Wilhelm von Klopstock

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Revision as of 20:50, 8 December 2013

Marquis Klopstock (Japanese: クロプシュトツク侯爵) was a disgraced former member of the Imperial High Nobility, who died by suicide after a failed assassination attempt on Kaiser Friedrich IV in 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE).

Deeply bitter toward Kaiser Friedrich IV and Duke Otho von Braunschweig, Marquis Klopstock blamed them for the untimely death of his only son and heir, Johann von Klopstock.

The Klopstock Incident

In 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), Duke Braunschweig held a birthday party for his daughter, Elizabeth von Goldenbaum. Elizabeth's grandfather, Kaiser Friedrich IV, was expected to attend the party. The disgraced Imperial Marquis Klopstock presented Duke Braunschweig with a magnificent portrait of Rudolf von Goldenbaum, and in return Braunschweig allowed Klopstock to attend the party, ostensibly so that the Marquis could entreat Kaiser Friedrich IV to allow his grandchildren back into the Imperial Court, but his real motive was to gain revenge.

Thirty years prior, Klopstock had supported Clementz von Goldenbaum as Kaiser, rather than Friedrich IV. In retaliation, once he was Kaiser Friedrich IV banished Marquis Klopstock and his entire family from the Imperial Court. Ostracized by noble society for decades, the Klopstock family declined and Klopstock's son and heir died an early death. Klopstock rationalized his own desire for revenge as for the good of the Empire and the Goldenbaum Dynasty, and condemned Friedrich IV as a libertine being led astray in matters of state by Duke Braunschweig.

The night of the party, Marquis Klopstock prepared an explosive device disguised as a cane, and timed it to explode at 7:00pm, shortly after Kaiser Friedrich IV's expected arrival. When Klopstock left the estate, Siegfried Kircheis (who had not been allowed inside due to his common birth) noticed that he had left the cane inside. En route to the party, Friedrich IV developed a stomachache en route to the party(possibly, he drank too much) and returned to Neue Sanssouci

Suspicious of the missing cane, Siegfried Kircheis attempted to enter the estate but was not initially allowed inside. Braunschweig's aide, Commodore Ansbach, offered to summon Reinhard von Lohengramm to the door, but the cane exploded before he could do so. Fortunately, moments before the explosion, the cane had been removed from the main ballroom, preventing the deaths of Reinhard von Lohengramm, Magdalena von Westfalen, Baron Flegel and Duke Braunschweig.

Marquis Klopstock learned of his failure to kill either Braunschweig or Friedrich IV and set his home on fire, killing himself, to avoid being arrested. The Imperial security forces there to arrest Klopstock, led by captain Anton Fellner, refused to douse the flames because there was a statue of Rudolph von Goldenbaum in front of the gate: breaking through (and damaging the statue) would be have been seen as disrespecting the first Kaiser. (LOGH: 'The Klopstock Incident')

Aftermath

The incident had very nearly killed Reinhard if not for the lucky removal of the cane. The incident was also an example of the power struggles that accompanied each new Kaiser's succession to the throne, and the subsequent monopoly on power held by the new Kaiser's noble supporters. Friedrich IV's attendance at Duke Braunschweig's social function was also part of a balancing act between Friedrich IV's two son-in-laws, Duke Braunschweig and Marquis Littenheim. The two nobles were rivals and Friedrich IV played one off the other by showing both of them favour through visits to their estates, though Lichtenlade had commented that Friedrich IV had been showing more favour to Duke Braunschweig of late. (LOGH: 'The Klopstock Incident')