Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Heinrich Julius (1589-1613), Thaler 1609, Zellerfeld Mint
Obverse: twelve-field coat of arms, above five knightly helmets
HENRICVS IVLIVS D G P EP HA DVX BRVNS ET LV
Reverse: in the rim a wild man holding a tree with his right hand, the left one resting on his hip
HONES TVM PRO PATRIA
Weight 28.62 g
Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick from 1589 of the Welfa dynasty, administrator of the Halberstadt bishopric from 1578 and the Minden bishopric from 1582–1585. He was the eldest son of Duke of Brunswick Julius and Jadwiga, daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg, Joachim II Hector. The prince gained great fame as a playwright. He staged his first Italian-style plays on the occasion of his own wedding. In 1590, he established contacts with the English itinerant theater and then hired actors from that country at home. Under their influence, he wrote a dozen or so plays, staged in Germany. He arranged a permanent theater stage at his court. Heinrich Julius's dramatic activity lasted until around 1600, he abandoned it in favor of politics. The prince was unpopular with his subjects because of the tax pressures he subjected them to. The city of Brunswick refused to obey him, despite the siege in 1606, he did not manage to subjugate him. He died on July 20 1613 in Prague.
