(1604-1679)
Only 32 years of age, in 1636 Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen was appointed the General Governor and Commander in Chief of the Dutch possession of "Nieuw-Holland" in the Northeast of Brazil by the West Indian Company. In 1644, he returned to the Dutch military services and there rose up to become First Field Marshall.
He also remained in Dutch service when the Brandenburg elector had appointed him his governor of the west German Prussian territories (Kleve, Minden) in 1647. Together with Louise Henriette von Oranien, the Elector’s first wife, he became an intermediary for Dutch culture and Dutch expertise in Brandenburg.
In 1664 Prince Moritz von Nassau wrote the renowned sentence "daß gantze Eylandt mus ein paradis werden" (the whole island must become a paradise) in a letter to Frederick William. He counselled the Great Elector in all matters regarding the design of architecture and gardens, procured master builders, fortification constructors, artists and craftsmen for the Brandenburg royal court.
"Constructing, digging, planting", would have been his major interests, as Johann Moritz has mentioned in several of his letters. Because of his friendship with the Great Elector he was able to follow these interests in Potsdam and thus built the basis for our present day cultural landscape.
