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Count Christian IV, or Count Christian of Palatine of Zweibrücken as his official name, played a significant role in the design of the residential city of Zweibrücken. He commissioned the layout of Herzogplatz, the castle and the creation of elegant gardens. However, did you know that there is a direct link between Christian and his family to your recent Independence Day?
Count Christian was very Francophile affine and engaged in close ties with the French court. When King Louis XV needed troops in the mid-1750 s, Christian readily stepped in and recruited soldiers in Homburg, from the Alsace and other parts of the Palatinate.
He quickly activated the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment by 1757. In 1776 the thirteen colonies declared their independence from the English crown and Benjamin Franklin personally traveled to Paris, asking for French support in the Revolutionary War. Six French regiments were sent overseas, one of them was the Royal Deux-Ponts that set sail in 1780. Christian IV’s son Christian von Forbach was appointed as regiment commander, while his brother Wilhelm von Forbach was charged as brigade commander.
After years of battle and the colonies on the verge of defeat, Cornwallis’ troops outnumbered the joint American and French army by far and had entrenched themselves in Yorktown. They tried to force the city to declare defeat. The turn of the tide occurred Oct. 14, 1781, when Christian’s brother Wilhelm von Forbach managed to break through their lines with his brigade at “Redoute 9” near Yorktown and consequently contributed to the English troops having to capitulate five days later Oct. 19.
The regiment played a decisive role with only 29 casualties in the turning point of the thirteen colonies eventually gaining independence only two years later. Christian and Wilhelm von Forbach were personally honored by America’s first president George Washington and the majority of soldiers returned to their homes two years later in 1783. A painting by John Trumbull of the two together with Washington hangs at the Capitol in Washington D.C. Father Count Christian IV unfortunately didn’t live to experience this honor as he died at his hunting castle in Herschweiler in 1775.
Zweibrücken’s sister city is Yorktown, Pennsylvania, and delegates that come for official visits never fail to underline this important achievement. America’s independence inspired others to claim freedom and the Royal Deux-Ponts regiment fought during the French Revolution after the Storm of the Bastille in 1789. A German group of over 200,000 soldiers for the Union also played a decisive role in the Civil War almost a century later.
Christian’s legacy lives on in a school in Herschweiler-Pettersheim in Kusel County, named Herzog-Christian-Schule for students to remember his family’s heroic historic role, which also influenced history and sparked a flame throughout Europe.
Unfortunately, Christian IV’s enchanting hunting castle was burned down by Napoleon’s troops along their way to Mainz, but that is another story to tell…
