Wilhelm, Prince of Solms-Braunfels

William
Prince of Solms-Braunfels
Born	(1759-01-09)9 January 1759 Braunfels
Died	20 March 1837(1837-03-20) (aged 78) Braunfels
Spouse	Wild- und Rheingräfin Auguste of Salm-Grumbach Elisabetha Becker
House	House of Solms-Braunfels
Father	Ferdinand William Ernest, Prince of Solms-Braunfels
Mother	Countess Sophie of Solms-Laubach
Signature

Wilhelm Christian Karl, 3rd Prince of Solms Braunfels (9 January 1759, in Braunfels – 20 March 1837, in Braunfels) was by succession an immediate Prince, then a nobleman and head of the Princely House of Solms-Braunfels, a Prussian major general and Hessian deputy.

Life

Family

William was a member of the Princely House of Solms-Braunfels. His grandfather Frederick William (1696–1761) was the first Prince of Solms-Braunfels. His parents were the imperial colonel and lieutenant general of the United Provinces Ferdinand Wilhelm Ernst (1721–1783) and Countess Sophie Christine Wilhelmine of Solms-Laubach. first daughter and second child of Christian August, Count of Solms-Laubach. Prussian Major General Frederick William (1770–1814) was one of his younger brothers.

On 6 October 1792, he married Wild- und Rheingräfin Auguste of Salm-Grumbach (1771–1810) half-sister of Friedrich, Prince of Salm-Horstmar.[1] They had four children:

• Wilhelmine (1793–1865) ∞ Alexius, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1781–1866) and had issue
• Sophie Auguste (1796–1855) ∞ Johann August Karl, Prince of Wied (1779–1836) and had issue; they were the paternal grandparents of Queen Elisabeth of Romania
• Ferdinand, 4th Prince of Solms-Braunfels (1797–1873) ∞ Countess Ottilie of Solms-Laubach (1807–1884), without issue
• Karl Wilhelm Bernhard (1800–1868), General of Cavalry

By his maitresse Anna Elisabeth Becker (1779–1852), whom he married morganatically once widower, he had three children who received patronymic Wilhelmi[2]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Wilhelm, Prince of Solms-Braunfels

16. William II., Count of Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein 8. William Maurice, Count of Solms-Braunfels 17. Countess Johannetta Sibylla of Solms-Hohensolms 4. Frederick William, 1st Prince of Solms-Braunfels 18. William Christoph, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg 9. Landgravine Magdalene Sophie of Hesse-Homburg 19. Landgravine Sophie Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt 2. Ferdinand William Ernest, 2nd Prince of Solms-Braunfels 20. Frederick, Count of Nassau-Weilburg 10. John Ernest, 1st Prince of Nassau-Weilburg 21. Countess Christiane Elizabeth of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Homburg 5. Princess Magdalena Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg 22. Frederick Emich, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg 11. Countess Marie Polyxene of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg 23. Countess Sibylla of Waldeck-Wildungen 1. William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels 24. John Frederick, Count of Solms-Laubach 12. Frederick Ernest, Count of Solms-Laubach 25. Countess Beninga of Promnitz 6. Christian August, Count of Solms-Laubach 26. Louis Christian, Count of Stolberg-Gedern 13. Countess Fredericka Charlotte of Stolberg-Gedern 27. Duchess Christine of Mecklenburg-Güstrow 3. Countess Sophie Christine Wilhelmine of Solms-Laubach 28. William Maurice I, Count of Isenburg and Budingen in Birstein 14. Wolfgang Ernest I, 1st Prince of Isenburg and Budingen in Birstein 29. Countess Anna Amalia of Ysenburg-Budingen 7. Princess Elizabeth of Isenburg and Budingen in Birstein 30. Emich XIV, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg 15. Countess Friederike of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg 31. Countess Palatine Elizabeth Christine of Zweibrucken-Landsberg

Footnotes

1. ihr Vater war Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Theodor zu Salm, Wild- und Rheingraf zu Salm-Grumbach und Dhaun (1729–1799), vgl. Christoph Graf von Polier's Family Tree: Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Theodor zu Salm (retrieved 2 August 2015) bzw. Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch, Neues preussisches Adels-Lexicon, Band 5, Leipzig 1839, S.392
2. Familie Wagner - Dillkreis, Anna Elisabeth Becker (retrieved 2 August 2015)