A Prussian soldier in a Netherlands garrison town

I've been researching further back in one of the German parts of my family. The surname in question has many variations: Völker/Voelker, Volcker/Völcker/Voelcker and Voelke, and probably other permutations as well.

Charlotte Eufemia Arnoldine Völker was my 3x great grandmother, "married" to Adolph Mondientz (I've never found any marriage record for them).

Her parents were Franz Michael Völker (dates unknown) and Catharina Susanna Arnoldina von Renesse (1793-1847). Franz was an artist, two of his artworks, from which lithographs were made, are represented in the digital collection of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve (Cleve, Cleves, Kleef), Germany. Franz was a drawing teacher at the Royal Gymnasium, Cleve from 1819, and also illustrated a guide book to Cleve in 1826.

According to his marriage record from the evangelical church in Cleve on 20 October 1819, Franz was a kunstmaler (artist) from Heusden, a town in the Netherlands. 

I have not been able to find a birth record for Franz Michael Völker in Heusden, however, I have found a marriage record there for his parents, Conrad Voelker and Alida Kühne (Kune/Kunen/Cune/Cunen/Cuunen), on 19 July 1791, and a baptism record for a son, Franciscus Xaverius Voelcker, supposedly legitimate, on 30 March 1791. Was Franciscus Xaverius actually Franz Michael? Who knows.

The marriage record for Conrad and Alida is interesting. It says that Alida was born in and a resident of the town of Heusden, but that Conrad was a soldier, residing in the town at the garrison, but born in Kirchheim, Duitsland (Germany). 

What was a Prussian soldier doing in a Netherlands garrison town in 1791?

Heusden is a fortified garrison town, formed by a geometric moat with ramparts built in the 1300s to form a star shape, situated beside the Maas River.

The star shaped fortified garrison town of Heusden, Netherlands.
Image from Google Maps, accessed 8 June 2026.

It was a strategic area, in mediaeval times the location of where three borders converged, a major defence post against the Spanish in the Dutch War of Independence, and a critical stronghold during the Batavian Revolution.

In the 1780s, the Batavian Revolution began when the Dutch Patriot movement actively worked to diminish the authoritarian rule of Stadholder William V, Prince of Orange, and the town of Heusden was a focal point for local Patriot activity. William V's wife, Wilhelmina, was the sister of the King of Prussia, and after she was stopped by Patriots from travelling to The Hague, she appealed to her brother for help, and he obligingly sent 20,000 Prussian soldiers to help suppress the Patriots.

One must assume that Conrad Voelker, a Prussian soldier in Heusden in 1791 was part of this bid to suppress the Patriots. Considering he married a local girl, Alida Kühne, she probably was seen to be siding with the enemy by much of the Patriot-aligned townsfolk. Interestingly, Alida's father was also a soldier. The Prussian regiment stationed at the garrison was part of the forces that surrendered in 1795 to Patriots working with the invading French revolutionary army.

Little wonder that by his early- to mid-twenties, their son Franz was living and working in Cleve in Germany. It is not known what became of Conrad Voelker and his wife Alida. Had they left Heusden before the surrender to the triumphant Patriots, or were they caught up in it?