Count Adam Gottlob Moltke, Favorite of Frederik V, King of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2021

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

Count Adam Gottlob Moltke; Credit – Wikipedia

The Moltke family is an old German noble family from Mecklenburg, now in Germany. It has a Danish branch, whose members have played major roles in Danish history (link in German).  It was considered more important and more promising for young northern German noblemen to seek positions at the Danish court rather than at the courts of the German counties, duchies, and principalities.

King Frederik V as a child; Credit – Wikipedia

Adam Gottlob Moltke was born on November 10, 1710, in Walkendorf, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, to Joachim Moltke, who had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Danish Army, and Magdalene Sophia von Cothmann. One of Adam’s uncles was the stablemaster for Prince Carl of Denmark, younger brother of Frederik IV, King of Denmark. Caspar Gottlob Moltke, another uncle, was a county official for Møn, an island in south-eastern Denmark. Through the influence of his uncle Caspar, twelve-year-old Adam was employed as a page for Crown Prince Christian of Denmark in 1722. When Christian came to the throne in 1730 as Christian VI, King of Denmark, Adam was appointed chamberlain to Christian VI’s 7-year-old son Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik V). The close relationship between Adam and Frederik was established and lasted until Frederik’s death.

Sophie Hedvig von Raben, Moltke’s second wife; Credit – Wikipedia

Moltke married twice, first to Christiane Frederikke von Brüggemann (1712 – 1760), and after her death, he married Sophie Hedvig von Raben (1732 – 1802). From his two marriages, Moltke had 22 children, including 15 sons: five who became cabinet ministers, four who became ambassadors, two who became generals, and all of whom went into public service.

Moltke’s most important children:

  • Count Christian Frederik Moltke (1736 – 1771) – Deputy for Finance, Court Marshal, Privy Councilor
  • Catharine Sophie Wilhelmine Caroline Moltke (born 1737) – Lady-in-waiting to Louise of Great Britain, first wife of King Frederik V of Denmark
  • Count Caspar Herman Gottlob Moltke (1738 – 1800) – General of the Cavalry, Chamberlain
  • Ulrikke Augusta Vilhelmine Moltke (1740 – 1763) – Lady-in-waiting to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, second wife of King Frederik V of Denmark
  • Count Christian Magnus Frederik Moltke (1741 – 1813) – Lieutenant General of the Cavalry, Chamberlain
  • Count Frederik Ludvig Moltke (1745 – 1824) – Ambassador to Oldenburg, Privy Councilor
  • Count Joachim Godske Moltke (1746 – 1818) – Prime Minister, Privy Councilor
  • Count Adam Gottlob Ferdinand Moltke (1748 – 1820) – Vice Admiral, Chamberlain
  • Juliane Maria Frederica Moltke (1751 – 1773) – Lady-in-waiting to Louise of Great Britain, first wife of King Frederik V of Denmark
  • Count Gebhard Moltke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gebhard_Moltke (1764 – 1851) – Diocesan Governor in Trondheim, Kristiania, and Funen, Privy Councilor
  • Count Otto Joachim Moltke (1770 – 1853) – Prime Minister of Denmark
  • Count Carl Emil Moltke (1773-1858) – Ambassador to Stockholm, The Hague, and London, Privy Councilor

Bregentved House and Park; Credit – By Flemming – DSC_3077, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17112569

In 1746, when King Frederik V became King of Denmark, Moltke was appointed Court Marshal of Denmark and was made a Privy Councilor. In addition, Moltke was given the Bregentved estate in Haslev on the Danish island of Zealand and it is still owned by Moltke’s descendants. In 1750, Frederik V created Moltke a Count. Although Frederik V took part in the government by attending council meetings, he suffered from alcoholism, and therefore, most of his reign was dominated by his very able ministers led by Moltke and including Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff and Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann.

Christian VII’s Palace, formerly Moltke’s Palace; Credit – By archer10 (Dennis) – https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/3990370387/sizes/o/in/photostream/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15057703

Within a few years of the start of his reign, Frederik V started a project that would result in the Amalienborg, the home of today’s Danish royal family. The Amalienborg would be the centerpiece of Frederiksstaden, a district in Copenhagen built by Frederik V to commemorate the tercentenary of the House of Oldenburg’s ascent to the Danish throne in 1748 and the tercentenary of the coronation of Christian I, King of Denmark in 1749. Heading the project was Adam Gottlob Moltke. Four identical palaces were built on an octagonal square as homes for four distinguished noble families, including Moltke’s family. After Christiansborg Palace, the Danish royal family’s residence in Copenhagen, was destroyed in a fire in 1794, the noblemen who owned the four palaces of the Amalienborg were willing to part with them for promotion and money. Today’s Christian VII Palace was originally known as Moltke’s Palace.

Frederik V, King of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

While pregnant with her sixth child, Frederik V’s 27-year-old wife, Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, died on December 19, 1751, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark due to complications from a miscarriage. Moltke thought it would be a good idea if Frederik V married again, as soon as possible, in hopes of stabilizing his behavior. Frederik V preferred another British wife, but there was no British princess at an appropriate age. Moltke drew Frederik V’s attention to 22-year-old Princess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, daughters of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and the couple married in 1752.

In 1760, Frederik V broke his leg in a drunken accident, which affected his health for the rest of his life. Frederik V died in the arms of Moltke on January 14, 1766, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of 42. After the death of Frederik V, his mentally unstable son succeeded to the throne as Christian VII, King of Denmark. Christian VII did not like Moltke, and in July 1766, Moltke was dismissed from all his positions and he retired to his estate Bregentved.

Count Adam Gottlob Moltke, aged, 81, died at his estate Bregentved on September 25, 1792. He was buried at the Karise Kirke (link in Danish) in the Moltke family burial chapel in Fax, Denmark, nearby his estate Bregentved.

Karise Kirke, the burial site of Moltke; Credit – Af Claus B. Storgaard – Eget arbejde, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8304299

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Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adam Gottlob Moltke. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Gottlob_Moltke> [Accessed 15 November 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adam Gottlob Von Moltke. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Gottlob_von_Moltke> [Accessed 15 November 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adam Gottlob Moltke. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Gottlob_Moltke> [Accessed 15 November 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Amalienborg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalienborg> [Accessed 15 November 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. King Frederik V Of Denmark And Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-frederik-v-of-denmark/> [Accessed 15 November 2020].