Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode (25 September 1772 in

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

Castle – 16 February 1854 in Wernigerode Castle) succeeded his father in 1824 as ruler of the

County of Wernigerode The County of Wernigerode (german: Grafschaft Wernigerode) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which arose in the Harzgau region of the former Duchy of Saxony, at the northern foot of the Harz mountain range. The comital residence was at Werniger ...

Life

Count Henry was the eldest son of Count

Christian Frederick of Stolberg-Wernigerode Count Christian Frederick of Stolberg-Wernigerode (german: Christian Friedrich (Graf) zu Stolberg-Wernigerode; 8 January 1746, Wernigerode Castle – 26 May 1824, Peterwaldau) was the only son of Count Henry Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode, w ...

(1746–1824) and Countess Auguste Eleonore of Stolberg-Stolberg (1748–1821). He was a member from the noble family of the Counts of Stolberg. Henrich zu Stolberg-Wernigerode was educated by private tutors and studied until 1790 (with an interruption in 1789 by the turmoil of revolution) in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. He then continued his studies in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

. After completing his studies, he devoted himself to the administration of his territories. After his attempts to prevent the

mediatization Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation, German historical territorial restructuring * Mediatization (media) Mediatization (or medialization) is a process whereby the mass media influence other sectors of society, inclu ...

of his house as part of

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

had failed, he sided with

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, and became ''Oberstallmeister'' in the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

. From 1808 to 1813 he was a member of the Diet the

. From 1813 to 1815, he served the General Government between the Weser and the Rhine as administrator of the district of

Osterwieck Osterwieck () is a historic town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geography The municipal area stretches along the river Ilse, north of Wernigerode and the Harz mountain range. The town Osterwieck consists of the foll ...

(the General Government was a temporary province of Prussia, to administer the territories that had been liberated from French occupation during the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

). During the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, all of the territories of the

County of Stolberg The County of Stolberg (german: Grafschaft Stolberg) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz mountain range in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. The town of Stolberg was pro ...

were awarded to count Henry. From 1825 he was a member of the Prussian State Council. From 1825 to 1854 he was also a member of the provincial Council of the Prussian

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...

; from 1847 to 1848 he was a member of the United Diet of the Prussian provinces. From 1824 to 1854, he ruled over the

county of Wernigerode The County of Wernigerode (german: Grafschaft Wernigerode) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which arose in the Harzgau region of the former Duchy of Saxony, at the northern foot of the Harz mountain range. The comital residence was at Werniger ...

in the district of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

of the Prussian province of Saxony. As a nobleman, he was a hereditary member of the First Chamber of the States General in the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Han ...

and also in the Grand Duchy of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. Count Henry was canon of the cathedral in

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

, Knight of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n Royal

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 ...

and a member of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

. In 1853 he purchased the ''House Bruch'', a manor near

Hattingen Hattingen is a town in the northern part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Hattingen is located on the south bank of the River Ruhr in the south of the Ruhr region. The town was first mentioned in 13 ...

. The ''Henrichshütte'' factory in Hattingen was named after him. This factory started operations in 1854, the year Henry died.

Marriages and issue

On 4 August 1799 he married his first wife, Princess Johanna (Jenny) von Schönburg-Waldenburg (4 October 1780-29. August 1809). On 30 December 1810, he married his second wife, Baroness Eberhardine von der Reck, the daughter of the Prussian State Minister Eberhard von der Reck (25 January 1785 – 24 October 1852.). His children from his first marriage with Princess Jenny von Schönburg-Waldenburg: * Countess Eleonore (1801–1827), married in 1819 Prince Henry LXIII, Prince Reuss of Köstritz * Hermann (1802–1841), Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode, married in 1831 Emma Countess of Erbach-Fürstenau (1811-1889, great-granddaughter of

George Albert III, Count of Erbach-Fürstenau George Albert III, Count of Erbach-Fürstenau (14 June 1731 – 2 May 1778), was a member of the German House of Erbach who held the fiefs of Fürstenau, Michelstadt and Breuberg. Born in Fürstenau, he was the sixth child and third (but second s ...

); their child was

Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode Otto Graf (From 1890, Fürst) zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (30 October 1837 – 19 November 1896) was an Imperial German politician and the vice-chancellor of the German Empire. Life He was born at Gedern Castle, Hesse, the third and last chil ...

* Count Bernhard (1803–1824) * Count Botho (1805–1881), married in 1843 Countess Adelheid of Erbach-Fürstenau (1822-1881, sister of the aforementioned Emma) * Countess Caroline (1806–1899), married in 1828 Prince Henry LXIII, Prince Reuss of Köstritz * Count Eduard and Count Christoph (twins; 1808-1808) * Count Rudolph (1809–1867), married in 1851 Auguste Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode (1823-1864)

References

* Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode: ''Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses vom 9. September 1814 bis zum April 1815'', edited by Doris Derdey, with an introduction by Konrad Breitenborn and Uwe Lagatz, Halle, 2004, . * Uwe Lagatz: ''Zwischen Ancien Régime und Modernisierung: Graf Henrich zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (1772-1854)'', Halle, 2003, . * Jochen Lengemann: 'Biographisches Handbuch der Reichsstände des Königreichs Westphalen und der Ständeversammlung des Großherzogtums Frankfurt'', Frankfurt am Main 1991, , page 195. * Uwe Lagatz: ''Zeitenwende. Graf Christian Friedrich (1746–1824) und Graf Henrich (1772–1854) zu Stolberg-Wernigerode'', in: Philipp Fürst zu Stolberg-Wernigerode and Jost-Christian Fürst zu Stolberg-Stolberg (Eds.): ''Stolberg 1210–2010: Zur achthundertjährigen Geschichte des Geschlechts'', Dößel, 2010, , p. 220-245. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode Halberstadt 1772 births 1854 deaths People from Wernigerode House of Stolberg

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...