Prince Heinrich of Bavaria

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Prince Heinrich of Bavaria
Princess Therese of Liechtenstein
Signature
Military career
Allegiance German Empire
RankMajor
Unit
Royal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards Regiment
Commands heldIII. Battalion Alpenkorps
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsMilitary Order of Max Joseph
Iron Cross (1914)

Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (24 June 1884 – 8 November 1916) was a member of the

First World War
.

Early life

Heinrich was born in

Princess Therese of Liechtenstein
.

Heinrich was brought up in Munich, where one of his tutors was Joseph Gebhard Himmler, the father of Heinrich Himmler. The elder Himmler was an ardent royalist who, following the birth of his second son, petitioned the prince to allow him to be named after him - Heinrich. The prince agreed and also became Heinrich Himmler's godfather.[2] "{H}e took a lively interest in the progress of his godson and in how the Himmlers were faring. It was a warm relationship, as is shown by the preserved correspondence between Gebhard and the prince; at Christmas the Himmlers regularly received a visit from the prince and his mother..."[3]

Military career and death

At the age of 17, following his

1st Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry “Prince Charles of Bavaria”
.

After the outbreak of

Turnu Roşu Pass. On 7 November 1916, during operations in the area near Poiana Spinului, while conducting a personal reconnaissance of the front line, he was shot and killed by Romanian soldiers. His last words reportedly were, "Noblesse oblige. I do not mean that with respect to my family but rather my duty as an officer."[4]

Heinrich's body was transported back to Munich, where he was buried by his father's side at the

Theatinerkirche. On 6 March 1917, for his exceptional bravery, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph. He had previously been awarded the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class for actions in June 1916.[citation needed
]

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:[5]

Ancestry

References

  • Barrett, Michael B. (2013). Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania. Indiana University Press. .
  • Longerich, Peter (6 December 2012). Heinrich Himmler: A Life. Oxford University Press. .
  • Jirí Louda and Michael MacLagan, Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, 2nd edition (London, U.K.: Little, Brown and Company, 1999)
  • Breitman, Richard (2004). Himmler and the Final Solution: The Architect of Genocide. Pimlico, Random House, London. .

Footnotes

  1. ^ Michael B. Barrett, Indiana University Press, 2013, Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania, p. 160
  2. ^ Breitman, p. 9
  3. ^ Longerich p. 15,
  4. ^ Barrett 2013, p. 160
  5. ^ Hof- und - Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern (1908), "Landtag des Königreiches: Mitglieder der Kammer der Reichsräte", p. 157