Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels


Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was a German prince and military officer in both the Austrian army and the cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. As commissioner general of the Adelsverein, he spearheaded the establishment of colonies of German immigrants in Texas. Prince Solms named New Braunfels, Texas, in honor of his homeland.

Early life

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Ludwig Georg Alfred Alexander of Solms-Braunfels was born in Neustrelitz. His father was Prince Friedrick Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels, second husband of Princess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who bore 13 children during her three marriages.

Career

Carl was well-educated, well-connected, and handsome. An adventure seeker, he became a captain in the cavalry in the Imperial Army of Austria in 1841.
During his service with the cavalry, Carl read books about Texas and became interested in joining the Adelsverein. Appointed its commissioner general in 1844, he was the motivating force for the first colony of German emigrants to Texas. He arrived on Texas soil in July 1844, making an exploratory tour as an advisor to the Adelsverein, which owned the rights to the Fisher–Miller Land Grant. Subsequently, Carl purchased an additional on the Guadalupe River on behalf of the Adelsverein, where he established the colony of New Braunfels, Texas. His vision cleared the path for John O. Meusebach to follow in 1845 as the organizer, negotiator, and political force needed for community-building structure in the "New Germany".
In anticipation of his marriage to Princess Maria Josephine Sophie, Prince Solms formed plans to build Sophienburg, laying the cornerstone in New Braunfels in 1845. Sophie refused to leave Germany, and Carl never returned to Texas after his 3 December 1845 marriage to her.

Later life

After returning to Germany, he left the Austrian army and became a colonel in the cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1846. He was able to rejoin the Austrian army in 1850, becoming a brigadier in 1859 with command of dragoons on Lake Constance. He took part in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War. He retired as a Feldmarschallleutnant in 1868 to his residence at the estate of Rheingrafenstein near Kreuznach on the Nahe River.

Personal life

Although he was the landless, younger son of a younger son of a minor German prince, whose realm had been mediatized in 1806, Friedrich's 1834 marriage to Luise Auguste Stephanie Beyrich was considered below his princely station and had to be conducted morganatically. Together, they had three children:
  • Marie von Schönau de Solms, who married Wilhelm Bähr.
  • Karl Louis von Schönau de Solms, who married Wilhelmine Gantenhammer.
  • Melanie von Schönau de Solms, who married Karl Heil.
In 1837, his mother became queen consort of Hanover. Shortly before she died in 1841, his stepfather, King Ernest Augustus, a member of the British royal family, succeeded in pressuring Friedrich to make a monetary arrangement with his wife and three children for a de facto royal annulment. Luise and her children were ennobled in the Grand Duchy of Hesse under the name von Schönau on 25 March 1841. The family was further ennobled in 1912 with the surname von Schönau de Solms.

Second marriage

On 3 December 1845, Prince Carl married Princess Maria Josephine Sophie of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, widow of Prince Franz of Salm-Salm. The union produced five children:
Prince Solms died at Rheingrafenstein on 13 November 1875 and is interred in the city cemetery of Bad Kreuznach.