Nikolaus Leopold zu Salm-Salm

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Grave monument of Nikolaus Leopold zu Salm-Salm (flanked by images of his two wives) in St. Catherine's Church in Hoogstraten, Belgium

Nikolaus Leopold Prince of Salm-Salm, Duke of Hoogstraeten, Wild and Rhine Count (born January 25, 1701 in Nancy , † February 4, 1770 at Hoogstraeten Castle near Antwerp ) was a scion of the widespread noble house Salm . Through inheritance, relationships and skilful negotiations, he gained admission to the imperial princehood , sovereignty over the principality of Salm-Salm in the Vosges and the possession of lucrative lands.

His ancestors came from the Immediate Counts of the Wild and the Rhine , descendants of the Counts of Salm, which can be traced back to the 11th century. 1623 Count Philipp Otto zu Salm , Wild and Rhine Count , was raised to the hereditary imperial prince status. Thus, a branch of the family was raised to princes of Salm. In 1654, as sovereign princes, they received a seat and vote in the Imperial Princes College . By marriage in 1645 they came into the possession of the Anholt estate in Westphalia .

Inheritance from the Duchy of Hoogstraeten near Antwerp

Coudenberg Palace

Nikolaus Leopold's grandmother, Marie Gabrielle Lalaing (approx. 1640–1709), was the last descendant of the Counts of Hoogstraeten in Brabant . In 1657 she married the Wild and Rhine Count Karl Florentin (1638–1676), the trendsetter in Rheingrafen trousers . Her son Wilhelm Florentin (1670–1707) married Maria Anna von Mansfeld (1680–1724). As her firstborn, Nikolaus Leopold inherited the county of Hoogstraeten, which was elevated to a duchy. The Counts of Hoogstraeten once owned the Hoogstraeten town house in Brussels , from which the later Coudenberg Palace emerged . Today the historical remains of the palace, which burned down in 1731, form an archaeological site. It lies under Place Royale, Rue Royale and some of the surrounding buildings. The palace had been one of Charles V's main residences in Brussels.

Inheritance Grafschaft Salm with residence Schloss Anholt in Westphalia

Residence Schloss Anholt in Westphalia

On March 25, 1719, when he was 18 years old, Nikolaus Leopold married his relative Dorothea Franziska Agnes von Salm (1702–1751) at Anholt Castle . With that he was again entitled to inheritance. His 17-year-old wife was the eldest daughter of Prince Ludwig Otto zu Salm and Princess Albertine Johanna, a princess of Nassau-Hadamar (1679–1716). Since they only had female descendants, his father-in-law's old princely line of Salm ended in the male line. With his wedding, Nikolaus Leopold reunited both branches of the noble house of Salm, the Rhine and Wildgrafen. After the death of his father-in-law, he inherited the county of Salm in the Vosges. On January 14, 1739, he was accepted into the imperial prince's rank . His residence was the Anholt domain . On January 6, 1740 he became the hereditary Dutch Duke of Hoogstraeten. In 1743 the emperor granted him the hereditary title of Prince of Salm-Salm. Since then the official title has been Prince of Salm, Prince of Salm-Salm, Wild and Rhine Count .

Colonel and first leader of the Graf Salm regiment from 1738 to 1739

When the Polish King August II died in 1733 and the War of the Polish Succession broke out, Austria felt compelled to raise new troops. With patent by Emperor Karl VI. On November 4, 1733, the President of the Court War Council, Prince Eugene of Savoy , issued a letter of appointment for troop levies to Nikolaus Leopold, Count von Salm. He was ordered to raise a regiment of 2,300 men. This regiment was called, according to the customs of the time, "Regiment Graf Salm" . From 1733 to 1734 Nikolaus Leopold Rheingraf von Salm served here as the first colonel . In 1769 the previous practice of naming regiments after their owner was supplemented by permanent numbering. The regiment was assigned the number 14.

Inheritance of the Principality of Salm-Salm with Senones residence in the Vosges

Principality of Salm-Salm with Senones residence in the Vosges

Nikolaus Leopold continued negotiations about his inheritance claims to the House of Lorraine with Louis XV. Who in turn had its Polish son Stanisław I for Duke of Lorraine made by with Maria Theresa's husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765), the Duchy of Tuscany with the Duchy of Lorraine exchanged. Nikolaus Leopold dropped his inheritance claims to parts of the Duchy of Lorraine when Louis XV. 1751 recognized the elevation of the County of Salm (Obersalm) to the Principality of Salm-Salm as an exclave of the Holy Roman Empire enclosed by French territory.

Other honors

Nikolaus Leopold was appointed field marshal general by the emperor in 1754 and also governor of Antwerp in the same year .

Family building

At the same time, Nikolaus Leopold devoted himself to securing his own dynasty and became the father of 18 legitimate children. The youngest child, Wilhelm Florentin von Salm-Salm , became Archbishop of Prague in 1793/1794. After the death of his first wife Dorothea Franziska Agnes von Salm (1702–1751), Nikolaus Leopold married her second sister, Christina Anna Louise Oswaldina Princess von Salm (1707–1777), who was five years his junior and widow of the Hereditary Prince Joseph of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1705-1744).

His will

Since Nikolaus Leopold was concerned about the continued existence of his dynasty, he drew up an extensive will and among other things appointed his second wife, the stepmother of the sons entitled to inherit, to be the executor. The fact that his first-born son Ludwig Karl Otto , who later became the 2nd Prince of Salm-Salm (1721–1778), had entered the clergy made him fear that his possessions would become church property after his death. Therefore, he enacted a house law in his will , a Fideikommiss , according to which he assigned first place in the succession to the second-born son Maximilian Friedrich Ernst Prince zu Salm-Salm (1732–1773). The first-born Ludwig Karl Otto resigned from the clergy before the inheritance and, at the age of 54, three years before his death, married the 28-year-old Marie Anne Felicite Countess of Horion on May 30, 1775 (* May 12, 1743 , † May 9, 1800 in Senones). The two brothers waged a long legal battle over the inheritance and will of their father before the emperor in Vienna. Some of the other numerous siblings took changing positions in this dispute, which culminated in the fact that armed men marched into the royal seat of Senones. The dispute was finally settled out of court through the so-called Paris Brotherhood of Peace of July 3, 1771. Maximilian Friedrich Ernst inherited the title, rights and income from the Duke of Hoogstraeten. He died five years before his older brother Ludwig Karl Otto. The latter died on July 29, 1778 without a direct male heir. Konstantin zu Salm-Salm , the son of Maximilian, as Duke of Hoogstraeten, became the heir of his uncle Ludwig Karl Otto, who died childless, and thus became the 3rd Prince of Salm-Salm. During the French Revolution , the Principality of Salm-Salm was occupied (1789) and annexed (1793) by France. The same happened to the Principality of Salm in 1810/11 , in which Nikolaus Leopold's grandson Konstantin ruled from 1802/03 and even gained sovereignty in 1806.

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personal data
SURNAME Nikolaus Leopold zu Salm-Salm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nikolaus Leopold Prince of Salm-Salm, Duke of Hoogstraeten, Wild- and Rheingraf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION 1. Prince in the Principality of Salm-Salm (1751–1770)
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1701
PLACE OF BIRTH Nancy
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1770
Place of death Hoogstraten