Hercules Balkronn

Hercules Balkronn (1622-1680) was a Braslander nobleman.

He was born in 1622, as the only son and heir of Adam Balkronn and his wife and first cousin Susanna Balkronn. Susanna was the heiress of the head of the family, but as he had no sons he arranged her marriage to his distant cousin Adam, who was the last male Balkronn. The Balkronns are one of the few Uradel (old nobility) families that don't use the prefix "von", which indicates nobility.

In 1648 Hercules married Maria von Reitzenstein, the daughter of an untitled noble family. They had thirteen children: Susanna (born 1649), Johanna (born and died 1650), Elisabeth (born 1651), Adam (born 1653), Rupprecht (born and died 1654), Anton (1656-1657), Magdalena (born and died 1657), Rudolf (born and died 1658), Frederick (born 1659), Sophie (born 1661), Agnes (1663-1665), Anna (born 1665; nun) and Lazarus (born 1667).

Hercules and Maria were patriots and secretly supported those who wanted Brasland free from imperial rule. They raised their children with these values, which had great influence on their three living sons.

Hercules was a landowner and managed the ancestral lands of his family. He lived at Balkronn Castle.

He died in 1680 of a sudden stroke.