Otho von Braunschweig

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Duke Braunschweig (797 UC (488 IC / 3597 CE))
Gender:	Male
Affiliation:	Galactic Empire (Lippstadt League)
Rank:	Fleet admiral (Lippstadt League)
Flagship(s):	Berlin
Status:	Deceased (murder)
Died:	797 UC (488 IC / 3597 CE)
Played by:	Osamu Kobayashi (Deceased)

Otho von Braunschweig (Japanese: オットー・フォン・ブラウンシュヴァイク) was an Imperial Duke and the husband of Kaiser Friedrich IV's daughter Princess Amarie, being among the most influential high nobles at court during the waning years of the Goldenbaum Dynasty. A major opponent of the upstart Reinhard von Lohengramm, he stood for preserving the old order during the Imperial Civil War. Although he possessed much wealth and military might, Duke Braunschweig proved to be incompetent and came to be viewed as the personification of the decadence and decline of the Imperial nobility.

He was forced to commit suicide by his chief retainer shortly after the confederated aristocrat forces were defeated by Lohengramm.

Biography

Early life

Otho von Braunschweig was born into one of the most powerful aristocratic houses in the Galactic Empire and became active in politics during the late Goldenbaum Dynasty. He eventually married into the imperial family in the form of Princess Amarie, one of the two daughters of Emperor Friedrich IV. Their daughter, Elisabeth, was one of the potential claimants to the throne, although it was a family secret that she inherited a genetic disease which would prevent her from being able to ascend to the crown. (LOGH: 'New Trends', RET: 'Chapter IV', HBSHBL: 'The Night of the Party')

At court he became one of the staunch defenders of the Goldenbaum Dynasty and the power of the highborn aristocracy, although he found some of Kaiser Friedrich's actions disagreeable. As Reinhard von Lohengramm rose through the ranks Imperial navy during that time, Braunschweig opposed him, being against the Kaiser's decision to grand him a peerage title. (LOGH: 'The Klopstock Incident', Overture to a New War)

The Klopstock Incident

Braunschweig speaking with Klopstock (796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE))

In 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), Otho von Braunschweig held a birthday party for his daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth's father, 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 Duke 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. Presumably, Duke Braunschweig would gain the obligation of the marquis for any future favours. Despite his dislike of Reinhard von Lohengramm, the duke also invited the young fleet admiral to the party. (LOGH: 'The Klopstock Incident')

Thirty years prior, Klopstock had supported Clementz von Goldenbaum as Kaiser, rather than Friedrich IV. In retaliation, Marquis Klopstock and his entire family were banished from the Imperial Court. It was not the kaiser who banished Klopstock, but the kaiser's retainers who used the kaiser's name to banish Klopstock. As one of Friedrich IV's chief supporters and as his son-in-law, Duke Braunschweig was the single most powerful and influential noble in the Empire, rivaled only by Marquis Wilhelm von Littenheim. Klopstock intended to get revenge on them all. (LOGH: 'The Klopstock Incident')

The night of the party, Marquis Klopstock prepared an explosive device disguised as a cane, and timed it to explode at 7:00 pm, shortly after Kaiser Friedrich IV's expected arrival. The plot ended up failing as someone removed the cane from the main ballroom, saving the lives of Braunschweig, Lohengramm, and everyone else present. Incidentally, the emperor had come down with a stomach ache and did not even arrive at the party, returning to Neue Sansouci. Klopstock committed suicide upon learning about this later that night. (LOGH: 'The Klopstock Incident')

The Imperial Civil War

The Lippstadt League conspired against the Imperial Government, planning to launch a pre-emptive assault on the Imperial Capital to arrest both Duke Klaus von Lichtenlade and Reinhard von Lohengramm. Information of the planned coup leaked to Lohengramm's admiralty, however, and he moved immediately to arrest the conspirators for treason. Immediately prior to this, Duke Braunschweig rejected a suggestion by Anton Fellner to assassinate Lohengramm and to capture his sister, Annerose von Grünewald, instead preferring to face Lohengramm in open conflict. Duke Braunschweig's insistence on overcoming Lohengramm in direct battle was based on the motive of establishing a political advantage in the expected following struggle with Marquis Wilhelm von Littenheim for control of the throne. The Lippstadt League's plans were cut short and the Imperial Civil War began when Lohengramm pre-emptively moved to arrest the members of the Lippstadt League.

Of the total 3760 High Nobles that joined the Lippstadt League, 625 were arrested, but the ringleaders of the conspiracy, Marquis Littenheim and Duke Braunschweig, managed to escape Odin. Together, they fled to Geiersburg Fortress and marshalled their forces, determined to settle things with Lohengramm on the field of battle. (LOGH: 'The Lippstadt Conspiracy')

Duke Braunschweig had initially planned to station forces at 9 bases between Odin and Geiersburg Fortress, thinking the Lohengramm forces would exhaust themselves assaulting each base in series and stretch their supply lines. High Admiral Willibald Joachim von Merkatz, the military commander of the Lippstadt forces, opposed this dispersion of forces arguing the bases could be isolated and cut off. He instead proposed that the Lippstadt forces wholly retreat to Geiersburg to consolidate power in an impenetrable fortress. Admiral Staden tried to one-up Merkatz with adding an additional plan of sending a sortie against Odin to capture and then "protect" the infant Kaiser. However when chosen to implement this plan, Staden was defeated. Staden retreated to Rentenberg Fortress where Ovlesser commanded a force of Imperial armoured infantry. The Lippstadt fleet was defeated outside the fortress, but was pursued so closely upon their retreat that fortress guns could not fire for fear of hitting friendly ships. Despite some initial setbacks at the hands of Ovlesser, the fortress eventually fell to Reinhard's forces and Ovlesser was captured. He was released to return to Geiersburg Fortress, but as he was the sole prisoner released, Duke Braunschweig suspected (falsely) that Ovlesser was a traitor and had him killed, sowing the seeds of internal suspicion and doubt within the rest of the Lippstadt League. (LOGH: 'Bloodshed in Space')

The Lippstadt League's sole military success came during the brief period Merkatz was allowed free rein to fight as he chose, resulting in Merkatz forcing Admiral Oskar von Reuenthal into withdrawing from the Schann-tau system. However Merkatz's authority was undermined by the division of Lippstadt forces without his notification. Braunschweig had allowed Marquis Wilhelm von Littenheim to take a third of the Lippstadt forces ostensibly to regain control over rebellious frontier fiefs. The political rivalry between Braunschweig and Littenheim was longstanding and the ulterior motive of this was to get Littenheim away from Geiersberg Fortress. Littenheim would ultimately be defeated and Geiersburg Fortress itself would come under siege by Lohengramm forces. The final straw for Merkatz was when Braunschweig declined to punish insubordinate nobles that had sortied from the fortress without permission. Despite his loss of control as the Lippstadt military commander, Merkatz still rescued Braunschweig when the duke personally led an ill-advised offensive against the besieging Lohengramm forces that resulted in the Lippstadt League losing yet more of its ships. (LOGH: 'Courage and Loyalty')

The Westerland Massacre was a critical turning point in the Imperial Civil War. The planet Westerland was part of the territory held by Duke Braunschweig. In the aftermath of military setbacks, the Lippstadt League began heavier resource extraction from the territories under its control in order to prepare for an anticipated siege of their main base, Geiersburg Fortress. On Westerland, this resulted in the commoners rising up in revolt and Duke Braunschweig's nephew Baron Scheidt was killed in the ensuing struggle. (LOGH: 'The Fall of Goldenbaum')

Enraged by the death of his relative at the hands of commoners, Duke Braunschweig decided to make an example of the entire planet by launching nuclear missiles at it. The use of nuclear weapons on inhabited worlds had been a taboo since the Thirteen Day War. He overruled his aide, Commodore Ansbach, who had advocated a more selective policy of punishing only the ringleaders of the rebellion. (LOGH: 'The Fall of Goldenbaum')

When Duke Braunschweig launched a final desperate attack against the besieging Lohengramm forces, Merkatz participated despite knowing the attack was a poor tactical decision. The Lippstadt forces were dramatically weakened from poor morale and numerous desertions in the aftermath of the Westerland Massacre. When the Lohengramm forces counterattacked, a swift collapse of the Lippstadt forces ensued and Geiersburg Fortress fell due to internal insurrection. Cut off from returning to the fortress by Lohengramm forces, Merkatz initially planned to commit suicide as he would not serve under Marquis Lohengramm, having previously sworn loyalty to the Goldenbaum Dynasty. Merkatz was persuaded by his subordinate, Bernhard von Schneider, to seek refuge with Yang Wen-li in the Free Planets Alliance instead. (LOGH: 'The Fall of Goldenbaum')

Legacy

Duke Braunschweig epitomized the final decadence and incompetence of the nobility of the Galactic Empire, under the rule of the Goldenbaum dynasty. Having inherited vast wealth and territory from birth, he took for granted his power and station. He valued bloodline and pedigree and scorned those of lower birth than him. He was biased towards the nobility, even when they had transgressed military law. Arrogant, he refused to listen to advisors and insisted on meddling in military affairs despite his own lack of ability. He viewed the people under his rule as his own personal property, to be treated and if need be killed in any fashion he wanted, and took the loyalty of his retainers for granted. (LOGH: 'The Lippstadt Conspiracy', 'Courage and Loyalty', 'The Fall of Goldenbaum')

His actions in causing the Westerland Massacre forever lost the high nobles and the Goldenbaum dynasty any support they might have had from the rest of the population. (LOGH: 'The Fall of Goldenbaum')

Personal life

It was a suppressed fact that his daughter Elizabeth von Braunschweig, as well as the daughter of his ally Marquis Littenheim, Sabine von Littenheim, had inherited a genetic disease via their mothers (Amarie and Christine), who were sisters. Under the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act, this would have made Sabine and Elizabeth ineligible for the throne, and would have disgraced both Duke Braunschweig and Marquis Littenheim. (RET: 'Chapter IV')

Appendices

Apocrypha

• Otho is a mistranslation/misspelling of the common German given name Otto, which was famously held by Otto von Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia who played an instrumental role in the unification of Germany in 1871.
• Braunschweig is the name of a city in the Lower Saxony region and a former German state that existed prior to the formation of the German Empire. The medieval dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg were descended from the Guelphs themselves.

Appearances

Name variations

• Otho von Braunschweig (DVD subtitles)
• Otto von Braunschweig (LD subtitles)
• ブラウンシュヴァイク公 オットー (LD/DVD subtitles — Japanese)