Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg

He was born in Brussels as son of Charles Marie Raymond of Arenberg, one of the most prominent nobles in the Austrian Netherlands, and Louise Margaret von der Mark und Schleide.

At the age of 24, during a hunting party, he was hit in the face by a shotgun and remained blind for the rest of his life.

Unable to pursue the usual military career, he turned to science, art and music.

Under his patronage, the first manned gas-filled balloon flight in history took off from the front lawn of the Arenberg Castle on 21 November 1783; the balloonist was professor Jan Pieter Minckeleers.

[3][4] At the beginning of the French Revolution, he succeeded in keeping his possessions, but when Bonaparte annexed the Rhineland, he lost most of his territories.