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Heinrich, count von Brühl ((ポーランド語:Henryk Brühl), 13 August 1700 – 28 October 1763), was a Polish-Saxon statesman at the court of Saxony and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and a member of the powerful German von Brühl family. The incumbency of the ambitious politician went along with the decline of both states. Brühl was a skillful diplomat and cunning strategist, who managed to attain control over of Saxony and Poland, partly by controlling its king, Augustus III, who ultimately could only be accessed through Brühl himself. Polish historian and writer Józef Ignacy Kraszewski wrote a novel under the title ''Count Brühl'', in which he described Heinrich as an oppressive and stubborn dictator, who, with greed, but also great determination, unsuccessfully attempted to gain control of the entire nation.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Count Brühl )〕 It is widely believed that Brühl had Europe's largest collection of watches and military vests; attributed to him was also a vast collection of ceremonial wigs, hats and the largest collection of Meissen porcelain in the world. ==Career== Heinrich was born in Gangloffsömmern the son of Johann Moritz von Brühl, a noble who held the office of the ''Oberhofmarschall'' at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels (ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin), by his first wife Erdmuth Sophie v. d. Heide. His father was ruined and compelled to part with his family estate, which passed into the hands of the prince. Under Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels von Brühl was first placed as page with the dowager duchess, and was then received at her recommendation into the court of the Electorate of Saxony at Dresden as a ''Silberpage'' on 16 April 1719. He rapidly acquired the favour of the Elector Frederick Augustus I of Wettin, surnamed the Strong, who, in 1697, had been elected King of Poland (as Augustus II). Brühl was largely employed in procuring money for his extravagant master. He became Chief Receiver of Taxes and Minister of the Interior of Saxony in 1731. He was at Warsaw when his master died in 1733, and obtained the confidence of the Prince-Elector Frederick Augustus II, who was at Dresden at the time, by acquiring the papers and jewels of his late father and bringing them promptly to his successor. Von Brühl raised money to secure the election of Frederick Augustus II as Polish king (Augustus III the Saxon), who in the following War of the Polish Succession prevailed against his rival Stanisław I. During most of the thirty years of the ineffective reign of August III the Saxon, he was the major confidant of the king and the ''de facto'' head of the Saxon court. Reichsgraf since 27 November 1737, he had to acquiesce to the influence of old servants of the electoral house for a time, but after 1738 he was in effect sole minister, a position for which he actually had neither the skills nor the knowledge. The title of a Prime Minister was created for him in 1746, but as a classic court favourite his power extended beyond that office. Besides securing huge grants of land for himself, he acquired numerous titles, and he drew the combined salaries of these offices. He also worked closely with Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk of Kraków. Brühl had cunning and skill sufficient to govern his master and get rid of his rivals and succeeded in keeping everybody at a distance from the king. No servant entered the king's service without the consent of Brühl, and even when the king went to the chapel all approach to him was prevented. A typical interaction of the king with Brühl has the king loitering about smoking, and asking, without looking at his favorite, “Brühl, have I any money?” “Yes, sire,” was the continual answer, and to satisfy the king's demands, Brühl exhausted the state, plunged the country into debts and greatly reduced the army. Brühl kept 200 domestics; his guards were better paid than those of the king himself, and his table more sumptuous. Frederick II said of him, “Brühl had more garments, watches, laces, boots, shoes and slippers, than any man of the age. Caesar would have counted him among those curled and perfumed heads which he did not fear.” 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heinrich von Brühl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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