Prince Frederick Henry Charles of Prussia (german: Friedrich Heinrich Karl; 30 December 1781, Berlin - 12 July 1846, Rome) was a Prussian prince and army officer.

Life

Henry was a son of

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...

(1744-1797) by his second wife Frederika Louisa (1751-1805), daughter of

Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Ludwig) (15 December 1719 – 6 April 1790) was the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1768 to 1790. Louis IX and his wife became the most recent common ancestors of all current European monarchs ...

. Henry entered the army on 5 September 1795 as a

fähnrich Fähnrich () is an officer candidate rank in the Austrian Bundesheer The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-d ...

in the Life Company of the 1st Guards Battalion. He also served as an

oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

during the 1806-07 campaign against Napoleon - at Auerstadt he was loaned a horse by

Gerhard von Scharnhorst Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst (12 November 1755 – 28 June 1813) was a Hanoverian-born general in Prussian service from 1801. As the first Chief of the Prussian General Staff, he was noted for his military theories, his reforms of the Pru ...

after Henry's horse was killed under him. In 1807 he was made commander of the "von Schöning" Infantry Regiment. In the 1813 campaign he was on the headquarters staff of the Russian general

Peter Wittgenstein , title = 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg-Berleburg , image = Pjotr-christianowitsch-wittgenstein.jpg , image_size = , caption = Portrait by George Dawe , birth_date = , birth_place = Pereias ...

. On 31 May 1815 he was promoted to General of Infantry. From 1800 until the dissolution of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg in 1811, Henry served as co-adjutor of

Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia en, Augustus Ferdinand , house =House of Hohenzollern , father =Frederick William I of Prussia , mother =Sophia Dorothea of Hanover , birth_date = , birth_place =Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_place =Berlin, Kingdom of Pr ...

, the Bailiwick's last Lord Master. On its dissolution, Henry's brother

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

set up the

Royal Prussian Order of Saint John The Royal Prussian Order of Saint John (german: Königlich Preußische St. Johanniter-Orden) was an order of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia. It was set up in 1812 and was awarded until the inauguration of the modern Order of Saint John in 1852. ...

with Augustus as its Grand Master. In 1813 Henry replaced Augustus as Grand Master. Under Henry the new Order set up a hospital in

Jüterbog Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Slavic settlement of ' ...

and a 'Deaconess Institute' (''Diakonissenanstalt'') in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. He was also a knight of the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...

, the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

, the

Order of St. Andrew The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

, the

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Empero ...

and the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

3rd degree and Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

. On 12 August 1817 Henry visited the USS ''Washington'' during her time as the US flagship in the Mediterranean. In 1819 he was one of the godparents of Prince George of Cumberland, grandson of

George III of the United Kingdom George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until Acts of Union 1800, the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was ...

at his christening in Berlin. Later in 1819 Henry moved to Rome, only gaining permission to go from Frederick William III after Henry (always in poor health) fainted at a soirée. He spent his last twenty years bedridden, with major general

Friedrich Wilhelm von Lepel Friedrich ''Wilhelm'' Graf von Lepel (25 April 1774, Fürstenwalde/Spree - 9 January 1840, Rome) was a Prussian major general. His parents came from the von Lepel family, a noble family from Pommerania. He had four siblings - Dietrich (1767–1815 ...

(1774-1840) and from 1845 Helmuth von Moltke as his adjutant. He is buried in the

Berliner Dom The Berlin Cathedral (german: link=yes, Berliner Dom), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental German Evangelical church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) on the Museum Island in central ...

. Heinrichplatz in

Berlin-Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it has ...

was named after him from 7 April 1849 until 21 August 2022 when it was renamed .Heinrichplatz.
In: Straßennamenlexikon des Luisenstädtischen Bildungsvereins (on Kaupert)

Ancestry

Sources

*Richard von Meerheimb: Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Prinz von Preußen. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, S. 569 f. * Heinrich Haeser: Geschichte christlicher Kranken-Pflege und Pflegerschaften. W. Hertz, 1857, S. 55 f. *Leopold von Zedlitz: Der preussische Staat in allen seinen Beziehungen. August Hirschwald, 1835, S. 149 *Theodor Fontane: Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg, Band 1 (Grafschaft Ruppin) „Ruppiner Garnison“ – Das Regiment Prinz Ferdinand (bei Auerstedt) *Kurt von Priesdorff: Soldatisches Führertum, Band 3, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, S. 265-266

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry of Prussia Prussian princes Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Prussian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1781 births 1846 deaths Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Burials at Berlin Cathedral Sons of kings