Christian VII ascended the Danish Throne on 14 January 1766,
and on 8 November 1766 he married, at Christiansborg Castle in
Copenhagen, his first cousin, Princess Caroline Mathilde of Great Britain,
sister of King George III. Their son Frederik (later King Frederik VI)
was born at Christiansborg Castle on 28 January 1768.
Soon after his marriage, Christian VII
sunk into a condition of mental stupor,
and became completely controlled by his advisors, particularly the court
physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee.
Struensee had been exposed to Enlightenment ideas at university,
and took this opportunity to reform the Danish government,
state, and nation by Enlightment principles, from his appointment
as maître des requêtes in December 1770 through his
arrest in January 1772.
Others arrested at the same time as Struensee included
Queen Caroline Mathilde, as she had
helped Struensee gain power. Her relationship with Struensee
had become a sexual relationship starting in the spring of 1770,
a fact which complicated the birth of Caroline Mathilde's daughter,
Luise Auguste, who was born at Hirschholm Palace
(now Hørsholm, near Copenhagen) on 7 July 1771.
Before the conviction and execution of Struensee, the King and Queen
were divorced (6 April 1772). The divorce decree specifically
declares that Luise Auguste was the legitimate daughter of
her mother's husband, King Christian VII.
Struensee was beheaded on 28 April 1772, and Queen
Caroline Mathilde was deported to Celle
on 28 May 1772, where she died on 10 May 1775.
King Christian VII continued to reign under several different regencies
and died at Rendsburg, in Schleswig, on 13 March 1808, when he was
succeeded by his son King Frederik VI.
As for Luise Auguste, she was married Christiansborg Castle on
27 May 1786 (when she was not yet 15 years old) to a cousin of
King Christian VII, namely Friedrich Christian, Duke of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and had three children.
Descendants of Luise Auguste include:
The reigning sovereigns of:
| Ancestry of Johann Friedrich Struensee | |
|---|---|
| 1 |
Johann Friedrich Struensee
* Halle a. S. 5 VIII 1737, bapt. Kirche St. Moritz 7 VIII 1737 1757 Dr. Med. 1758 Stadsfysikus i Altona og Landfysikus i Grevskabet Rantzau 5 IV 1768 Livmedikus hos Kong Christian VII 1768 Dr. med. i Oxford 18 XII 1770 Maître des requêtes 14 VII 1771 Geheimekabinetsminister 30 IX 1771 Patent som Lehnsgreve arrested 17 I 1772 condemned 27 IV 1772 beheaded København 28 IV 1772 unmarried |
| PARENTS | |
| 2 |
Adam Struensee
bapt. Neuruppin 8 IX 1708 Pfarrer in Halle 1732, Altona 1757-1760 Kgl. Generalsuperintendant v. Schleswig u. Holstein 1760-1791 Dr. theol. (h. c.) v. Halle 1757 + Rendsburg 20 VI 1791 m. Berleburg 8 V 1732 |
| 3 |
Maria Dorothea Carl
* Berleburg 31 VII 1716 + Schleswig 31 XII 1792 |
| GRANDPARENTS | |
| 4 |
Lorenz Struensee
* Neuruppin 1656 Tuchmachermeister Stadtdeputier in Neuruppin + Neuruppin 1736 m. |
| 5 |
Elisabeth Thomschläger
* + |
| 6 |
Johann Samuel Carl
* Oehringen 1656 1699 Dr. in Halle Hofmedikus des Grafen Isenburg-Stolberg Leibarzt des Grafen Wittgenstein-Berleburg 1736 Leibarzt König Christians VI v. Dänemark Justizrat + Meldorf 1757 m2. |
| 7 |
Johanne Sophie von Bülow
* + |
| GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | |
| 8 |
Christian Struensee
* 1620 Tuchmacher u. Gildemeister, Vierundzwanziger Neuruppin + 1674 m. 1644 |
| 9 |
Katharina Schäffer
* 1623 + Neuruppin 3 I 1705 |
| 10 |
Abraham Thomschläger
* + m. |
| 11 |
NN Witte
* + |
| 12 |
Johann Ernst Carl (Cärl)
* (1652) Apotheker in Oehringen (Franken) Bürger zu Marbach + 1706 m. |
| 13 |
Anna Maria Rapp
* 1665 + |
| GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | |
| 18 |
Lorenz Schäffer
* Pastor in Bantikow + m. |
| 19 |
Anna Geistorf
* + |
| 20 |
Heinrich Thomschläger
* Hamburg 24 IX 1600 Erbpächter a. Radensleben Rats- u. Kaufherr in Neuruppin + Neuruppin 23 V 1659 m. |
| 21 |
Anna Maria Metzmacher
* + |
| 24 |
Thomas Kerl
* Stadthauptmann zu Göttingen aus Kl. Lengden + m. |
| 25 |
Cathrin Kogeln ?
* + |
| 26 |
Johann Conrad Rapp
* Lat. Schul-Kollaborator zu Öhringen + m. |
| 27 |
Anna Maria Höninger
* + |
| GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | |
| 38 |
Samuel Geistorf
* Pastor in Wansdorf + m. |
| 39 |
NN
* + |
| 42 |
Abraham Metzmacher
* Handelsmann in Neuruppin + m. |
| 43 |
Elisabeth Stenger
* + |
| 54 |
Mag. Michael Höninger (Henniger)
* Schulpräzeptor + m. |
| 55 |
Magdalena Schuster
* + |
| GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | |
| GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | |
| GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | |
Heinrich Thomschläger m. Anna Maria Metzmacher
.Catharina Thomschläger m. Matthias Lietzmann
.Anna Lietzmann m. Jacob Lietzmann
.Joachim Lietzmann m. Sarah Schwerdtfeger
.Anna Elisabeth Lietzmann m. Carl Ämilius Müller
.Charlotte Elisabeth Müller m. Wilhelm Reinhard Böckel
.Johanna Elisabeth Böckel m. Anastasius Ludwig Mencke
.Wilhelmine Luise Mencke m. Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand v Bismarck
.OTTO Fst v BISMARCK (1815-1898), Deutscher Reichskanzler
For further details of this descent, see
F. W. Euler, "Die Ahnen des Fürsten Otto v. Bismarck",
Archiv für Sippenforschung,
31. Jahrgang, Mai 1965, Heft 18, S. 136-146.