John. In 1592, all the brothers agreed to entrust the government of the whole realm (with limitation) to Ernest, initially for eight years, and in 1600 for a further ten. Then in 1610, they agreed that the Principality of Lüneburg and all its dependencies should be his and his descendants as an indivisible whole. However, after Ernest's death in 1611, and given the difficulty of ever new divisions, the remaining brothers made another agreement in 1612. Under this new arrangement, each of the brothers would exercise power in succession, but only one of them would marry a woman of appropriate rank (so only their children could inherit). This would continue the ducal lineage and maintain the unity of the Principality. They drew lots: the lot fell to the second youngest brother, George, who married Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1617. New House of Lüneburg After the death of George's brother Frederick of Lüneburg, George's eldest son Christian Louis inherited Lüneburg in 1648 and became the founder of the new line of Lüneburg. In 1665, Christian Louis died, and was temporarily succeeded by George's third son John, who usurped the throne over George's second son George William, who then held the Principality of Calenberg. George William soon displaced John in Lüneburg, but had to cede Calenberg to John, and also the Principality of Grubenhagen, which had been acquired by the House of Lüneburg in 1617. George William, often called the "heath duke" (Heideherzog), led the princely court during its final flourish. During his reign the baroque theatre was built that is still open today, the French Garden was laid out and palace façade designed in its current baroque form. After his death in 1705, George of Hanover, who was both the benefactor of Georges William's 1658 renunciation in favour of his younger brother Ernest Augustus and the husband of George William's morganatic daughter Sophie Dorothea, inherited the state of Lüneburg, which was merged into the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg and finally lost its independence. Welf side lines In the 16th century several Welf secondary lines emerged which received their own territories: Harburg Following his marriage to lady-in-waiting Metta von Campen in 1527, Duke Otto relinquished his participation in the government of the principality, and was compensated with the Amt of Harburg as his own territorial lordship. Harburg remained an integral part of the principality; the ducal chancery in Celle continued to be