OTD 15 October 1564 The extraordinary life of Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

October 15th. 1564 marks the birth of a very special and amusing boy.
He received the name Henry Julius.

Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Source picture: Wikipedia

His parents were Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and 

Hedwig of Brandenburg.

In 1589 Henry Julius succeeded his father as ruler of Wolfenbüttel 

(located in Germany).

The ruler of Wolfenbüttel married twice:

1/ Dorothea of Saxony  (they had 1 child)

2/ Elizabeth of Denmark  (they had 10 children)

In the years 1593 and 1594 he started to write plays. 

Henry Julius invited Robert Browne (an actor) and his theater company.

The ruler of Wolfenbüttel also was interested in architecture. He would

have designed the main building of University of Helmstedt.

But Henry lost control of the state's financing and caused large amounts

of public debt. 

On July 20th. 1613 Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg died in

Prague of alcohol abuse. He was buried in the cathedral of Wolfenbüttel. 

With his death the world lost a colorful person, who lived his own way...