Count Nils Brahe was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 soldier and younger brother of Per Brahe

Per Brahe (the younger)

Count Per Brahe the Younger was a Swedish soldier and statesman. He was a Privy Councillor from 1630 and Lord High Steward from 1640.Brahe was born on the island of Rydboholm in Uppland...

. He served with distinction under King Gustavus Adolphus, who regarded him as the best general in the Swedish army

Swedish Army

The Swedish Army is one of the oldest standing armies in the world and a branch of the Swedish Armed Forces; it is in charge of land operations. General Sverker Göranson is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army.- Organization :...

 after Lennart Torstenson

Lennart Torstenson

Lennart Torstenson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad , was a Swedish Field Marshal and military engineer.-Early career:He was born at Forstena in Västergötland - he always wrote his name Linnardt Torstenson...

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Brahe was born at Rydboholm Castle (now in Österåker Municipality

Österåker Municipality

Österåker Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Åkersberga, with a population of 26,727 .From 1974 to 1982 Österåker was part of Vaxholm Municipality....

) in Uppland

Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...

. He took part in the Polish-Swedish Wars

Polish-Swedish wars

The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers two particular wars between 1600 and 1629...

, in which he first participated in the siege and capture of Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 (1621), and later served with distinction in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 (1626–1627) and assisted in the defence of Stralsund

Stralsund

- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...

 in 1628. On April 16, 1628 he married baroness Anna Margareta Bielke at the Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 castle, at double wedding, when also his elder brother count Peder Brahe married Kristina Katarina Stenbock.

In 1630 he accompanied Gustavus into Germany, in the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

 and in 1631 was appointed colonel of "the yellow regiment," the king’s world-renowned life-guards, at the head of which he captured the castle of Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

 on October 8, 1631. Brahe took part in the long duel between Gustavus and Wallenstein

Albrecht von Wallenstein

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...

 around Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 as general of infantry, and commanded the left wing at Lützen

Battle of Lützen (1632)

The Battle of Lützen was one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction.- Prelude to the...

 on November 6, 1632, where he was the only Swedish general officer present. At the very beginning of the fight he received a wound to his knee which was to prove fatal. He died two weeks afterwards at Naumburg

Naumburg

Naumburg is a town in Germany, on the Saale River. It is in the district Burgenlandkreis in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. It is approximately southwest of Leipzig, south-southwest of Halle, and north-northeast of Jena....

, and was later reburied in the church at Östra Ryd

Östra Ryd

Östra Ryd is a locality situated in Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 455 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...

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