Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1817–1849)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prince Waldemar of Prussia

Prince Waldemar of Prussia (Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar von Preußen) (Berlin, 2 August 1817 – Münster, 17 February 1849) was a son of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg. He was a Major general in the Prussian Army and a traveller.

Biography[]

Adalbert was born in Berlin, the son of Prince William, the youngest brother of King Frederick William III. Of his 4 brothers, only Prince Adalbert survived his childhood. His youngest sister Marie was Queen of Bavaria.

As a young man, Adalbert entered the Prussian army and raised through the ranks to become a Colonel in 1844.

His urge to see distant lands led him to the Mediterranean, to South America and in 1844 to India, where he traveled to the Himalayas via Calcutta and Hindustan. His journey came to an end with the First Anglo-Sikh War. He witnessed the first day of the Battle of Ferozeshah (21/22 December 1845), but when his companion and childhood friend Werner Hoffmeister was fatally hit by a bullet, British commander Hugh Gough urged Prince Waldemar to return home.

Back in Germany he became commander of the 13th Cavalry Brigade in Münster on 9 March 1848. But weakened by the hardships of the journey and the Indian climate, he died there on 17 February 1849.

A few years after his death a travelogue was published, composed of his diaries and drawings : Zur Erinnerung an die Reise des Prinzen Waldemar von Preußen nach Indien 1844-1846 (Berlin 1855).
Published from the writings of Werner Hoffmeister was : Briefe aus Indien. Von Dr. W. Hoffmeister, Arzt im Gefolge Sr. Königl. Hoheit des Prinzen Waldemar von Preußen. (Braunschweig 1847).

Honours[]

He received the following orders and decorations:[1]

Ancestry[]

References[]

  1. ^ Preußen (1848). Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat: für das Jahr .... 1848. Decker. p. 6.
  2. ^ Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" p. 19
  3. ^ Lehmann, Gustaf (1913). Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1812–1913 [The Knights of the Order of the Pour le Mérite] (in German). 2. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn. p. 414.
  4. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für das Königreich Hannover. Berenberg. 1847. p. 61.
  5. ^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 190

Sources[]

Retrieved from ""