Maurice Wilhelm succeeded his older brother Christian III Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg, when he died on 14 November 1694 after only twenty-five days of rule. As he was only six years of age at the time, his mother, the dowager duchess Erdmuthe Dorothea, acted as regent until he reached his majority in 1712. Until then, the administration of the duchy was supervised by the Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony. The custody of the young duke, whoever, was actually in the hands of the dowager duchess Erdmuthe Dorothea, who took an interest in the government of the duchy until 1709, and his uncle August, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig.
An enthusiastic violinist, he was known as the "Geigenherzog" (the violinist duke).
Fredericka Ulrike (b. and d. Merseburg, 23 June 1720).[1]
After his death at Merseburg, without male issue, he was succeeded by his uncle Heinrich.
Notes
^Officially recognized as his daughter, but in all probability she was fathered by Friedrich Carl von Pöllnitz, Henriette's lover.
References
Christoph Henzel: Zur Merseburger Hofmusik unter Herzog Moritz Wilhelm. In: Mitteldeutschland im musikalischen Glanz seiner Residenzen – Sachsen, Böhmen und Schlesien als Musiklandschaften im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Peter Wollny (ed.), Beeskow, 2005, pp. 95–105
