Brandenburg-Schwedt
Brandenburg-Schwedt was a cadet line of the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg-Prussia who administered territories of the Holy Roman Empire in the north of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. They owned territories in Schwedt-Vierraden (Uckermark and Neumark) and Wildenbruch (Farther Pomerania), but did not have Imperial immediacy.
Overview
Because of a lack of money after the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, mortgaged the Schwedt region to the Count Gustav Adolf von Fahrensbach (Varrensback, Varensbeke) for 25,000 Thaler. Electress Dorothea Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the second wife of the elector, recovered the territory for 26,500 Thaler and granted it to her oldest son, Philip William. The youngest of her sons was Christian Ludwig, the honoree of the Brandenburg Concertos. Through the purchase of more estates, the territory was expanded to include three towns, three castles, 33 villages, and 24 farmsteads.
Dorothea dedicated herself to the reconstruction of the Castle at Schwedt after the Thirty Years' War, as well as the economic development of the town and its surroundings. Dutch experts and French Huguenots were invited to cultivate tobacco in the Spring of 1686. By the end of the 18th century, the Uckermark, with an area of 44 km², was the largest coherent tobacco-producing region of the Empire. Its three cigar factories were the most important economic driving forces in the region.
Margrave Philip William (ruled 1688-1711), intensively cultivated his dominions and furnished the castle at great expense. The brisk building activity was continued by his successor, Margrave Frederick William (ruled 1731-1771), who began to develop Schwedt into a country seat for the cadet line.
Philip William's youngest son, Frederick Henry (ruled 1771-1788), who was the last Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, developed Schwedt into a cultural center. After his death in 1788, the cadet line's territory reverted to the Kingdom of Prussia.
For a few years, beginning in 1794, the castle of Schwedt was the residence of King Frederick William II of Prussia's second son, Prince Frederick Louis Charles of Prussia.