Born on 22 December 1597, he was the elder son of Duke
Johann Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp and Princess
Augusta of Denmark. His mother was the daughter of King
Frederick II of Denmark. |left He had ambitious plans concerning the development of sea trade. With this purpose he established
Friedrichstadt in 1621, in sympathy with city of
Glückstadt established in 1617 by
Christian IV of Denmark. Furthermore, he attempted to find a commercial way to
Russia and
Persia that would not pass around Africa. For this reason, he sent on 6 November 1633 the expedition from
Hamburg to
Moscow under the management of a commercial agent of
Otto Brüggemann and a ducal adviser,
Philipp Crusius, and with
Adam Olearius as secretary. On 14 August 1634, the delegation arrived at Moscow. Although it was not successful in concluding a commercial agreement with Tsar
Michael I of Russia, nevertheless, immediately after the return of the delegation to
Gottorp on 6 April 1635, Frederick began the preparation of the following expedition. In 1636, he sent his delegation to Persia, and in 1639,
Safi of Persia sent a return delegation with presents for the Duke. The difficult task of leading the country through the
Thirty Years' War confronted Frederick. He tried a policy of neutrality, which meant in practice the refusal of the union with
Denmark and inclinations toward
Sweden. In 1654, he hosted the recently abdicated
Christina, Queen of Sweden. She wrote to her successor to recommend two of his daughters as potential brides. Thus, he married his daughter
Hedvig Eleonora to King
Charles X Gustav of Sweden. Since the Swedish attempt at being the
Great Power ultimately failed, Frederick's pro-Swedish policy led to the weakening of the house of Holstein-Gottorp. Frederick as the patron of art and culture was more successful. Thus, he founded on 3 September 1642 together with Prince
Louis I of Anhalt-Köthen the
Fruitbearing Society. Furthermore, he contributed to the creation of the
Globe of Gottorf. The painter
Jürgen Ovens worked more than 30 years for him and his successor
Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp. ==Death==