Prince Heinrich of Bavaria

Prince Heinrich of Bavaria
House	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Prince Arnulf of Bavaria
Mother	Princess Therese of Liechtenstein
Born	(1884-06-24)24 June 1884 Munich, Bavaria
Died	8 November 1916(1916-11-08) (aged 32) Argeş County, Romania
Burial	Theatinerkirche, Munich, Bavaria

Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (24 June 1884 – 8 November 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.

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.^[1]

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

After the outbreak of World War I, the regiment saw action on the Western front, where Prince Heinrich was badly wounded. Upon recovering, he returned 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 Deutsches 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 (Sibiu) in Transylvanian Alps, on 7 November 1916, Heinrich was fatally wounded by a sniper and died from these wounds a day later, on 8 November 1916.

Heinrich's body was transported back to Munich, where he was buried by his father’s side at the Theatinerkirche. Posthumously 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, 1st class for actions in June 1916.

Ancestry

References

Sources

• 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. ISBN 1-84413-089-4.