Schloss Osnabrück
Long before Sophie of Hanover became famous as the heiress presumptive to the crowns of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland under the Act of Settlement 1701, she and her husband, the future Elector Ernst August, lived in Osnabrück. Ernst August, who was born as the fourth son and thus originally had little prospect of becoming ruler, had become the Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück in 1662, four years into his marriage with Sophie of the Palatinate. According to the Peace of Westphalia, every second incumbent of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück was to be appointed by the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, thus often alternating between Catholic and Protestant rulers. Like his predecessors, Ernst August took up residence at Schloss Iburg, a former Benedictine abbey outside of Osnabrück. However, to better suit his tastes, Ernst August soom commissioned a residential palace in the heart of the city. Ernst August thus bought plots of land in the city's new town and in 16...