Whale wheel (Nassau-Usingen)

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Whale wheel from Nassau-Usingen, 1675

Walrad von Nassau-Usingen (born February 25, 1635 in Metz , † October 17, 1702 in Roermond ) was count from 1659, Prince of Nassau-Usingen in 1688 , founder of the Usinger line of the House of Nassau and imperial general.

biography

Walrad was born in Metz on February 25, 1635. He was the youngest son of Wilhelm Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken and Anna Amalia von Baden-Durlach, the daughter of Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden-Durlach .

Walrad was married to Catherine Francoise, Comtesse de Croÿ -Roeulx (1652-1686) in his first marriage since 1678 . The marriage had five children:

  • Wilhelmine Henriette (1679–1718) ⚭ 1701 Karl Ludwig Philipp, Wild and Rheingraf zu Grumbach, Count of Salm (1678–1727)
  • Heinrich (1680–1682)
  • Marie Ernestine (* / † 1683)
  • Wilhelm Heinrich (1684–1718)
  • Marie Albertine (1686–1768) ⚭ 1710 Count Johann Georg zu Ortenburg (1686–1725)

After the death of his first wife in 1688 he married Magdalene Elisabeth, Countess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (1662–1733). This marriage remained childless.

Origin of Nassau-Usingen

Count Wilhelm Ludwig left three sons who divided the Nassau area again on March 31, 1659: Johann Ludwig received the office of Ottweiler , Gustav Adolf received the county of Saarbrücken and Walrad received Usingen and became the founder of the new branch.

On August 4, 1688 Walrad was raised to the rank of prince. After his death in 1702, he was succeeded by his son Wilhelm Heinrich as Prince of Nassau-Usingen.

Working in Usingen

Monument to Prince Walrad in Usingen

The residence of the House of Nassau-Usingen had been the city of Usingen im Taunus since 1659 . As a Nassau royal seat, the city gained in prestige and importance and also benefited from Walrad in terms of urban development. Prince Walrad had a new castle built in place of the old castle between 1660 and 1663. In 1905, the grateful city erected a monument in the palace garden, which is now a public park.

In April 1692 a fire destroyed large parts of Usingen ( city ​​fire of Usingen 1692 ). Walrad used this to systematically rebuild the Upper Town of Usingen. Symmetrical streets, which still characterize the cityscape today, were laid out and representative buildings were erected along Obergasse.

The population of the Usinger Land was decimated in the Thirty Years War . Walrad encouraged the influx of Huguenots who had to flee France and granted religious freedom. The Huguenot Church in Usingen is evidence of this immigration.

Military career

Walrad was a respected general who fought primarily for the Dutch Republic of the Seven United Provinces and the Holy Roman Empire .

At the age of 16 he entered the personal service of the later King of Sweden, Karl Gustav . Due to illness, he resigned from the service and studied from 1652 at the Huguenot University in Saumur . He then served in the French army as a captain under Marshal de la Ferté .

In 1664 he became general wagon master of the cavalry regiment of the Upper Rhine Imperial Circle with the rank of colonel and was sent to Hungarian Altenburg to fight the Turks . He came too late for the decisive battle near Mogersdorf , but took part in the pursuit of the defeated Ottoman army. In 1683 he successfully participated in the relief of Vienna, which was besieged by the Turks . So he played a part in the failure of the Ottoman conquest of Central Europe. For this mission, the Polish King John III awarded him . Sobieski the highest Polish award, the Order of the White Eagle .

At the age of 30 he became military leader of Duke Ernst August von Braunschweig-Lüneburg . For this he entered the service of the States General in 1666 . In 1671 he switched entirely to Dutch services. In 1672 he was appointed Dutch lieutenant general of the cavalry and served as a general for his cousin Wilhelm III. of Orange Services. In the Dutch War 1672 to 1678 Wilhelm III. Captain-General , so commander in chief. Walrad emerged at the Battle of Seneffe in 1674 and was promoted to General of the Cavalry on December 4, 1674 . On October 26, 1674 he received the governorate of the city of Bergen op Zoom . At the end of the war, he was tasked with dismissing and reorganizing the troops.

By secret order of Wilhelm he was instructed on October 5, 1688, to lead the 16 cavalry regiments from the camp near Nijmegen to invade England. There they took part in the Glorious Revolution , i.e. the deposition of King James II. On July 5, 1689, he was appointed Dutch field marshal . While he was still in England, the last of the Reunions Wars , the Palatinate War of Succession , broke out on the continent . French troops invaded Holland again and Walrad was ordered back to fight France as general of the cavalry under the command of Georg Friedrich von Waldeck-Eisenberg . Under his command, the Dutch fought in the Battle of Fleurus on July 1, 1690 and the Battle of Steenkerke on August 3, 1692. In the Battle of Fleurus, his troops managed to capture several French flags and cannons. Even if the battle was unsuccessful for the Allies, it strengthened Walrad's reputation as a general. Since 1696 he was commander-in-chief of the Dutch troops, but there were no major fighting that year.

From 1690 he was a senior of the Nassau-Saarbrücken tribe. He therefore successfully campaigned for Art. XC. and XXX of the Peace of Rijswijk a restutiution of the Principality of Nassau-Saarbrücken was included.

On October 10, 1690 he was appointed Imperial Field Marshal General. During the War of the Spanish Succession , Walrad carried out the execution of the Reich against the Elector Joseph Clemens , who was allied with France, and commanded the allied troops in 1702 during the siege of Kaiserswerth . Prince Walrad died at the age of 67 during the campaign near Roermond . His burial took place on October 22, 1702 in Moers .

Works

literature

  • Even, Pierre: Walrad Prince of Nassau-Usingen (1635–1702). Imperial patriot between Turkish wars and Dutch self-assertion. In: Nassauische Annalen Vol. 114, Wiesbaden 2003, pp. 179-209.
  • Wilhelm Sauer:  whale wheel . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 770-773.
  • Wilhelm Dienstbach: Nassau-Saarbrücken and Mörs, Diss. 1905, pp. 17–30

Web links

Commons : Walrad von Nassau-Usingen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Nassau-Usingen, Walrad Prince of". Hessian biography. (As of February 28, 2013). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
predecessor Office successor
Wilhelm Ludwig
(Nassau-Saarbrücken)		 Count of Nassau-Usingen
from 1688 Prince
1659–1702 		Wilhelm Heinrich
personal data
SURNAME Nassau-Usingen, whale wheel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nassau-Usingen, Prince Walrad von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German prince and founder of the Nassau-Usingen line
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1635
PLACE OF BIRTH Roermond
DATE OF DEATH October 17, 1702
Place of death Usingen