| George August, Count of Nassau-Idstein | |
| Noble Family: | House of Nassau |
| Father: | John, Count of Nassau-Idstein |
| Mother: | Anna, Princess of Leiningen-Dagsburg |
| Spouse: | Henriette Dorothea of Oettingen |
| Birth Place: | Idstein |
| Death Place: | Biebrich |
George August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein (26 February 1665, in Idstein – 26 October 1721, in Biebrich) was Graf from 1677, and Prince from 1688 until his death, of Nassau-Idstein. He worked mainly in Wiesbaden.
Georg August was just 12 years old when his father John died in 1677. Two regents took up government: Count John Caspar of Leiningen-Dagsburg and Count John August of Solms. George August studied in Giessen, Strasbourg and Paris, and later in England and Brabant. During his Grand Tour, he visited several European courts; he was particularly impressed by the Palace of Versailles. In 1683, he participated in the defense of Vienna during the siege and battle of Vienna. One year later, he became the reigning count on his 18th birthday. On 4 August 1688, Emperor Leopold I raised him to Prince as a reward for his services at Vienna, and also because he had paid a large sum of money.[1] [2]
On 22 November, he married Princess Henriette Dorothea of Oettingen (born: 14 November 1672 in Oettingen in Bayern; died: 23 May 1728 in Wiesbaden) a daughter of Prince Albert Ernest I of Oettingen and Christiane Friederike of Württemberg. They had twelve children, three boys and nine girls. However, two of the girls and all three boys died in early childhood.[3]
The city of Wiesbaden and the whole county of Nassau-Idstein had suffered badly during the Thirty Years' War and again during the plague in 1675. Only a few dozen of the original 1800 inhabitants were still alive.[4] Under George August both experienced an enormous upswing. He initiated a number of construction projects. He completed the residential palace in Idstein, he constructed the Herrengarten park and the Pheasants Park in Wiesbaden, he constructed a French formal garden on thebanks of the Rhine at Biebrich and he remodeled the City Palace at Wiesbaden. A garden house was the only part of the future Biebrich Palace completed during his lifetime.[5]
George died of smallpox in August 1721, as did his two youngest daughters.[6]
The Georgenthal manor was named after him; the Henriettenthaler Hof manor was named after his wife.