fortunes of the Duchy. How much the grateful memory of Duke W. and his many years of happy reign still lives on has recently (25. January 1896) showed the unanimous resolution of the Brunswick state parliament to erect a worthy public monument to him using state funds.