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Royal Profile: Prince Karl von Solms-Braunfels
Prince Karl von Solms-Braunfels was born on July 27, 1812 as Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Ludwig Georg Alfred Alexander, Prince of Solms, Lord of Braunfels, Grafenstein, Münzenberg, Wildenfels and Sonnenwalde at Neustrelitz, the youngest son of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm von Solms-Braunfels and Princess Friederike von Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Like many German royals he had an illustrious family tree and counted among his relatives Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, King Leopold I of the Belgians and Prince Frederick of Prussia. He was known for being well-connected, handsome, romantic and a little on the wild side; which sometimes got him into trouble. After joining the Prussian army (notoriously strict for its discipline) even one as high born as the Prince was sentenced to four months in prison for being absent without leave for a short time. In 1834 he made an unequal marriage and fathered three children before being pressured to divorce his wife and send her away with a nice title.
That same year he entered the Austrian Imperial army as a captain of cavalry; as high-born romantics with more dash and daring than caution tended to. He served in the Balkans, Bohemia and the Rhineland which is where he happened to read a novel by Charles Sealsfield about the newly independent Republic of Texas as well as two other books dealing with the geography and immigration possibilities of the Lone Star republic. Like many others before and after him, Prince Karl von Solms-Braunfels caught ‘Texas Fever’ and he joined the Adelsverein (organized in 1842 and reorganized in 1844) which pushed colonization in Texas with the idea of creating a “New Germany” there. The Prince worked tirelessly to raise funds and the profile of the Adelsverein, calling on his royal relatives for support and going on secret trips to France, Belgium and the Isle of Wight (where he met Prince Albert) in the hope of gaining support for the establishment of a colony or colonies in Texas.
During his service with the cavalry, Carl read books about Texas and became interested in joining the Adelsverein. Appointed its commissioner general in 1844,[6] he was the motivating force for the first colony of German emigrants to Texas. He arrived on Texas soil in July 1844, making an exploratory tour as advisor to the Adelsverein, which owned the rights to the Fisher–Miller Land Grant.[7] Subsequently, Carl purchased an additional 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) on the Guadalupe River on behalf of the Adelsverein, where he established the colony of New Braunfels, Texas.[8] His vision cleared the path for John O. Meusebach to follow in 1845 as the organizer, negotiator, and political force needed for community-building structure in the "New Germany".[9]
In anticipation of his marriage to Maria Josephine Sophie, Prince Solms formed plans to build "Sophie's Castle", laying the cornerstone in New Braunfels in 1845.[10] Sophie refused to leave Germany, and Carl never returned to Texas after his 3 December 1845 marriage to her.
His leadership was regarded as incompetent. His successor - Meusebach - was more successful and went on to found Fredericksburg. The Adelsverein ran out of funds in 1853.
List of first colonists: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~txcomal/ZeitungShips/ZeitungShips.html
Biography of early colonist family Kothmann: https://archive.org/stream/kothmannsoftexas00raun/kothmannsoftexas0...