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In the meantime, as said, I had become addicted. The portraits I found interested me, especially after I discovered a lot of them at the web-site of the Danish Royal Library. I got there when the Technical University of Delft, my Alma Mater, opened their new library including a room with some 500 computers connected to the internet. It turned out that the Rantzau family is very interesting - in a period equally so - also for the Netherlands, during our war of independence (part of which is generally known as the 30 year war), and had lots of relations to Dutch history of the times.

The key person in this is HENRIK RANTZAU, (1526-1598):

He studied at Wittenberg, while Luther was there and, after 1548, spend some time at Charles V's court at Brussels and possibly met William of Orange there. His portrait was engraved by the famous Hendrick Goltzius in 1586/1587. William of Orange's portrait was done by Goltzius in 1581. They are wearing the same armour!

His son Frantz was, as William of Orange's oldest son, Philip William, abducted from Leuven University by Alva, and taken to Spain.

There is, in Dutch books about Philip Willem, often a remark about a mysterious companion!

Lately the letters of William of Orange were published on the internet. Some were to, or from Henrik Rantzau or do mention him or his family. (this must signify a close relationship!)

Another son, Gert was educated in the Netherlands, by countess Maria of Arenberg, and later studied warfare with Maurits, William's son, at the siege of Grave in 1602.

His son Cai was kidnapped by Brabant outlaws. (Brabant is one of the Dutch provinces)

Henrik also is a forefather of our Queen Beatrix.

Quite a few of the other Rantzau's died on the battlefields of the time, not necessarily on the same side; three of them at Maastricht, where the Dutch count is living now.

One of them fought for the Duke of Gelre (Gelderland is now one of the Dutch provinces) I do not know if he was along when they sacked the Hague in 1528.

Josias, a grandson of Hendrik's brother Poul, was Marechal de France;

He ran away from home at an early age and served under the Prince of Orange.

I saw he was mentioned in the logbook of Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp, one of our famous admirals, after the fall of Dunkirk in 1646.

Ulrich Brockdorff-Rantzau is known as the German representative at Versailles, Secretary of the Exterior and Ambassador in Moscow, another,

Josias Clement, as a diplomat in Rumania, captured by the Russians and

Detlev Rantzau as the German representative at the United Nations and later in Cyprus.  

The present Danish count seems to appreciate my endeavors. He has now more information about the family than any of the other Rantzau's. Quite a change!