The House of Pappenheim(2)
After the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War the Imperial Hereditary Marshal Gottfried Heinrich became “Bayerischer Rittmeister” (Bavarian cavalry captain) under Field Marshal Tilly in 1619. In 1620 during the battle on the White Hill near Prague he suffered stab wounds and was further injured in battle the following year. As a result he was nicknamed “Schrammheinz” or “Schrammhans” (scratched Hans) because of his many scars. In 1623 he was knighted by Emperor Ferdinand II and promoted to “Oberst” (colonel). In 1625 he pawned the lordship of Treuchtlingen to the Margrave of Ansbach for 26,000 Imperial Thalers in order to arm his troops. In 1627 he paid back half of it.
In 1628 he was promoted from colonel to “Reichsgraf” (count of the empire) by the Emperor. In 1630 the king of Sweden Gustav Adolf advanced into Germany. Gottfried Heinrich was able to secure Magdeburg by a surprise attack and following this he was promoted to General Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall). The battle near Luetzen on November 16th 1632 ended with Gustav Adolf’s death and the fatal wounding of Gottfried Heinrich. His personal trumpeter brought him to Leipzig where he died on November 17th 1632. Wallenstein had his body brought to Prague on the Hradcany where he was buried in the chapel of our Lady of perpetual succour of the collegiate church Strahow.
