Heinrich von Plauen

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For the similarly-named Grand Master, see Heinrich Reuß von Plauen.

Heinrich von Plauen (the Elder) (c. 1370 – 1429) was the 27th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1410-13. He is famous for saving Castle Marienburg after the Order's defeat in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410.

[edit] Career

Von Plauen was born in Thuringia. Because all male members of his family were baptized as Heinrich (Henry), he is sometimes known as Heinrich von Plauen the Elder to differentiate from his relative, Heinrich von Plauen the Younger (died c. 1441). A distant relative, from the house of Reuss, Heinrich Reuß von Plauen, served as the Grand Master between 1469–70.

Von Plauen arrived in Prussia around 1390 as the Order's guest, but later became a full member. He did not hold any important positions and it was not until 1402 that he became the Komtur of Nessau (Nieszawa) and of Schwetz (Świecie) in 1407.

Von Plauen did not take the part in the Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410, but upon receiving the news of the Order's defeat, he rushed with his warriors to Marienburg, correctly suspecting it would be Jogaila's next target. Von Plauen made it on time and it was thanks to his energetic actions the Order was able to save its capital in the Siege of Marienburg (1410).

For his services in the defence of Marienburg, von Plauen was chosen the 27th Grand Master of the Order in 1410, omitting members of the Order with higher held positions, like Werner von Tettingen, the Order's Minister of Diplomacy and the Komtur of Elbing (Elbląg), who saved himself from a certain death in the Battle of Grunwald.

Von Plauen accomplished major diplomatic success in 1411, signing the Peace of Thorn on 1 February with good terms for the Order. At the same time, despite the fact that the Order was weakened by the defeat of 1410, von Plauen started preparations for another war with the Kingdom of Poland.

Despite his great services for the Order, von Plauen did not receive much respect and support from the other warrior monks. He is believed to have been hot-blooded and cruel. Von Plauen actively fought off the opposition of the Prussian towns and the Lizard Union. In 1411 von Plauen discovered a plot by Georg von Wirsberg, Komtur of Rehden (Radzyń Chełmiński), and ordered the beheading of Nicholas von Renys, one of the four knights who formed the Lizard Union, for helping the Poles. The execution took place in Graudenz (Grudziądz), which brought him even less popularity.

Von Plauen was removed from his office in 1413 by Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg, the Grand Marshal and Komtur of Königsberg (Kaliningrad), a supporter of further peace talks with the Kingdom of Poland. Küchmeister subsequently became the 28th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.

Von Plauen was jailed along with his brother, known as Heinrich the Younger, a former Komtur of Danzig (Gdańsk). He was released from jail after von Sternberg's death in 1422. At that time he became the procurator of Lochstädt (Pavlovo) near Königsberg, where he died in 1429. Heinrich the Younger died c. 1441.