Christian IV, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfield

Christian IV, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (6 September 1722 in Bischweiler – 5 November 1775 in Herschweiler-Pettersheim) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1735 to 1775.

Early life and family

Christian IV was born in Bischweiler on 6 September 1722, the son of Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken and his wife, Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken.

He constructed Schloss Jägersburg, one of the first examples of a neoclassical palace in Germany.

Marriage and issue

In 1751 he married, morganatically, Maria Johanna Camasse (1734–1807, created Countess of Forbach in 1757). They had six children, who were unable to succeed to their father's Duchy due to the morganatic nature of their parents' marriage at first, but in 1792 were allowed to carry the name Freiherr von Zweibrücken:^[1]

• Christian, Count of Forbach, Marquis of Deux-Ponts (1752–1817), Royal Bavarian General der Infanterie
• Philippe Guillaume (later renamed to Wilhelm), Count of Forbach, Viscount of Deux-Ponts (1754–1807)
• Maria Anna Caroline von Zweibrücken (1756–1806)
• Karl Ludwig, Baron of Zweybrücken (1759–63)
• Elisabeth Auguste Friederike von Zweibrücken (1766–1836)
• Julius August Maximilian, Baron of Zweybrücken (1771–73)^[2]

His grandson Christian Freiherr von Zweibrücken (1782–1859, son of Philipp Guillaume) was a Royal Bavarian General der Kavallerie and Generalkapitän of the Hartschiere.^[1]

Ancestry

See also

• Hôtel des Deux-Ponts

References

1. Zweibrücken (German), Pierer's Universal-Lexikon.
2. Christian IV., Pfalzgraf und Herzog von der Pfalz, Geneanet.
3. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 93.