Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode

Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Spouse(s)	Princess Johanna of Schönburg-Waldenburg Baroness Eberhardine von der Reck
Father	Christian Frederick of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Mother	Countess Auguste Eleonore of Stolberg-Stolberg
Born	(1772-09-05)5 September 1772 Wernigerode Castle
Died	16 February 1854(1854-02-16) (aged 81) Wernigerode Castle

Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode (25 September 1772 in Wernigerode Castle – 16 February 1854 in Wernigerode Castle) succeeded his father in 1824 as ruler of the County of Wernigerode.

Count Henry was the eldest son of Count Christian Frederick of Stolberg-Wernigerode (1746–1824) and Countess Auguste Eleonore of Stolberg-Stolberg (1748–1821). He was a member from the noble family of the Counts of Stolberg.

Henrich zu Stolberg-Wernigerode was educated by private tutors and studied until 1790 (with an interruption in 1789 by the turmoil of revolution) in Strasbourg. He then continued his studies in Göttingen. After completing his studies, he devoted himself to the administration of his territories. After his attempts to prevent the mediatization of his house as part of Reichsdeputationshauptschluss had failed, he sided with Napoléon Bonaparte, and became Oberstallmeister in the Kingdom of Westphalia. From 1808 to 1813 he was a member of the Diet the Kingdom of Westphalia.

From 1813 to 1815, he served the General Government between the Weser and the Rhine as administrator of the district of Osterwieck (the General Government was a temporary province of Prussia, to administer the territories that had been liberated from French occupation during the War of the Sixth Coalition). During the Congress of Vienna, all of the territories of the County of Stolberg were awarded to count Henry.

From 1825 he was a member of the Prussian State Council. From 1825 to 1854 he was also a member of the provincial Council of the Prussian Province of Saxony; from 1847 to 1848 he was a member of the United Diet of the Prussian provinces. From 1824 to 1854, he ruled over the county of Wernigerode in the district of Magdeburg of the Prussian province of Saxony. As a nobleman, he was a hereditary member of the First Chamber of the States General in the Kingdom of Hanover and also in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Count Henry was canon of the cathedral in Halberstadt, Knight of the Prussian Royal Order of the Black Eagle and a member of the Order of Saint John.