Georges-Auguste d'Erbach-Schönberg

## Comte d'Erbach-Schönberg

Georges-Auguste, Comte d'Erbach-Schönberg, by Antoine Pesne, c.1750.

### Issue

Georges II LouisFrançois-CharlesCaroline-ErnestineChrétien-Adolphe Auguste-FrédériqueGeorges II AugusteCharles-EugèneLouise-Éléonore CasimirGustav Ernst

### Religion

Protestant-Lutheranism

**Georges-Auguste d'Erbach-Schönberg** (17 June 1691 – 29 March 1758) was a Franconian nobleman from the House of Erbach and the reigning **Comte d'Erbach-Schönberg** from 1717 until his death. A powerful and omnipotent figure among the Franconian nobility within the expanses of the Holy Roman Empire, Georges-Auguste did not go unnoticed in the zeitgeist of Imperial politics, despite his modest status as an Imperial Count. The scion of an ancient Franconian noble house, his father, Georges-Albert II had been an infantry officer in the Imperial Army during the Thirty Years' War, becoming Colonel of the Franconian Regiment. Franconia, like many other regions in the Empire, had been ravaged by the dreadful conflict. As a result of the war and consequential intrigues, compounded with the strained financial situation in the land. For in 1717, when his father succumbed to an old wound that became gangrenous, Georges-Auguste inherited the Comital throne at an uncertain time. Whereas the family fortune had withered, their pride and reputation remained intact.

Through all the benefits of youth, coupled with a strong desire to learn, Georges-Auguste looked not to Vienna for the science of consolidating his realm, but to Berlin. Having been on the Grand Tour when he received word of his father's demise, Georges-Auguste had been in Potsdam at a troop review being held by the infamous Soldier King of Prussia, **Frédéric-Guillaume I**. The tree of patience had just become ripe. Whereas his father aligned himself with Vienna and Imperial politics, Georges-Auguste sought to emulate Prussia's military might and Frédéric-Guillaume's diligence as a frugal- although effective- ruler. Notwithstanding old family connections, however, Georges-Auguste was able weave a clean path of favour between both the Emperor and the King. It was through the intervention of the great saviour of the Empire, **Eugène de Savoie**, that in 1726, Georges-Auguste was able to procure the presidency of the College of Imperial Counties of Franconia. The revered Field Marshal-turned Chancellor, mistrustful of France, sought to install a youthful and diligent incumbent to govern Franconia in consideration for a potential rebuke from France following the aftermath of the Treaty of Vienna that was being ratified that year. In everything but name, this office effectively enabled Georges-Auguste to become the de-facto political figurehead of Franconia.

Despite a provincial upbringing, not the least because of his father's military service, but rather the family's financial circumstances, Georges-Auguste could perhaps be described as a perpetually curious figure. His childhood was marked by a rigorous and staunchly Lutheran education; a blend of classical studies and exposure to the enlightened ideas that were sweeping through Europe at the time. His intellectual prowess and passion for learning would serve him well, however, as he later rose to modest prominence as a politician. Upon his ascension, his reign would be marked as a merry combination of tradition with progressive change, influenced by his time spent abroad.