John, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen

John, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen (24 May 1698 in Gelnhausen – 10 February 1780 in Mannheim) was Count Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld at Gelnhausen.

John
Count Palatine of Gelnhausen
Born	(1698-05-24)24 May 1698 Gelnhausen
Died	10 February 1780(1780-02-10) (aged 81) Mannheim
Noble family	House of Wittelsbach
Spouse(s)	Sophie Charlotte of Salm-Dhaun
Issue	William
Father	John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen
Mother	Esther Maria of Witzleben-Elgersburg

Life

John was the younger son of the Duke and Count Palatine John Charles of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen (1638-1704) from his second marriage with Esther Maria (1665–1725), a daughter of Baron George Frederick of Witzleben-Elgersburg.

He was a Feldzeugmeister in the army of the Electoral Palatinate and commander of all troops and knights of the Palatinate Order of St. Hubert. John was also a governor of Palatine Duchy of Jülich and commander of the fortress of Jülich. He mainly lived in Mannheim. After the death of his brother Frederick Bernard in 1739, he succeeded as Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen.

Marriage and issue

Johann married in 1743 in Dhaun with Sophie Charlotte (1719–1770), a daughter of the Wild- and Rhinegrave Charles of Salm-Dhaun. Sophie Charlotte was the granddaughter of two of Johann's first cousins, making the couple first cousins twice removed in descent from Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler. They had the following children:

• Charles John Louis (1745–1789)
• Louise (1748–1829)

married Count Henry XXX of Reuss-Gera (1727–1802)

• Johanna Sophie (1751–1752)
• William (1752–1837), Duke in Bavaria

married in 1780 Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (1753–1824)

• Friederike (1753–1753)
• Sophia (1757–1760)
• Christian (1760–1761)
• John (1766–1768)

Ancestors

Ancestors of John, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen

16. Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 8. Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld 17. Anna of Hesse 4. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler 18. William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 9. Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg 19. Dorothea of Denmark 2. John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen 20. John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 10. John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken 21. Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg 5. Countess Palatine Magdalena Katharina of Zweibrücken 22. René II, Viscount of Rohan 11. Catherine de Rohan 23. Catherine of Parthenay 1. John, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen 24. Job William of Witzleben 12. Eric Frederick of Witzleben 25. Maria Magdalena of Wangenheim 6. George Frederick of Witzleben-Elgersburg 26. George Frederick of Erffa 13. Anna Agnes of Erffa 27. Sabina of Dohlau 3. Esther Maria of Witzleben-Elgersburg 28. Caspar of Hantein 14. Rudolf of Hanstein 29. Sibylla of Hoheneck 7. Maria Magdalena of Hanstein 30. Bernard of Bibra 15. Maria Sibylla of Bibra 31. Sibylla of Witzleben

References

• Johann Samuel Ersch: Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste: in alphabetischer Folge, section 2: H–N, part 21: Johann (Infant von Castilien) - Johann-Boniten, p. 189
• Maximilian V. Sattler: Lehrbuch der bayerischen Geschichte, Lindauer, 1868, p. 412