Background
He was born in Sønderborg (Duchy of Schleswig), and came from a noble lineage.
He was born in Sønderborg (Duchy of Schleswig), and came from a noble lineage.
After the Thirty Years" War, he studied at the University of Helmstedt and the University of Leiden and then went traveling. From 1665, he was privy councilor and chamberlain of initially Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and then the duke"s younger brother and successor, Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover. He died in Hamburg in the midst of negotiations with Denmark over Saxe-Lauenburg.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz wrote a couplet on his death.