Frederick Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
| Frederick Christian of Brandenburg-Bayreuth | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Spouse(s) | Victoria Charlotte of Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym |
| Noble family | House of Hohenzollern |
| Father | Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach |
| Mother | Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein |
| Born |
17 July 1708 Weferlingen |
| Died | 20 January 1769 (aged 60) Bayreuth |
Frederick Christian of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (17 July 1708 in Weferlingen – 20 January 1769 in Bayreuth), was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.
He was the youngest of fourteen children born to Margrave Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach by his wife, Countess Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein. His father died on 5 April 1708, almost three months before his birth.
Besides him, only six of his siblings survived to adulthood: Georg Frederick Karl, who became Margrave of Bayreuth; Albrecht Wolfgang, who was killed in battle in 1734; Dorothea Charlotte, Countess of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim, who died in 1712 after only seven months of marriage; Sophie Magdalene, Queen of Denmark; Frederick Ernst; and Sophie Caroline, Princess of Ostfriesland.
Frederick Christian was considered an eccentric, indeed the "black sheep" of the family. By the time of the death of his cousin Georg Wilhelm, Margrave of Bayreuth (1726), he lived as a Danish Lieutenant-general in Wandsbek near Hamburg and was not prepared for any government tasks in the principality of Bayreuth. He did not exercise his power and left all the control of the principality to his older brother George Frederick Charles.
The death of his nephew Frederick without male issue on (26 February 1763), however, found him the only male member of the Bayreuth branch of the family, and, in consequence, the new Margrave of Bayreuth.
After his assumption of the government in Bayreuth, Frederick Christian tried to stabilize the ruined state finances by drastically reducing the costs of the Bayreuth court. Most artists who had worked there (among others, Carl von Gontard) went to Berlin to the court of King Frederick the Great. Almost all construction work in the castles and gardens were stopped. Bayreuth sank again into the Provinzialität (Province state).
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