duchy · Germany and Central Europe
Duchy of Brunswick
Origins
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel had been absorbed into the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. Duke Frederick William, the Black Duke, who had fought Napoleon with his Black Brunswickers, recovered his lands in 1813, and in 1815 the Congress of Vienna recognised them as the sovereign Duchy of Brunswick. He was killed at Quatre Bras that June.
Rule and society
His son Charles II was driven out by a rising in 1830 and replaced by his brother William, who granted a constitution in 1832. The duchy was Lutheran and had industry around Brunswick, with sugar beet and canning. When William died in 1884, Prussia blocked the Hanoverian heir, and regents ruled until Ernest Augustus married the Kaiser's daughter Victoria Louise in 1913 and became duke.
Decline and legacy
Ernest Augustus abdicated in November 1918, and the duchy became the Free State of Brunswick. In 1946 its territory was merged into the new state of Lower Saxony, though the city of Braunschweig keeps the ducal palace, rebuilt in 2007.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Duchy of Brunswick was part of German Confederation1815 CE – 1866 CE
- Duchy of Brunswick was part of German Empire1871 CE – 1918 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Duchy of Brunswick. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick
- MLA
- “Duchy of Brunswick.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Duchy of Brunswick.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Duchy of Brunswick’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻