Carl zu Solms-Braunfels
Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Ludwig Georg Alfred Alexander Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels , called Texas Carl (* 27. July 1812 in Neustrelitz ; † 13. November 1875 at Schloss Rheingrafenstein at Kreuznach ) was imperial Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal Lieutenant and founder of the settlement New Braunfels , Comal County in Texas ( USA ).
family
Carl zu Solms-Braunfels came from the noble family of the Prinzen zu Solms-Braunfels , a line of the noble family Solms , and was the youngest son of Friedrich Wilhelm Prince zu Solms-Braunfels (1770–1814) and Friederike von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1778– 1841).
He secretly married Louise Beyrich in a morganatic marriage in 1834 , but separated from her again at the beginning of 1841 - probably under pressure from the family - and brought about (together with apanage ) her elevation as Louise von Schönau to the grand-ducal Hessian nobility (Darmstadt on March 25, 1841 ). With Louise he had the three children Marie (* 1835), Karl (* 1837) and Melanie (* 1840). Son Karl was enrolled in the royal Bavarian aristocratic class on March 20, 1912 as Karl von Schoenau, a privateer in Munich .
Returned from Texas, Solms married on December 3, 1845 in Bendorf am Rhein (Rhineland-Palatinate) Sophie Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (born August 9, 1814 in Neustadt am Main , Lower Franconia, Bavaria; † January 9, 1876 in Kreuznach ), widowed Princess zu Salm-Salm , the daughter of Prince Constantin zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg and Maria Kreszentia Countess von Königsegg-Rothenfels, and had two sons and three daughters with her.
Princess Sophie had previously had her first marriage on March 24, 1841 in Kleinheubach (Miltenberg district, Bavaria) Franz Josef Prince zu Salm-Salm (* July 5, 1801 in Herten , Recklinghausen district, North Rhine-Westphalia; † December 31, 1842 in Bonn ) got married.
Life
Youth in Germany
Solms, related to the English, Prussian, Russian and Belgian royal houses, learned three languages and the legal system , but had to embark on an officer career. In 1839 he was sentenced to four months in prison by a Prussian military court for "absence from the troops" .
After his morganatic marriage to Louise Beyrich, who later became Louise von Schönau, was resolved in 1841, he joined the Austro-Hungarian army immediately - or better: he had to do so under pressure from the Princely House to avoid further family shame - and became captain there ( Captain ) of the cavalry . After several combat missions he was in Biebrich am Rhein in garrison and started for Texas to take an interest, especially the issue of emigration in this "promised land" was through different books just very timely.
Solms became a founding member of the " Association for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas ", which was founded by 21 noblemen in Biebrich on April 20, 1842 and which was also known for short as the " Mainzer Adelsverein " due to its proximity to Mainz .
Stay in Texas
Solms took a year off from the army and went to the United States on behalf of this association as its first general commissioner. First he traveled with his company - including the 19-year-old hussar - officer Hans von Specht - to Liverpool (England), which he left for North America on May 19. On May 31st, he reached Boston , Massachusetts. Along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers , the train came to New Orleans (Louisiana) and finally reached Galveston , Texas on July 1, 1844 . Solms was assigned to procure land in Texas. In Matagorda Bay he founded a port called "Carlshafen", which was intended for the arrival of the settlers and was later named Indianola . In December, Solms received the first 200 families there who had arrived after a 10-week crossing; however, many of the passengers did not survive the rigors of the journey. To make matters worse, there was still no country. It was not until March 18, 1845 that Solms bought 500 hectares of land directly at the confluence of the Comal River and Guadalupe River on the road from San Antonio to Austin , on which the town of Neu-Braunfels ( New Braunfels ) - the fourth largest city in Texas by the 1850s.
Officer of two armies
Solms returned to Germany on May 15, 1845, after being successfully replaced by Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach , and rejoined the army. A year later (1846) he left the Austrian army and moved to the Grand Ducal Hessian army as a lieutenant colonel . But in 1850 he returned to the Austrian army and became in 1859 commander of dragoons - Brigade on Lake Constance . In the German War of 1866 fought Solms as Austro-Hungarian major general and brigade commander of the 1st Reserve Cavalry - Division in the 10th Army - Corps under the command of Field Marshal Ludwig Freiherr von Gablenz and participated in the June 27, 1866 in Battle Wysokow (today: Vysokov , Czech Republic).
retirement
In 1868 Solms resigned from the Austro-Hungarian army with the rank of field marshal lieutenant and colonel owner of the Kuk Galizisch-Bukowina'schen Dragoon Regiment "Archduke Albrecht" No. 9 and retired to his castle Rheingrafenstein near Kreuznach an der Nahe .
Solms died on November 13, 1875 and was buried in the Kreuznach city cemetery.
His companions, but also historians, gave him the nicknames " Texas-Carl ", " Texas Don Quixote " or " Last Knight of the Middle Ages ", with which his character and temperament are comprehensively described.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Source: Genealogical Handbook of Adels , Adelslexikon Volume XIII, Volume 128 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2002.
- ↑ See: Stammliste des Haus Solms
literature
- Original reports from Prince Carl zu Solms-Braunfels, Plenipotentiary General of the Mainz Adelsverein, from October 25th, 1844 to April 30th, 1845 regarding the founding of New Braunfels, Texas. In: Calendar of the "Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung" for 1916, pp. 18-19.
Web links
- Literature by and about Carl zu Solms-Braunfels in the catalog of the German National Library
- Literature list in the online catalog of the Berlin State Library
- Biography and Bibliography in the Handbook of Texas
- Course of the battle near Wysokow on June 27, 1866
- Mainzer Adelsverein and Texas (1844/1845) ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Texas. Described in relation to his geographical, social and other conditions with special attention to the Deurtsche colonization. A Handbook for Emigrants To Texas ...
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Solms-Braunfels, Carl zu |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Solms-Braunfels, Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Ludwig Georg Alfred Alexander Prince zu (full name); Texas-Carl (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 27, 1812 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Neustrelitz |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 13, 1875 |
| Place of death | Rheingrafenstein Castle near Kreuznach |