Bruno
Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen
Bruno Casimir Albert Emil Ferdinand of Ysenburg and Büdingen (14 June 1837 – 26 January 1906) was the third Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen. Bruno was the eldest son of Ernst Casimir II, 2nd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and his wife Countess Thekla of Erbach-Fürstenau. As a nobleman, Bruno was a member of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse from 1861 to 1906. He served as its president first between 1878 and 1889, and second between 1889 and 1900. Firstly, Bruno married Princess Mathilde of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, daughter of Ferdinand, Prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich and his wife Countess Caroline of Collalto und San Salvatore, on 31 July 1862 in Lich. Bruno and Mathilde had two daughters before Mathilde's death on 11 September 1867. Bruno married secondly to Countess Bertha of Castell-Rüdenhausen, daughter of Adolf, Hereditary Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen and his wife Baroness Marie of Thüngen, on 30 September 1869 in Rüdenhausen. Bruno and Bertha had eight children. Bruno studied law at the University of Göttingen. In 1857, he became a member of fraternity Saxonia Göttingen Corps. After graduation, he was Imperial and Royal Major.
The Guards Dragoon Regiment (1st Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 23 was one of the two cavalry regiments of the Grand Ducal Hessian Army that were recruited as a contingent into the Prussian Army. On 6 April 1790, Landgrave Ludwig X of Hesse-Darmstadt ordered the formation of a cavalry regiment, which was to bear the name Chevaulegers Regiment. It was initially formed into three squadrons and garrisoned in Bickenbach, later in Kranichstein Castle. In 1793, the regiment was reinforced to four squadrons and garrisoned in Bessungen, Griesheim and Pfungstadt. From 1799 onwards, the bases were only in Bessungen and in the Darmstadt residence. On 18 August 1806, Grand Duke Ludwig I gave the regiment the name Garde-Chevaulegers-Regiment. By decree of 1 December 1859, Grand Duke Ludwig III ordered the reorganisation of the former Garde-Chevaulegers-Regiment into two cavalry regiments and a cavalry brigade. The 1st regiment was given the name Garde-Chevaulegers-Regiment, the 2nd regiment the name Leib-Chevaulegers-Regiment. The two regiments were stationed in Darmstadt and in the Chevaulegers barracks in Butzbach. In the Revolutionary War against France, the regiment fought on the side of the coalition (Prussia/Austria) in the Palatinate and the Netherlands until 1796. After Hesse-Darmstadt was forced into the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon I, the Chevaulegers fought against Prussia in 1806/07,
against Austria in 1809 and against Russia in 1812. In 1813, the regiment fought on the French side at Großgörschen, Bautzen and against the alliance of Napoleon's opponents. In the Battle of Leipzig, it fought with the 92-rider 1st Escadron in the French 29th Light Cavalry Brigade of the 38th Infantry Division in Général Bertrand's 4th Corps. After the withdrawal of Hesse from the Confederation of the Rhine and the change to the victorious powers, the regiment did not see any notable action in the battles of 1814/15. In 1848, the Chevaulegers fought against insurgents in southern Baden. In the war against Prussia in 1866, the regiment fought together with Austrian, Baden, Bavarian and Württemberg troops in the VIII. Federal Army Corps. The unfortunate course of this campaign in the Aschaffenburg-Würzburg area against the Prussian Main Army under Colonel-General von Manteuffel forced Hesse-Darmstadt to conclude peace with Prussia on 3 September 1866 and to withdraw its troops from the Federal Army. (From this point on, the regiment always fought together with its sister regiment, the Leib Chevauleger Regiment). With the military convention of 7 April 1867, the Grand Ducal Hessian troops came under Prussian command and formed the Grand Ducal Hessian (25th) Division in its entirety. Together with the troops from the former: Electorate of Hesse, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg and Duchy of Nassau, they formed the XVIII (Hessian) Army Corps. In the war against France in 1870/71, the regiment only saw limited action at Vionville and Mars la Tour (16 - 18 August). It later took part in the encirclement of Metz and was deployed against the French Loire Army after the fall of the city. (Battles near Orléans on 3 and 4 December 1870). After that, the war was practically over for the Garde-Chevaulegers. After the war against France in 1870/71, the Garde-Chevaulegers-Regiment was renamed and initially bore the name Garde-Dragoner-Regiment (1st Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 23.
The House of Isenburg was an old aristocratic family of medieval Germany, named after the castle of Isenburg in Rhineland-Palatinate. Occasionally referred to as the House of Rommersdorf before the 12th century, the house originated in the Hessian comitatus of the Niederlahngau in the 10th century. It partitioned into the lines of Isenburg-Isenburg and Isenburg-Limburg-Covern in 1137, before partitioning again into smaller units, but by 1500 only the lines of Isenburg-Büdingen (in Upper Isenburg) and Lower Isenburg remained. In 1664 the Lower Isenburg branch died out. The Büdingen line continued to partition, and by the beginning of the 19th century the lines of Isenburg-Büdingen, Isenburg-Birstein, Isenburg-Meerholz and Isenburg-Wächtersbach existed. Today still exist the (Roman Catholic) princes of Isenburg (at Birstein), the (Lutheran) princes of Ysenburg (at Büdingen and Ronneburg) and the (Lutheran) counts of Ysenburg-Philippseich. Principality of Isenburg was not until 1806 that there was a state called simply "Isenburg". When the Holy Roman Empire was defeated by Napoleon I
of France in that year, the empire was abolished and the Confederation of the Rhine was established amongst the various German states. As an incentive to join the Confederation, it was stated that any state which joined could mediatise their neighbours. Prince Charles of Isenburg-Birstein joined the Confederation and was granted the mediatized Isenburgian Countships of Isenburg-Büdingen, Isenburg-Meerholz, Isenburg-Philippseich, and Isenburg-Wächtersbach. His Principality was renamed to Isenburg. The Principality continued under the rule of Prince Charles through the Napoleonic era, but was mediatised by Austria in December 1813, at the insistence of King Frederick William III of Prussia, who was angered that Isenburg had raised a regiment for French service by recruiting Prussian deserters and vagabonds. Isenburg was one of only three original member princes of the Empire to be mediatized at the end of the Napoleonic era (the others being Leyen and prince-primate Dalberg, Prince of Aschaffenburg). This decision was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna. The lands of the principality were divided between the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt and the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel).
Awards: Collar and star of the House Order of the Golden Lion, sash and star of the Ludwig Order and star of the Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous.
