Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was born in
Rudolstadt, the son of Prince
Louis Günther II of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and his wife Sophie Henriette, born Countess Reuss of Untergreiz (1711–1771). As a child, he began his natural history collection, which later went to the Natural History Museum of Rudolstadt. In 1757, he created the
Princely Natural History Collection at the
Ludwigsburg Castle in Rudolstadt. The collection was later enlarged, and in the 19th century, it occupied seven rooms in the castle. One of the first supervisors of the collection was
Christoph Ludwig Kämmerer. In 1919, the collection was moved to
Heidecksburg Castle. Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt corresponded with
Johann Heinrich Merck, among others, and let him have some
rhinoceros bones and other pieces from his collection for research. Frederick Charles also corresponded with
Johann August Ephraim Goeze (1731–1793), with the physician
Friedrich Martini, with the vicar
Johann Samuel Schröter (1735–1808) and with
Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch (1725–1778). He had personal and scientific relationships with his correspondents and kept their writings in the library of his Cabinet. Some of these writings were dedicated to him, for example the third volume of Martini's
conchology text, published in 1777, was dedicated to
His Princely Highness, the Crown Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, dedicated by his humble subject, the author. The second edition of
Jacob Theodor Klein's
Naturalis Dispositio; Echinodermatum was edited and revised by
Nathaniel Gottfried Leske and was also dedicated to Frederick Charles. In 1792, Frederick Charles built a theatre on the
green in Rudolstadt. It was inaugurated a few weeks after his death.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was its director from 1793 to 1803. It later evolved to form the Thuringia State Theatre in Rudolstadt. == Marriage and issue ==