Heinrich (Solms-Braunfels)

Heinrich von Solms-Braunfels (called Trajectinus ) (born January 11, 1638 in Utrecht , † July 19, 1693 in the Battle of Neerwinde ) was the ruling Count of Solms-Braunfels and an officer in the Dutch and English services.

Early years

His father was Count Johann Albrecht II. The mother was Anna Elisabetha (née Countess von Falkenstein ). The son was born in Utrecht (hence the nickname Trajectinus after the Latin name Traiectum of this city) because the family that had supported the Elector and Winter King Friedrich V of the Palatinate had to flee there. The father later served in the Dutch military and made it up to the commander of the artillery. The province of Utrecht was the godfather of the son; from her he received a lifelong pension of 500 guilders a year. One aunt was Amalie zu Solms-Braunfels , the wife of Friedrich Heinrich von Oranien . His father died in 1647. Only after the end of the Thirty Years' War could the family return to Braunfels , which was devastated by the war . The mother moved back to Utrecht in 1649. Count Heinrich lived for a while with his aunt Amalie, who took him to various farms. He then attended high school in Harderwijk . In 1653 he left school and went via Utrecht to The Hague to the court of Princess Amalie, with whom he lived for a year and whom he accompanied on her travels.

In order to be able to take over the Solms infantry regiment set up by his father as owner, owner and colonel, he was made familiar with the craft of war. In 1654 he went to his cousin, Count Friedrich von Dohna , who was governor of Orange , for military training . He then traveled through Germany and France. In between 1656 he only returned temporarily to the County of Braunfels to fulfill his duties as sovereign.

In 1658 he took part in the election and coronation of Leopold I in Frankfurt. He then lived in Braunfels and devoted himself, among other things, to the expansion of the castle and the water supply. He did the business of government conscientiously, but also found time to hunt.

In 1664 he set up a company of riders. With the rank of Rittmeister in the Nassau district regiment on the Upper Rhine, he took part in the Turkish Wars in Hungary. He soon had to return due to an illness.

Officer and sovereign

In 1667, during the War of Devolution , he commanded a Dutch infantry regiment. A year later he switched to the cavalry to take over an infantry regiment again in 1672. He took part in the Dutch War since 1674 . On May 9th of that year he was appointed Major General and Colonel of the Whole Guard on Foot (Gardes te Voet) . In this his regiment was absorbed. He also became governor of Nijmegen . He took part with the guards in the Battle of Seneffe in August 1674 . Wounded, he was captured by the opposing French. In Paris he was politely received by Louis XIV . To show that he was in favor of him, the king issued a French letter of protection for the county of Solms-Braunfels.

From 1676 Count Heinrich the Commander of the Teutonic Order in Utrecht. In 1677 he again took part in acts of war. A short time later he accompanied William of Orange to England to marry Maria , the daughter of King James II of England . In 1678, under William III. participated in the battle of Saint-Denis .

After the Solms-Hungische Line died out in 1678 , part of its territory fell to him. In 1679, Braunfels Castle and other buildings in the area burned down. Thereupon von Solms started the reconstruction. However, this could only be completed under his successor. In 1683 he asked for the hand of Countess Carola Henrica zu Solms-Laubach , whom he married in September of that year. The marriage remained childless.

Glorious Revolution and War of the Palatinate Succession

In 1683 he was promoted to lieutenant general. During the expedition to England in the course of the Glorious Revolution of 1688/89, von Solms commanded the entire infantry. He was one of the first to set foot on English soil with a small group of grenadiers. He was commissioned to march to London with twenty companies of infantry and 16 squadrons of cavalry. Since not all of the troops were available in a hurry, Count Heinrich set out with only 1,500 men. His mission was to occupy Whitehall and St James's Palace and capture his father-in-law, the previous king , and instruct him to leave England immediately. Since his guards hadn't put up any serious resistance, he succeeded. The deposed king drove to the coast on the royal barge, escorted by Count Heinrich's troops, from where he embarked for France.

William III. , the new king, made him English general of the infantry (general over all of our foot forces) against his will, only to serve as a Dutch military leader . Count Heinrich fought as a general in Ireland and distinguished himself in 1690, among other things, in the Battle of the Boyne . After a short time in his own county in 1691, he took part in the grand coalition war. He lost both legs in the battle of Neerektiven and died on the battlefield. His body was transferred to Braunfels and buried in the castle church.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The ADB does not seem to be very reliable with regard to the person; a. another nickname and probably wrong date of birth. Pieter Lodewijk Muller:  Solms-Braunfels, Heinrich Maastricht Count of . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, p. 580 f.

literature

• Michael McNally, Graham Turner: Battle of the Boyne 1690: The Irish Campaign for the English Crown. Oxford 2005, p. 45.
• Rudolph zu Solms-Laubach: History of the Count and Princely House of Solms . C. Adelmann, Frankfurt am Main 1865 ( digitized version [accessed on February 2, 2014]).