Brunswick (family)

Brunswick (family), German ducal family, descended from Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, a scion of the Welf family. Henry's grandson, Otto the Child, was recognized as the first Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235, when the area was constituted a duchy. After the duchy was divided between two of Otto's sons, the family split, and the history of the House of Brunswick during the next four centuries is a bewildering succession of divisions and reunions, resulting in seven different branches of the family.

Ernest the Confessor, Duke of Lüneburg (1497-1546), may be regarded as the progenitor of the modern elder, or direct, line of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (later Brunswick), as well as the younger line of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later Hanover). The branch of Brunswick-Bevern succeeded the direct line in 1735. Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1629-98), married Sophia (1630-1714), granddaughter of King James I of England, and in 1692 he also became the first Elector of Hanover. His son succeeded to the throne of Great Britain as George I in 1714.

The ducal residence of the Brunswick-Bevern line was moved to Brunswick about 1754 by Duke Karl I (1713-1780). The succeeding dukes, all descended in a direct line from Duke Karl, were notable field marshals and diplomats. The elder line became extinct in 1884, at which time inheritance passed to the Hanover branch. Because the heir refused to recognize the new constitution of the German empire, however, the imperial government forbade the succession, and regents ruled until 1913. The last Duke of Brunswick, Ernest Augustus (1887-1953), was deposed in 1918.