June 4, 1941: Death of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

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Frederick III of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, German Chancellor, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, King of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, Victoria of the United Kingdom, Wilhelm I of Prussia, World War I

Wilhelm II (January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from June 15, 1888 until his abdication on November 9, 1918.

Despite strengthening the German Empire’s position as a great power by building a powerful navy, his tactless public statements and erratic foreign policy greatly antagonized the international community and are considered by many to be one of the underlying causes of World War I. When the German war effort collapsed after a series of crushing defeats on the Western Front in 1918, he was forced to abdicate,

Wilhelm was born in Berlin on January 27, 1859—at the Crown Prince’s Palace. Born during the reign of his granduncle King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Wilhelm was the son of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

King Friedrich Wilhelm IV had been left permanently incapacitated by a series of strokes, and his younger brother Wilhelm was acting as regent. Wilhelm was the oldest of the 42 grandchildren of his maternal grandparents (Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), but more importantly, he was the first son of the Crown Prince of Prussia.

Upon the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV in January 1861, Wilhelm’s paternal grandfather (the elder Wilhelm) became King Wilhelm I of Prussia, and the two-year-old Wilhelm became second in the line of succession to Prussia.

After 1871, Wilhelm also became second in the line to the newly created German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the Prussian king. At the time of his birth, he was also sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, after his maternal uncles and his mother.

As a young man, Wilhelm fell in love with one of his maternal first cousins, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, the second child of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

She turned him down, and in time, married into the Russian imperial family when she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, brother of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and uncle of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.

In 1880 Wilhelm became engaged to Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, known as “Dona”.

Augusta Victoria was born at Dolzig Castle, the eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, future Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a niece of Queen Victoria, through Victoria’s half-sister Feodora. She grew up at Dolzig until the death of her grandfather, Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, in 1869.

The couple married on February 27, 1881, and remained married for 40 years, until her death in 1921. In a period of 10 years, between 1882 and 1892, Augusta Victoria bore Wilhelm seven children, six sons and a daughter

In March 1888, his father Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm ascended the German and Prussian thrones as Friedrich III. Friedrich III came to the throne while dying from throat cancer and he passed away just 99 days later, and his son succeeded him as German Emperor Wilhelm II, King of Prussia.

In March 1890, Wilhelm dismissed Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and assumed direct control over his nation’s policies, embarking on a bellicose “New Course” to cement Germany’s status as a leading world power.

Over the course of his reign, the German colonial empire acquired new territories in China and the Pacific (such as Jiaozhou Bay, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Caroline Islands) and became Europe’s largest manufacturer. However, Wilhelm often undermined such progress by making tactless and threatening statements towards other countries without first consulting his ministers.

Likewise, his regime did much to alienate itself from other great powers by initiating a massive naval build-up, contesting French control of Morocco, and building a railway through Baghdad that challenged Britain’s dominion in the Persian Gulf. By the second decade of the 20th century, Germany could rely only on significantly weaker nations such as Austria-Hungary and the declining Ottoman Empire as allies.

Wilhelm’s reign culminated in Germany’s guarantee of military support to Austria-Hungary during the crisis of July 1914, one of the immediate causes of World War I. A lax wartime leader, Wilhelm left virtually all decision-making regarding strategy and organisation of the war effort to the German Army’s Great General Staff.

By August 1916, this broad delegation of power gave rise to a de facto military dictatorship that dominated national policy for the rest of the conflict. Despite emerging victorious over Russia and obtaining significant territorial gains in Eastern Europe, Germany was forced to relinquish all its conquests after a decisive defeat on the Western Front in the autumn of 1918.

Losing the support of his country’s military and many of his subjects, Wilhelm was forced to abdicate during the German Revolution of 1918–1919, thereby marking the end of the German Empire and the House of Hohenzollern’s 300-year reign in Prussia and 500-year reign in Brandenburg.

The revolution converted Germany from a monarchy into an unstable democratic state known as the Weimar Republic. Wilhelm fled to exile in the Netherlands, where he remained during its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1940. He died there on June 4, 1941.

May 6: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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Charles III of the United Kingdom, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, May 6, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: Along with today’s coronation of King Charles III, May 6th was the birthday of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, the date of the death of his wife, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the date of the death of King Charles III’s great-great grandfather King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Also, on Monday I will post my thoughts and feelings about the coronation.

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Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from January 22, 1901 until his death on May 6, 1910.

Prince Albert Edward was born at 10:48 a.m. on November 9, 1841 in Buckingham Palace. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on January 25, 1842. He was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.

As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on December 8, 1841, Earl of Dublin on January 17, 1850.

Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on March 10, 1863. He was 21; she was 18. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (later King Christian IX of Denmark) and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel.

He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward VII played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised.

He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called “Peacemaker”, but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward’s reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism.

He died on May 6, 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. King Edward VII was succeeded by his only surviving son, King George V.

Edward VII’s great-nephew was…

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (May 6, 1882 – 20 July 1951)

Wilhelm was born on May 6, 1882 as the eldest son of the then Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, and his first wife, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. He was born in the Marmorpalais of Potsdam in the Province of Brandenburg, where his parents resided until his father acceded to the throne. When he was born, his great-grandfather Wilhelm I was the German Emperor and his grandfather Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was the heir apparent, making Wilhelm third in line to the throne.

As Emperor Wilhelm II’s heir, he was the last Crown Prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Wilhelm became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather German Emperor Friedrich III died and his father became Emperor. He was Crown Prince for 30 years until the fall of the empire on November 9, 1918. During World War I, he commanded the 5th Army from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince for the remainder of the war.

Wilhelm married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (September 20, 1886 – May 6, 1954) in Berlin on 6 June 1905. After their marriage, the couple lived at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin in the winter and at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam, later on at Cecilienhof in Potsdam. Cecilie was the daughter of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851–1897) and his wife, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860–1922). Their eldest son, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, was killed fighting for the German Army in France in 1940.

After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for the reintroduction of the monarchy in Germany. After his plans to become president had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship soured.

Wilhelm became head of the House of Hohenzollern on June 4, 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death on July 20, 1951.

Countdown to the Coronation VIII: Last Coronations

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Anointing Ceremony, Charlemagne, coronation, Emperor-Elect, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Greece, Holy Roman Emperor, King Carlos I of Spain, King Felipe VI of Spain, Kingdom of Prussia, Otto of Greece, Pope, The Crown of Wilhelm II

From the Emperor’s Desk: Coronations in Europe were previously held in the monarchies of Europe. The United Kingdom is the only monarchy in Europe that still practices coronation. Current European monarchies have either replaced coronations with simpler ceremonies to mark an accession (e.g. Norway and Denmark) or have never practiced coronations (e.g. The Netherlands and Belgium). Most monarchies today only require a simple oath to be taken in the presence of the country’s legislature.

However, as the majority of monarchies in Europe transitioned from a form of absolutism to the form of a Democratic or constitutional monarchy they dispensed with or abolished the right of coronation.

Here is a select list of monarchies and when they abolished the coronation rite. This is not an exhaustive list but just hits some certain highlights.

The Holy Roman Empire

Since Charlemagne in 800, Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the pope. Since 911, the various German princes had elected the King of the Germans from among their peers. The King of the Germans would then be crowned as emperor following the precedent set by Charlemagne, during the period of 962–1530.

Charles V became the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, at Bologna. His successor, Ferdinand I, merely adopted the title of “Emperor elect” in 1558. The final Holy Roman emperor-elect, Franz II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire’s final dissolution.

Austria

Emperors of Austria were never crowned (unlike their predecessors in the Holy Roman Empire), as a coronation was not viewed as being necessary to legitimize their rule in that country.

However, they were crowned in some kingdoms within the Austrian Empire. Ferdinand I was crowned as King of Hungary with the Crown of Saint Stephen in 1830, as King of Bohemia with the Crown of Saint Wenceslas in 1836, and as King of Lombardy and Venetia with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 1838.

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Emperors of Austria were only crowned as King of Hungary (again with the Crown of Saint Stephen): Franz-Joseph I in 1867 and Charles I (as Charles IV of Hungary) in 1916.

Bavaria

In 1806, the German duchy of Bavaria was upgraded to full “kingdom” status. The former Duke of Bavaria, who now became King of Bavaria, Maximilian I, commissioned a set of crown jewels to commemorate Bavaria’s elevation. However, there was no coronation ceremony, and the king never wore the crown in public. Rather, it was placed on a cushion at his feet when displayed on occasions. The Bavarian monarchy was abolished in 1918.

Spain

The last Spanish monarchs being solemnly crowned were Juan I of Castile (1379), Fernando I of Aragon (1414), and Leonor of Navarre (1479). Joan III of Navarre was crowned as late as 1555, although she ruled Navarre beyond the Pyrenees.

After the 17th century, all Spanish monarchs have taken the royal rank by proclamation and acclamation before the Church, and since the 18th century, before the Cortes Generales, although the royal crown has been present in these ceremonies.

The current king, Felipe VI, was proclaimed King of Spain on 19 June 2014, having the following symbols displayed in front of him:

The commemorative crown (i.e. the corona tumular) bearing the marks of 1775, possibly made for the funeral of Elisabeth Farnese, queen consort of King Felipe V. The crown, made of gold-plated silver and no gems, displays the heraldic symbols of the founding kingdoms of Castile and León, with a turret and lion respectively. It was made by order of King Carlos III in Madrid.

France

The French coronation ritual was similar to that used in England, from 925 and above all 1066, with the coronation of William the Conqueror.

The last French royal coronation was that of Charles X, in 1825 by Jean-Baptiste de Latil in Rheims cathedral. Charles’ decision to be crowned, in contrast to his predecessor, Louis XVIII, who was not crowned, proved unpopular with the French public, and Charles was ultimately overthrown in a revolution in 1830. His successor, Louis Philippe I, opted not to have a coronation. The French government broke up and sold off most of the French Crown Jewels after 1875, in hopes of avoiding any further royalist agitation against the newly restored republic.

Greece

Although Greece retains a set of crown jewels given to it by its first king, Otto I, no King of Greece was ever crowned with them. All monarchs apart from Otto took office by a swearing-in ceremony in front of the Greek Parliament, until the Greek monarchy was abolished in 1974 by a referendum.

Denmark

The coronation of the Danish monarch was a religious ceremony in which the accession of the Danish monarch was marked by a coronation ceremony. It was held in various forms from 1170 to 1840, mostly in Lund Cathedral in Lund, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Copenhagen and in the chapel of Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød.

In 1660 the coronation ritual was replaced with a ceremony of anointing: the new king would arrive at the coronation site already wearing the crown, and he was then anointed.

This rite was in turn abolished with the introduction of the Danish constitution in 1849. Today the crown of Denmark is only displayed at the monarch’s funeral, when it sits atop their coffin. The present queen, Margrethe II, did not have any formal enthronement service; a public announcement of her accession was made from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace, with the new sovereign being acclaimed by her prime minister at the time (1972), Jens Otto Krag, then cheered with a ninefold “hurrah” by the crowds below.

Norway

The first coronation in Norway, and Scandinavia, took place in Bergen in 1163 or 1164. The Christ Church (Old Cathedral) in Bergen remained the place of coronations in Norway until the capital was moved to Oslo under King Haakon V. From then on some coronations were held in Oslo, but most were held in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.

In 1397, Norway, Sweden and Denmark united in what is referred to as the Kalmar Union, sharing the same monarch. During this period the kings were crowned consecutively in each of the three countries until the union was dissolved in 1523. Following this dissolution, Norway entered into a union in 1524 with Denmark which would eventually evolve to an integrated state that was to last until 1814. No coronations were held in Norway during this time. Meanwhile, the monarch underwent a coronation and later, with the introduction of absolutism in 1660, an anointing ceremony in Denmark.

In 1905, the personal union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved. Haakon VII was subsequently elected Norway’s monarch. Haakon and his wife Queen Maud (daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) were the last to be crowned in Nidaros Cathedral in 1906. Following this, the constitutional provision requiring the coronation was repealed in 1908. Thereafter, the monarch has only been required to take his formal accession oath in the Council of State and then in the parliament, the Storting.

King Olav V, desiring a religious ceremony to mark his accession to the throne in 1957, instituted a ceremony of royal consecration, known as Signing til kongsgjerning. This “blessing” rite took place again in 1991, when King Harald V and Queen Sonja were similarly consecrated. Both consecrations were held where the coronation rite had formerly taken place: Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.

Prussia and the German Empire

Only two kings of Prussia actually had a coronation.

King Wilhelm I was crowned in 1861 as King in Prussia, prior to the establishment of the German Empire (1871). He was crowned with great pomp, becoming the first king to be crowned in Prussia since the coronation of King Friedrich I in 1701. A significant number of politicians opposed the idea. Wilhelm I took the crown with his own hands from the altar and crowned himself, while saying that he was receiving the crown from God’s hands. These words were intended as a warning to Prussian Constitutionalists and Liberals.

Both coronations took place at the church at Königsberg Castle having been the last capital of the Ordenstaat, and capital of the Duchy of Prussia.

The King of Prussia was also Emperor of Imperial Germany from 1871 to 1918. Although a design and model for a German State Crown were made, no final diadem was ever produced, and none of the three German emperors were ever formally crowned.

The Crown of Wilhelm II, also known as the Hohenzollern Crown, is the 1888 crown made for Wilhelm II, German Emperor, in his role as King of Prussia. It was only used for heraldic purposes.

The Life of Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia (1874 – 1940)

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Evangelical Church of the Holy Cross, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Homosexuality, House of Hohenzollern, King Frederick William III of Prussia, Prince Albert of Prussia, Prince Frederick Henry of Prussia, Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia

Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia (April 15, 1874 – November 30, 1940) was a Prussian officer, member of the house of Hohenzollern, and a great-grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. He was persecuted for being homosexual.

Prince Friedrich Heinrich was the oldest son of Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1837–1906) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg (1854–1898), the only surviving child of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau. Prince Friedrich Heinrich he stood over six feet tall.

He studied law at Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn. In 1895, he became a member of the fraternity “Corps Borussia Bonn,” and later became an honorary member of the Burschenschaft Vandalia Berlin. He traveled to Italy, Norway, and Sweden.

Military career

After university, he took up a career as a commissioned officer. He began as a major in the 1st Guard Dragoon Regiment “Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,” and then was called to the command of the German General Staff in 1902.

In 1904, he became the commander of the 1st Brandenburg Dragoon Regiment Number 2; he would rise to colonel on May 21, 1906.

Homosexuality

He was relieved of his post as Commander of the Regiment at the beginning of 1907 and expelled from the Prussian Army because of his homosexuality. He was allowed to reenlist at the beginning of World War I as a private, but was denied promotion.

At the end of 1906, at the wishes of German Emperor Wilhelm II and as the heir of his deceased father, Friedrich Heinrich was voted the Herrenmeister of the Order of Saint John. However, due to increasing knowledge of his homosexuality, Prince Eitel Friedrich became the Herrenmeister instead. Journalist Maximilian Harden published an article on April 27, 1907 that this change in leadership was because the prince “suffers from an inherited version of inverted sex drive.” This is likely a reference to his homosexual ancestor Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802).

His ancestor, Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802), was a son of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, and the younger brother of King Friedrich II the Great. Prince Heinrich led Prussian armies in the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years’ War, having never lost a battle in the latter. In 1786, he was suggested as a candidate for a monarch for the United States.

In response to this publicity, Prince Friedrich Heinrich left Berlin on the advice of Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg. He spent time in the south of France and Egypt before returning to Germany, where he lived in seclusion on his estates in Silesia.

At the beginning of 1910, he gave up his presidency of the Academy of Charitable Sciences at Erfurt to his brother Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (July 12, 1880 – March 9, 1925) .

Later years

His inheritance included the towns of Kamenz and Zawidów in the southeastern area of Province of Lower Silesia; his contributions to the economic development of the area and care for the townsfolk made him locally popular. With his own money, he established the Evangelical Church of the Holy Cross in Wölfelsgrund in 1911 and the Church of the Resurrection in Zawidów in 1913, and brought in deaconesses for local nursing homes. He also promoted local forestry and dispensed honors to locals.

He was never married and died without descendants, ending the paternal line of his grandfather, Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1809–1872) youngest child of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Two of Albrecht’s elder brothers were Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia from 1840 till 1861, and Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from 1861 to 1888 and German Emperor from 1871 until 1888.

Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia died on November 13, 1940 in Zawidów and was buried in the mausoleum there.

After his death, Waldemar, son of Prince Heinrich and the grandson of German Emperor Friedrich III inherited the castle in Kamenz.

The Life of Princess Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden. Part II.

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German Emperor Wilhelm II, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, King Gustaf V of Sweden, King Oscar II of Sweden, Queen of Sweden, Victoria of Baden

Princess Victoria suffered depression after the birth of her first child, Prince Gustaf Adolph, in 1882, and after this, she often spent the winters at spas abroad. She would continue to spend the winters outside Sweden from that year until her death.

By 1888, her winter trips had made her unpopular, and she was described as very haughty. In 1889, she had pneumonia, and was formally ordered by the doctors to spend the cold Swedish winters in a southern climate. She had conflicts with her parents-in-law about her expensive stays abroad.

She greatly disapproved of the marriage between her brother-in-law Prince Oscar and her lady-in-waiting Ebba Munck af Fulkila in 1888. She is described as strong-willed and artistically talented. She was an accomplished amateur photographer and painter and she also sculpted. On her travels in Egypt and Italy she both photographed and painted extensively, and experimented with various photo-developing techniques, producing high-quality photographic work.

She was also an excellent pianist and, for example, could play through the complete Ring of the Nibelung by Wagner without notes. She had had a good music education and in her youth she had turned the notes on court concerts for Franz Liszt. Her favourite composers were Schubert and Beethoven. She was also described as a skillful rider.

Queen

Victoria became Queen-consort of Sweden with the death of her father-in-law King Oscar II of Sweden on December 8, 1907. Her husband ascended the throne as King Gustaf V of Sweden. As queen, she was only present in Sweden during the summers, but she still dominated the court. She arranged the marriage between her son Wilhelm and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia in 1908.

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia was a daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia by his first wife Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. The bride was a cousin of Emperor Nicholas II.

She was also devoted to various kinds of charity, in Sweden, Germany and Italy.

Queen Victoria had substantial political influence over her husband, who was often considered pro-German. In 1908, Victoria made an official visit to Berlin with Gustaf, where she was made an honorary Prussian Colonel of the 34th (Pomeranian) Fusiliers by her cousin Emperor Wilhelm II. She was described as strict and militant and it was said that she had the heart of a Prussian soldier.

She was very strict with discipline, and if any of the member of the palace guard forgot to salute her, he was generally put under arrest. Swedish court life was also dominated by a certain stiffness, upheld by her favoured lady in waiting, Helene Taube.

She was deeply conservative in her views and resented the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union in 1905, the Great Strike of 1909, the 1911 election victory of the radicals and the Socialists as well as the liberals, and when her son was temporary regent in 1912, she warned him in letters from Italy that he should not be too “intimate” with the elected government.

Queen Victoria lost much popularity among Swedes for her often noted pro-German attitude, particularly politically during World War I when she is said to have influenced her husband to a large extent. During World War I, she gave a personal gift to every Swedish volunteer to the German forces.

She kept up a close contact with her first cousin, German Emperor Wilhelm II, whom she often visited during the war She founded “Drottningens centralkomittée” (“The Queen’s Central Committee”) for defence equipment.

The Life of Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

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Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Duke Johann II the Younger of Schleswig-Holstein, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, King Christian III of Denmark and Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (April 21, 1887 – April 15, 1957).

House of Glücksburg

The family takes its ducal name from Glücksburg, a small coastal town in Schleswig, on the southern, German side of the fjord of Flensburg that divides Germany from Denmark. In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Dano-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.

Princess Alexandra Victoria’s birthplace Grünholz Castle, photographed in 2010.

In 1564, King Christian I’s great-grandson, King Frederik II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein’s fiefs, retained some lands for his own senior royal line while allocating Glücksburg to his brother Duke Johann the Younger (1545–1622), along with Sønderborg, in appanage. Johann’s heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg Dukes at Beck (an estate near Minden bought by the family in 1605), who remained vassals of Denmark’s kings.

The House of Augustenburg

The House of Augustenburg was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, who was the the third son of Johann II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Grubenhagen.

Duke Johann II was the fourth child and third son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and his wife, Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Like all of the secondary lines from the Sonderburg branch, the heads of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg were first known as Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein and Dukes of Sonderburg. The family took its name from its ancestral home, Augustenborg Palace in Augustenborg, Denmark.

Ernst Günther, a member of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein (its branch of Sønderborg) and a cadet of the royal house of Denmark, was the third son of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Sonderborg (1573–1627), and thus a grandson of Johann II the Younger (1545–1622), the first duke, who was a son of King Christian III of Denmark.

Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia

Ernest Günther had a castle built in the years after 1651, which received the name of Augustenborg in honor of his wife, Auguste. She was also from a branch of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein as a daughter of Philip (1584–1663), Duke of Glücksburg. As that castle became the chief seat of their line, the family eventually used the name of Augustenborg as its branch name. As they were agnates of the ducal house, the title of duke belonged to every one of them (as is the Germanic custom).

The Dukes of Augustenburg were not sovereign rulers—they held their lands in fief to their dynastically-senior kinsmen, the sovereign Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein—who were the Oldenburg Kings of Denmark.

Princess Alexandra Victoria was born on April 21, 1887 at Grünholz Castle in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia as the second-eldest child and daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, a great-niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Paternal Ancestry

Alexandra Victoria’s father, Friedrich Ferdinand, was the second-eldest son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Cassel and an elder brother of Christian IX of Denmark.

Princess Augusta Victoria’s father, Friedrich Ferdinand had succeeded to the headship of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the title of duke upon the death of his father on November 27, 1885.

Augusta Victoria’s paternal grandmother, Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Cassel, was the daughter of Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (1744 – 1836) and his wife Princess Louise of Denmark (1750 – 1831). Her elder sister Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel (28 October 1767 – 21 March 1852) became Queen consort of Frederik VI of Denmark.

Therefore Augusta Victoria’s paternal great-grandmother, Princess Louise of Denmark, was the daughter of was King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and Princess Louise of Great Britain.

Maternal Ancestry

Augusta Victoria’s mother was Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1860 – 1932) and she was the second-eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Princess Caroline Mathilde had a sister, Princess Augusta Victoria, who married Emperor Wilhelm II; who are Prince August Wilhelm’s parents.

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (20 July 1835 – 25 January 1900) was Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, a niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, first cousin of King Edward VII, and the mother-in-law of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. She is the most recent common matrilineal ancestress (directly through women only) of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Felipe VI of Spain.

Princess Alexandra Victoria and her son Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia

Marriages and issue

Alexandra Victoria’s first husband was her first cousin Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, the son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and his wife Augusta Victoria Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, a sister of Alexandra Victoria’s mother.

They married on October 22, 1908 at the Royal Palace of Berlin. The marriage was arranged by the Emperor and Empress, but it was relatively happy. Alexandra was a great favorite of her mother-in-law, especially since the Empress was also her own aunt.

A contemporary of the court, Princess Catherine Radziwill, commented that Alexandra “had always shown herself willing to listen to her mother-in-law. She is a nice girl – fair, fat, and a perfect type of the ‘Deutsche Hausfrau’ dear to the souls of German novel-writers”. Another contemporary wrote that the marriage had been a love match, and that Alexandra was a “charmingly pretty, bright girl”.

The couple had planned to take up residence in Schönhausen Palace in Berlin, but changed their mind when August Wilhelm’s father decided to leave his son the Villa Liegnitz in the Sanssouci Park in Potsdam. Their residence developed into a meeting place for artists and scholars.

Alexandra Victoria and August Wilhelm had one son:

Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia (December 26, 1912 – June 12, 1985).

During the First World War, August Wilhelm was made district administrator (Landrat) of the district of Ruppin; his office and residence was now Schloss Rheinsberg. His personal adjutant Hans Georg von Mackensen, with whom he had been close friends since his youth, played an important role in his life. These “pronounced homophilic tendencies” contributed to the failure of his marriage to Princess Alexandra Victoria. They never undertook a formal divorce due to the opposition of August Wilhelm’s father, Kaiser Wilhelm II.

After the fall of the German monarchy in 1918, the couple divorced on March 16, 1920.

Arnold Rümann

Her second husband was Arnold Rümann, whom she married on January 7, 1922 at Grünholz Castle. In 1926, Alexandra moved for a time to New York City, where she worked as a painter. She and Arnold were divorced in 1933.

Later life

After World War II, Alexandra lived in a trailer near Wiesbaden, where she earned a living as a portrait and landscape painter. She died on April 14, 1957 in a hotel in Lyons, France.

The Life of Princess Adelaide “Adi” of Saxe-Meiningen

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Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, House of Hohenzollern, Prince Adalbert of Prussia, Princess Adelaide "Adi" of Saxe-Meiningen, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Adelaide “Adi” of Saxe-Meiningen (August 16, 1891 – April 25, 1971), later Princess Adalbert of Prussia, was a daughter of Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Family

Adelaide (original German: Adelheid). Adelaide’s father, Prince Friedrich Johann was a younger son of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen by his second wife Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. She had five siblings, including Prince Georg a prisoner of war killed during World War II, and Prince Bernard.

Adelaide’s mother, also named Adelaide, was the eldest child of Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld, who was the Regent of the principality of Lippe for seven years (1897–1904).

Princess Adelaide had family connections with both the British Royal Family and the Prussian Royal Family. Princess Adelaide and her husband Prince Aldalbert of Prussia were third cousins.

Adelaide and her husband Adalbert were both descendants of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

I will address Princess Adelaide’s descent first. She was a great-great granddaughter of Princess Victoria through Princess Victoria’s first marriage to Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen.

Princess Victoria and Prince Emich Charles had a daughter, Princess Feodora, who married Prince Ernst I of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and they in turn had a daughter, also named Princess Feodora, who married Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen. Thier son, Prince Friedrich Johann, was the father of Princess Adelaide.

Now I will address Prince Adalbert’s descent from Princess Victoria.

Prince Adalbert of Prussia was also a great-great grandson of Princess Victoria Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld through both her first and second marriages.

Through Victoria’s first marriage to Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen they had a daughter Princess Feodora as mentioned above. And as previously mentioned Princess Feodora married Prince Ernst I of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and they in turn had a daughter, also named Princess Feodora.

Princess Feodora also had a sister, Princess Adelaide, who married Duke Friedrich VIII of Schleswig-Holstein and they in turn had a daughter Princess Augusta Victoria who married Emperor Wilhelm II; who are Prince Aldalbert’s parents.

Empress Augusta Victoria was not only Princess Adelaide’s mother-in-law, she was her father’s first cousin… therefore she was Adelaide’s first cousin once removed.

Prince Aldalbert was a descendant of Princess Victoria through her second marriage with, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; and from this union came Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, was married to Emperor Friedrich III and they were the parents of Aldalbert’s father, Emperor Wilhelm II.

Marriage

On August 3, 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Adelaide married Prince Adalbert of Prussia at Wilhelmshaven, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was the third son of German Emperor William II. Adelaide’s father would die within a month, on August 23, 1914. Less than a month after their marriage, Prince Adalbert was reported to have been killed in battle in Brussels. This was only a rumor however, and the prince had been unharmed. In March 1915, he was promoted to Captain in the navy and Major in the army.

She and Prince Adalbert had three children:

1. Princess Victoria Marina of Prussia (stillborn, September 4, 1915) she died soon after birth, although Adelaide was reported to have been in “satisfactory condition”.
2. Princess Victoria Marina of Prussia (September 11, 1917 – January 21, 1981) she married Kirby Patterson (July 24, 1907– June 4, 1984) on September 26, 1947.
3. Prince Wilhelm Victor of Prussia (February 15, 1919 – February 7, 1989), he married at Donaueschingen on July 20, 1944 Marie Antoinette, Countess of Hoyos (June 27, 1920 – March 1, 2004). They had two children, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Later life

After Emperor William II abdicated in 1918 at the end of World War I, Prince Adalbert sought refuge on his yacht, which had been maintained by a loyal crew. Princess Adelaide and their children soon attempted to follow, travelling by train from Kiel. They were delayed however, and eventually came to be staying in southern Bavaria with Prince Henry of Bavaria (a grandson of Ludwig III of Bavaria) and his wife. She and Prince Adalbert were later reunited.

Princess Adelaide died on April 25, 1971 in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland. Her husband had died 23 years earlier, on September 22, 1948 at the same location.

The Life of Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg. Part II

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Baron von Plettenberg, Bellevue Castle, Berlin, Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, Empress Augusta Victoria, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Grand Duke Friedrich August II in Oldenburg, Harald von Hedemann, Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg, World War I

On February 27, 1906, Sophia Charlotte married Prince Eitel in Berlin. The wedding fell on the anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Victoria Augusta’s silver wedding anniversary, which amplified the event considerably. The wedding had 1,500 guests, which included many members of Germany’s royal families. Sophia Charlotte wore a four-yard long dress that was made of pearl white silk and embroidered with silver roses.

The wedding had three ceremonies – the signing of the marriage contract under the statutes of the House of Hohenzollern on the first day, the administering of the civil law oaths on the second, and lastly the religious rites in the chapel of the castle later that day. She was warmly welcomed in Berlin.

Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia in military uniform

They had an unhappy marriage. Despite her warm Berlin welcome, Sophia Charlotte failed to make friends there. Eitel Friedrich was also continually unfaithful. One source states that upon realizing what type of person she had married, Sophia Charlotte “withdrew into a kind of haughty reserve, from which she never emerged”.

They rarely saw each other during his time fighting in World War I. It was a lonely time for Sophia Charlotte, and she resided mostly in Bellevue Castle in Berlin, where she spent her time mainly reading, painting, and socializing with a small number of friends.

Plettenberg case testimony

In 1922, Prince Eitel Friedrich sued four German newspapers over what he considered libelous allegations that his wife had committed adultery. These events began when Sophia Charlotte was summoned as a witness in a divorce case, and apparently admitted to having an affair with the male defendant.

In the case, she stated that she had known the defendant for a number of years before her marriage when he served her father Grand Duke Friedrich August II in Oldenburg. When asked by the judge, she said “our intimate relations continued even after my marriage with the Emperor’s son”.

She also added that her husband was aware of the affair the entire time, and that her and Plettenberg’s intimate relationship only ceased once he married. Sophia Charlotte later announced however, “I emphatically deny that either before or after have I had any unpermitted relations whatever with the plaintiff. I not only never committed adultery with the plaintiff nor did we ever kiss each other, nor did I maintain any relations whatsoever with him which overstepped the limits permitted by good society”.

The case was heavily suppressed in German newspapers, so that most reports were published in foreign newspapers.

Divorce

Sophia Charlotte and Eitel Friedrich were divorced October 20, 1926. The couple had no children. It is believed that the couple had wanted to divorce before the war, but were prevented by Eitel Friedrich’s father. Eitel Friedrich reportedly began divorce proceedings against Sophia Charlotte on March 15, 1919, citing infidelities before the war. In the end, a verdict given out by the court merely stated that Eitel Friedrich was the guilty party.

Later life

After many rumors of potential husbands circulated after her divorce (including the aforementioned Baron von Plettenberg), Sophia Charlotte married in 1927 Harald von Hedemann, a former Potsdam police officer. He was forty and she was forty-eight.

Despite his low status, the wedding was held at the Grand Ducal palace at Rastede Castle, and was attended by her father the former Grand Duke as well as a small number of both their relations. Sophia Charlotte was considered one of the richest women in the country, and the couple took up residence at the same castle where they were married.

Sophia Charlotte died on March 29, 1964 in Westerstede.

Personal traits and looks

Sophia Charlotte was well-educated and was brought up with a quiet and unworldly upbringing. She was a good linguist and musician. She was also a talented water-colour painter.

There were concerns of her well-being in Sophia Charlotte’s youth, as her mother had suffered from ill health. By traveling to spa resorts and residing in warm weather however, she was able to overcome any signs of sickness. Once source stated right before her marriage that Sophia Charlotte had “developed into a thoroughly healthy and happy woman, whose fair hair and blue eyes, so entirely German, are somewhat piquantly associated with a delicacy of feature that suggests the Latin rather than the Teutonic origin”.

According to another account, Sophia Charlotte was considered slim and graceful with pale, regular features. Contemporaries state she inherited some of the good looks and charm of her mother. As she was the only child of the Grand Duke by his first wife, she was a great heiress. Her wealth was often stressed when mentioned in articles and newspapers. One book called her “pretty, rich, and supposed to be very clever”. Another contemporary source however calls her plain and uninteresting.

The Life of Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt

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Bellevue Palace, Duke Eduard of Anhalt, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Johannes-Michael Freiherr von Loën, King of Prussia, Prince Charles Franz of Prussia, Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, Prince Joachim of Prussia, Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt

Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt (June 10, 1898 – May 22, 1983)

Her Highness Princess Marie-Auguste was born in Ballenstedt, Anhalt, Germany, to the then Prince Eduard of Anhalt and his wife Princess Louise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg, the daughter of Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen. Her father was a son of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and a younger brother of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.

Her father, Eduard succeeded his brother Duke Friedrich II of Anhalt on April 21, 1918, but his brief reign came to an end five months later with his own death on September 13, 1918. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son Prince Joachim Ernst under the regency of Eduard’s younger brother, Prince Aribert.

Prince Joachim Ernst’s brief reign came to an end on November 12, 1918 with his uncle abdicating in his name following the German revolution. The duchy became the Free State of Anhalt and is today part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Duke Joachim Ernst joined the ruling Nazi Party in 1939. He died at the Buchenwald concentration camp after World War II as a prisoner of the Soviet Union.

Princess Marie-Auguste was raised in Dessau, the capital of the duchy of Anhalt. She had five siblings, but her elder sister Friederike and brother Leopold died while infants. Marie-Auguste was an elder sister of Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt.

First marriage and Divorce

On March 11, 1916 in Berlin, Marie-Auguste married Prince Joachim of Prussia, the youngest son of German Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife Princess Victoria Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Prince Joachim of Prussia

Marie-Auguste and Joachim, who was Wilhelm’s last unmarried child, had been officially engaged since October 14 of the previous year. The wedding was celebrated at Bellevue Palace, and was attended by Joachim’s father and mother Empress Augusta Victoria, the Duke and Duchess of Anhalt, as well as other relatives. They had a simple Lutheran ceremony.

The couple shared common ancestry in King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia who was Princess Marie-Auguste’s great-great-great grandfather through Prince Ludwig Charles of Prussia the second son and third child of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Princess Marie-Auguste and her son Prince Prince Charles Franz of Prussia

Prince Joachim of Prussia was a great-great-great grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt through the couples eldest son King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

The couple had one son, Prince Charles Franz Josef Wilhelm Friedrich Eduard Paul (December 15, 1916 – January 23, 1975). Their grandson, Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, married Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, a pretender to the Imperial Russian throne.

Following the German Revolution in November 1918, German Emperor Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate, thus depriving Joachim of his titles and position. Unable to accept his new status as a commoner, he fell into a deep depression.

The relationship between Joachim and Marie-Auguste had already started to deteriorate. The couple were divorced soon after the end of the First World War. The direct causes of the divorce are not known to the public.

According to one report, Marie-Auguste had previously abandoned her husband and child to run away with another man, had been forcibly brought back home on the orders of the Emperor, and had filed for divorce as soon as the war ended, when she saw that her husband’s family were at their lowest ebb.

Only weeks after the divorce was finalized, Joachim shot himself in Potsdam on July 18, 1920. One source reports that he had been in financial straits and suffered from “great mental depression”. His own brother Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia commented that he suffered from “a fit of excessive dementia”.

After Joachim’s suicide, Marie-Auguste’s son Charles Franz was taken into the custody of his paternal uncle Prince Eitel Friedrich. As the acting head of the House of Hohenzollern, he claimed this right, due to the fact that Emperor Wilhelm had issued an edict placing Hohenzollern powers in Eitel’s hands.

This action was later declared to have been unlawful, and in 1921, Marie-Auguste was given full custody of her son, despite that fact that she had previously run away from her husband and despite numerous servants having testified against her, with Eitel’s counsel arguing that Marie-Auguste was unfit to have custody of Charles Franz.

However, she appeared in court and pleaded that she was heartbroken, which may have helped to win the case for her. In 1922, Marie-Auguste sued her former father-in-law for the financial support that had been promised in the marriage contract between her and Prince Joachim. Wilhelm’s advocate argued that the laws of the House of Hohenzollern were no longer in force, so there was no longer a financial obligation to support her.

Second marriage and divorce

On September 27, 1926, she married Johannes-Michael Freiherr von Loën (b. 1902), a childhood friend. They were divorced in 1935, and Marie-Auguste reverted to her maiden name.

In 1980, Princess Marie-Auguste legally adopted the businessman Hans Lichtenberg, who subsequently took the name Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt. According to Prinz von Anhalt, who thereafter proceeded to sell knighthoods and marriages related to his new station, he gave her $4,000 a month (German sources say 2000 Deutsche Mark a month) in financial support.

Death

Princess Marie-Auguste died on May 22, 1983 at Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz: 2nd Wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II

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German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Huis Doorn, King of Prussia, Prince Charles Franz of Prussia, Prince Joachim of Prussia, Prince Johann of Schönaich-Carolath, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath, Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, Princess Victoria, Princess Victoria of Prussia, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz (December 17, 1887 – August 7, 1947) was the second wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II. They were married in 1922, four years after he abdicated as German Emperor and King of Prussia. He was her second husband; her first husband, Prince Johann of Schönaich-Carolath, had died in 1920.

Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz

They were the parents of five children.

Princess Hermine was born in Greiz as the fifth child and fourth daughter of Heinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz (March 28, 1846 – April 19, 1902), and Princess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe (July 28, 1852 – September 28, 1891), daughter of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1827–1910).

Princess Hermine’s mother, Princess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe, had a brother, Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe (1859–1917), who was married Princess Victoria of Prussia, daughter of German Emperor Friedrich III, and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom eldest daughter of Queen Victoria.

This means that Princess Victoria of Prussia was Princess Hermine’s aunt by marriage and Princess Victoria was the sister of German Emperor Wilhelm II, Princess Hermine’s second husband.

Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz

Princess Hermine’s father was the ruler of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, a state of the German Empire, in what is present-day Thuringia. Princess Hermine’s disabled elder brother became Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss of Greiz in 1902.

First marriage

Princess Hermine was married on January 7, 1907 in Greiz to Prince Johann of Schönaich-Carolath (September 11, 1873 – April 7, 1920).

Second Marriage

German Emperor Wilhelm II in Exile

In January 1922, a son of Princess Hermine sent birthday wishes to the exiled German Emperor Wilhelm II, who then invited the boy and his mother to Huis Doorn. Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive, and greatly enjoyed her company. The two had much in common, both being recently widowed: Hermine just over a year and a half before and Wilhelm only nine months prior.

By early 1922, Wilhelm was determined to marry Hermine. Despite grumblings from Wilhelm’s monarchist supporters and the objections of his children, 63-year-old Wilhelm and 34-year-old Hermine married on November 5, 1922 in Doorn.

Wilhelm’s physician, Alfred Haehner, suspected that Hermine had married the former kaiser only in the belief that she would become an Empress and that she had become increasingly bitter as it became apparent that would not be the case.

Hermine with Wilhelm II and her daughter Henriette in Doorn, 1931

Shortly before the couple’s first wedding anniversary, Haehner recorded how Hermine had told him how “inconsiderately [Wilhelm] behaved towards her” and how Wilhelm’s face showed “a strong dislike” for his wife.

Hermine’s first husband had also been older than she was, by fourteen years. Wilhelm and Hermine were fourth cousins once removed through mutual descent from Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and fifth cousins through common descent from King George II of Great Britain.

In 1927, Hermine wrote An Empress in Exile: My Days in Doorn, an account of her life until then. She cared for the property management of Huis Doorn and by establishing her own relief organization, she stayed in contact with monarchist and nationalist circles in the Weimar Republic.

Hermine and Wilhelm II

Hermine also shared her husband’s anti-Semitism. She remained a constant companion to the aging emperor until his death in 1941. They had no children.

Later life

Following the death of Wilhelm, Hermine returned to Germany to live on her first husband’s estate in Saabor, Lower Silesia. During the Vistula–Oder Offensive of early 1945, she fled from the advancing Red Army to her sister’s estate in Rossla, Thuringia.

After the end of the Second World War, she was held under house arrest at Frankfurt on the Oder, in the Soviet occupation zone, and later imprisoned in the Paulinenhof Internment Camp.

On August 7, 1947, aged 59, she died suddenly of a heart attack in a small flat in Frankfurt, while under guard by the Red Army occupation forces. She was buried in the Antique Temple of Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, in what would become East Germany. Some years earlier, it was the resting place of several other members of the Imperial family, including Wilhelm’s first wife, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

Hermine and Wilhelm II

Prince Charles Franz of Prussia married a daughter of Hermine from her first marriage.

Prince Charles Franz of Prussia was the son of Prince Joachim of Prussia and Princess Marie Auguste of Anhalt.

Prince Joachim of Prussia was the youngest son and sixth child of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, by his first wife, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. He committed suicide at age 29.

On October 5, 1940, Charles Franz of Prussia married Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath. She was a daughter of Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, who had been the second wife of Charles Franz’s grandfather Emperor Wilhelm II since 1922 (Henriette was thus Emperor Wilhelm’s stepdaughter).

The wedding was at Wilhelm II’s private residence in Huis Doorn without much ceremony, he and Hermine attended the ceremony, as did a few other guests. The Mayor of Doorn performed the ceremony.

The eldest son of Charles Franz of Prussia and Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath is Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia (born September 3, 1943), he married the claimant to the Russian throne, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, of Russia. Their child is Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Prince of Prussia, born March 13, 1981 in Spain.