Prince Heinrich of Bavaria

Infobox_Prince| name = Prince Heinrich of Bavaria


caption =
consort = none
royal house =House of Wittelsbach
father =Prince Arnulf of Bavaria
mother =Princess Therese of Liechtenstein
date of birth =birth date|1884|6|24|mf=y
place of birth =Munich, Bavaria
date of death =death date and age|1916|11|8|1884|6|24|mf=y
place of death =Monte Sule by Hermannstadt, Romania
place of burial=Theatinerkirche, Munich, Bavaria|

Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (June 24, 1884 - November 8, 1916) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a highly decorated Army officer in the First World War.

Early life

Heinrich was born in Munich, Bavaria. He was the only child of Prince Arnulf of Bavaria and his wife Princess Therese of Liechtenstein. He was brought up in Munich, where he was tutored among others by 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 [Breitman, p. 9] . Heinrich did not marry but had a long term liaison with the daughter of a prominent Munich business man. Their son, named Heinrich after his father, was born posthumously (May 1917). Princess Therese, Heinrich's mother, agreed to support the son - and did so - until his 21st birthday [Copies of correspondence between Heinrich and the lady concerned and of the Urkunde or agreement signed by Princess Therese to pay 300 gulden a month for her grandson's upkeep are in the Bayerisches Staatsarchiv, München] .Fact|date=April 2008.

Military career and death

At the age of 17, following his Abitur, Heinrich joined the Bavarian army with the rank of Leutnant. Initially, he served with the Royal Bavarian Infanterie-Leib-Regiment, but later was re-assigned to the cavalry with the 1. Schweren Reiter-Regiment. After the outbreak of WWI, the regiment saw action on the Western front, where Prince Heinrich was badly wounded. Upon recovering, he returned back to his old infantry regiment and in June 1915, was promoted to Major. At the same time, he was put in charge of the III. Battalion of the newly established Deutschen Alpenkorps stationed in the Carnic Alps. In late 1916, the battalion was transferred to Romania where it fought at Turnu Roşu Pass. During the ensuing German offensive at Monte Sule by Hermannstadt (Sibe) in Transylvanian Alps, on November 7, 1916, Prince Heinrich was fatally wounded by a sniper and died from these wounds a day later, on November 8, 1916. Prince Heinrich's body was transported back to Munich, where he was buried by his father’s side at the Theatinerkirche.Posthumously on March 6, 1917, for his exceptional bravery, the Prince was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph.

References

ources

* 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)
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