Heinrich Vaclav of Munsterberg

Representative of the Czech dynasty lords of Podebrad . The third son of Charles II of Munsterberg (1545–1617), prince of Olesnitsky and Berutuvsky, from his second marriage with Elizabeth Magdalena (1562–1630), daughter of Prince George II of Brzegsky .

In 1608, Heinrich Vaclav was appointed rector of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder. After traveling to European countries, he became Commissioner of the Imperial Army in Silesia and a member of the Imperial Council.

In February 1617, after the death of his father Charles II of Munsterberg, Heinrich Vaclav inherited the principality of Berutów ( Bernstadt ). His younger brother Karl Friedrich took possession of the Olesnica principality . At the same time, the brothers Heinrich Vaclav and Karl Friedrich inherited the Moravian estates Šternberk and Evišovice .

Together with his brother Karl Friedrich, Heinrich Vaclav welcomed in February 1620 in the Moravian city of Sternberk the newly elected king of Bohemia, Friedrich of Palatinate , who was elected in 1619 and followed to Wroclaw (Breslau) for receiving homage .

In 1625, Heinrich Vaclav of Munsterberg, Prince Berutuvsky, invited the composer and author of the hymns Mattheus Apelt to Bernstadt , appointing him in 1631 the secretary in his office.

In 1627, Heinrich Wenceslaus attended the coronation in Prague of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III of Habsburg as king of Bohemia. In 1629, the King of Bohemia, Ferdinand of Habsburg, appointed Prince Heinrich Vaclav a new general warden in Silesia , the latter gave a promise to respect religious freedom.

When in 1632 the Protestant princes of Silesia went over to the side of the Swedish and Saxon invaders, Heinrich Vaclav, who remained loyal to the emperor, refused to convene the statutes of Silesia and temporarily left his homeland. Henry Vaclav has not changed the oath of allegiance to the Habsburgs , unlike his younger brother, Charles Frederick, Prince of Oleśnica , who in 1633 , together with the princes of Johann Christian Bzhegskim , Georg Rudolph Legnica and City Council of Wrocław joined Defensive League, which sought protection in Saxony, Brandenburg and Sweden.

In 1637, Heinrich Vaclav of Munsterberg granted city rights to Miedzybuzu .

On August 21, 1639, 46-year-old Heinrich Vaclav died in Berutuwa , the capital of his principality. Only two years later ( on October 30, 1641 ) his remains were reburied in the prince's tomb in Olesnitsa. His title and possession was inherited by his younger brother Karl Frederick of Munsterberg , Prince Olesnitsky.

On November 7, 1617, Heinrich Vaclav of Munsterberg married his first marriage to Anna Magdalena Wittelsbach (March 19, 1602 - August 20, 1630), daughter of Georg Gustav, palatine graf von Veldents. The first marriage was childless.

On August 26, 1636, he again married Anna Ursula (1616 - January 1, 1657), the daughter of Albrecht von Reibnitz. January 16, 1637 in Regensburg, the King of Rome Ferdinand III elevated her to the rank of Princess of Bernstadt . They had three children:

• Anna Elzbieta (July 6, 1637 - January 28, 1642)
• son (born and died May 25, 1638)
• son (born and died on November 7, 1639)

• Ludwig Petry, Josef Joachim Menzel (Hrsg.): Geschichte Schlesiens . Bd. 2, ISBN 3-7995-6342-3 , S. 34, 36, 39, 43 and 49.
• Hugo Weczerka: Handbuch der historischen Stätten Schlesien . Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-520-31601-3 , S. 368-373 sowie Stammtafeln auf S. 602-603.

• The genealogy of the lords of Podebrady