Eitel Frederick II of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (
Hechingen, 1601 -
Issenheim, 11 July 1661) was the second Prince of
Hohenzollern-Hechingen and an imperial general in the Thirty Years' War.
Biography
Eitel Friedrich was the eldest son of Prince
Johann Georg, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (1577–1623) and Countess Franziska von Salm-Neufville (d. 1619). His father placed particular emphasis on a good education and the prince was sent to the universities of Vienna and Ingolstadt for this purpose. Educational trips to Italy and France also followed.
Eitel Friedrich succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in 1623. He also commanded an infantry regiment in the service of
Emperor Ferdinand II. Eitel Friedrich was loyal to the Catholic Church and therefore supported the Habsburg during the
Thirty Years' War.
His power base, the
Hohenzollern Castle, was strategically highly significant. The principality was surrounded by Protestant neighbors. In the war, the fortress developed into a focal point and was besieged and devastated by the Swedes and Württembergers in 1634. The castle was recaptured by Imperial troops the next year, and remained under Habsburg control until 1798 against a payment of 5,000 guilders annually.
The Thirty Years' War had impoverished the people in Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Eitel Friedrich was also faced with serious financial problems, forcing him to sell several attractive fiefs.
In 1653, Eitel Friedrich became a
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and was admitted to the
Imperial Diet in
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
.
In 1661, Eitel Friedrich was wounded in
České Budějovice and died shortly after. He left no male heirs and was succeeded as a Prince by his brother
Philipp.
Marriage and children
On 19 March 1630, he married in
Boutersem
Boutersem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Boutersem proper, Kerkom, Neervelp, Roosbeek, Vertrijk and Willebringen. On January 1, 2006, Boutersem had a total populatio ...
Maria Elisabeth II van den Bergh (1613–1671), daughter of
Hendrik van den Bergh and
Margravine of Bergen Op Zoom. With her he had the following children:
* Stillborn son (1632)
* Franziska (1642–1698), Margravine of Bergen Op Zoom, married Frédéric Maurice, son of
Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon
Sources
* Gustav Schilling: ''Geschichte des Hauses Hohenzollern'', F. Fleischer, 1843, Page 228.
* Heinrich August Pierer: ''Pierer's Universal-Lexikon der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart: oder, Neuestes encyclopädisches Wörterbuch der Wissenschaften, Künste und Gewerbe'', Band 8, 1859, S. 465
Google Books
* Johann Samuel Ersch: ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste'', J. f. Gleditsch, 1832, S. 418
Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philipp Hohenzollern Hechingen
Princes of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
House of Hohenzollern
1601 births
1661 deaths
17th-century German people