Lars Magnusson, Professor i ekonomisk historia, ssk social- och arbetslivshistoria, Uppsala Universitet, Ekonomikum, Kyrkogårdsgatan 10, Uppsala, Lars.Magnusson@ekhist.uu.se .
CH-704
Bilthoven, 18 juni 2020
Dear professor dr. Magnusson,
Excuse me for writing in English. Although most of your publications are in that language, you could respond to me in Swedish if you wish.
I have worked at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 10 years and in that period celebrated the 400 years of Swedish-Dutch relation with the then Ambassador in The Hague. You are one of the authors of the publication “The Swedes & the Dutch were made for each other” on my bookshelve. I always keep close relations with Sweden because the grandfather of my grandfather was born in Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania and was without any doubt a natural son of the Swedish field marshal Johan August Meijerfeldt jr (1725-1800). Father of the latter was Johan August Meijerfeldt sr (1664-1749), a notorious general of Charles XII.
My question to you is if you could give me some advice. Before my ancestors settled in the Netherlands permanently in 1793, Meijerfeldt sr and jr both visited the Dutch Republic for a few years. I guess their personal motives are obvious, but how can I study the broader political and economic background of their visits in Swedish literature and archives? I already have a lot of family history on my website, in Dutch I’m afraid, but these parts are blank.
Meijerfeldt sr joined voluntarily as captain in the regiment of colonel Edvard Hastfer in the Nine Years War under William III of Orange, was enlisted in the troops of the States of Zeeland, and returned to Stockholm and Riga as major in the Krassow regiment as a result of the 1797 Peace of Rijswijk. Meijerfeldt jr got permission to travel to the Dutch commander Waldeck under William IV against the French commander Maurits von Saxen in the lost battles of Rocourt 1746 and Lafelt 1647, to get imprisoned for one day in the last one and return home after the Peace of Aachen.
I hope I don’t bother you too much; perhaps you can help me a bit further.
Thank you in advance for any trouble taken,
Hugo von Meijenfeldt