Frederick IV (Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg)

Friedrich Karl was born in Braunfels Castle and became the first child in the family of Prince Casimir Wilhelm of Hesse-Homburg and his wife Countess Christina Charlotte of Solms-Braunfels , daughter of Count Wilhelm Moritz of Solms-Braunfels . Grandfather Friedrich - Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg .

Friedrich grew up first in the Braunfels fortress, then in Varela, received a comprehensive education of a humanist- Christian orientation and studied for several semesters at the University of Leiden .

In 1740, in Wesel, he was introduced to the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great , at the invitation of the king, he entered the Prussian army and took part in two Silesian wars . He distinguished himself in the siege of Brzeg and was promoted to captain . In 1744, Frederick participated in the attack on Bohemia and the capture of Prague . Here he fell ill and quit in 1745.

On October 10, 1746, in Hungen, Friedrich married Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels , daughter of Prince Frederick Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels . On June 8, 1746, the Landgrass of Hesse-Homburg Frederick III died in Holland, having outlived his sons and left no grandchildren. His second marriage remained childless, and therefore in Homburg he was succeeded by his nephew Frederick IV.

Its first ministers, Friedrich Karl von Moser and Casimir von Kreutz, tried to revitalize the financial system of Homburg, but Friedrich had to inherit the debts of Hesse-Homburg that his predecessors had done. Through his grandmother, Louise Elizabeth of Courland, Frederick IV claimed the duchy of Kurland after the extinction of the Ketler dynasty, but in 1737 Tsarina Anna Ioannovna transferred the duchy to Courland Ernst Johann Biron .

In 1747, the Hesse-Darmstadt senior line tried to regain Hesse-Homburg, the Darmstadt troops entered Homburg, the Landgrave Ludwig VIII requested custody of Frederick IV, who was already an adult, mature and married man. Litigation and complaints followed in the imperial court council and the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire . During these lawsuits, Frederick IV died in his twenty-eighth year of life from "breast disease." His son and heir Frederick V turned three years later a week later. Frederick IV is buried in the tomb of the Homburg Palace .

• Frederick V Ludwig (1748-1820), Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, married to Princess Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt
• Maria Christina (1748-1750)

• Johann Caspar Bluntschli: Deutsches Staatswörterbuch S. 180
• Johann I. von Gerning: Die Lahn- und Main-Gegenden von Embs bis Frankfurt S. 163 f.