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.

August 25, 1845: Birth of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

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Duchess Sophie in Bavaria, Duke in Bavaria, German Empire, Herrenchiemsee, House of Wittelsbach, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, King Maximilian II of Bavaria, Linderhof Palace, Marie of Prussia, Neuschwanstein Castle, Richard Wagner

Ludwig II (August 25, 1845 – June 13, 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia.

Early life

Born at Nymphenburg Palace (located in what is today part of central Munich), he was the elder son of Maximilian II of Bavaria and Marie of Prussia, Crown Prince and Princess of Bavaria, who became King and Queen in 1848 after the abdication of the former’s father, Ludwig I, during the German Revolution.

His mother, Marie of Prussia, was the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, a younger brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, and his wife, Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg.

In her youth, Marie was seriously considered as a wife for Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, (elder brother of Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom) until her engagement to Maximilian was announced.

Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

His parents intended to name him Otto, but his grandfather insisted that his grandson be named after him, since their common birthday, August 25, is the feast day of Saint Louis IX of France, patron saint of Bavaria (with “Ludwig” being the German form of “Louis”). His full name was Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm. His younger brother, born three years later, was named Otto.

Like many young heirs in an age when kings governed most of Europe, Ludwig was continually reminded of his royal status. King Maximilian II wanted to instruct both of his sons in the burdens of royal duty from an early age. Ludwig was both extremely indulged and severely controlled by his tutors and subjected to a strict regimen of study and exercise. Some point to these stresses of growing up in a royal family as the causes for much of his odd behavior as an adult.

Ludwig was not close to either of his parents. King Maximilian’s advisers had suggested that on his daily walks he might like, at times, to be accompanied by his future successor. The King replied, “But what am I to say to him? After all, my son takes no interest in what other people tell him.” Later, Ludwig would refer to his mother as “my predecessor’s consort”. He was far closer to his grandfather, the deposed and notorious King Ludwig I.

Marie of Prussia, mother of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

Ludwig ascended to the throne in 1864 at the age of 18. Two years later, Bavaria and Austria fought a war against Prussia lasting only a matter of weeks, which they lost. However, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Bavaria sided with Prussia in their successful war against France.

Despite Ludwig’s reluctance to support the Unification of Germany, Bavaria and 21 other monarchies became part of the new German Empire with Wilhelm I, the King of Prussia and Ludwig’s cousin, as the German Emperor. Bavaria retained a large degree of autonomy within the Empire under the new Imperial Constitution.

The greatest stress of Ludwig’s early reign was pressure to produce an heir. This issue came to the forefront in 1867. Ludwig became engaged to Duchess Sophie in Bavaria, his cousin and the youngest sister of his dear friend, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary.

Duchess Sophie in Bavaria was a daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. The ninth of ten children born to her parents, she was known as Sopherl within the family.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his fiancé Duchess Sophie in Bavaria

Princess Ludovika of Bavaria was the sixth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife, Caroline of Baden, and the mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria, was born at Bamberg, the only son of Duke Pius August in Bavaria (1786–1837) and his wife, Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg (1789-1823).

Duke in Bavaria

After the Landshut War of Succession primogeniture was established in the House of Wittelsbach and therefore there could only be one Duke of Bavaria anymore, resulting in the actually quite unprecedented decision to create a title of Duke in Bavaria for the rest of the family, which all members of the House took for themselves, even the older Palatine branch – the other major Wittelsbach possession.

King Ludwig II and Duchess Sophie shared a deep interest in the works of Wagner. The engagement was announced on January 22, 1867; a few days earlier, Ludwig had written Sophie, “The main substance of our relationship has always been … Richard Wagner’s remarkable and deeply moving destiny.” Ludwig repeatedly postponed the wedding date, and finally cancelled the engagement in October.

Duchess Sophie in Bavaria

After the engagement was broken off, Ludwig wrote to his former fiancée, “My beloved Elsa! Your cruel father has torn us apart. Eternally yours, Heinrich.” (The names Elsa and Heinrich came from characters in Wagner’s opera Lohengrin.) Sophie later married Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon, grandson of French King Louis Philippe I, at Possenhofen Castle at which Ludwig II unexpectedly attended the reception.

Ludwig never married nor had any known mistresses. His diary, private letters, and other documents reveal his strong homosexual desires, which he struggled to suppress to remain true to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Homosexuality had not been punishable in Bavaria since 1813, but the unification of Germany under Prussian hegemony in 1871 instated Paragraph 175, which criminalized homosexual acts between males.

Throughout his reign, Ludwig had a succession of close friendships with men, including his aide-de-camp the Bavarian prince Paul von Thurn und Taxis, his chief equerry and master of the horse, Richard Hornig, the Hungarian theater actor Josef Kainz, and courtier Alfons Weber. Letters from Ludwig reveal that the quartermaster of the royal stables, Karl Hesselschwerdt, acted as his male procurer.

Ludwig’s original diaries from 1869 onward were lost during World War II, and all that remain today are copies of entries made during the 1886 plot to depose him. Some earlier diaries have survived in the Geheimes Hausarchiv (‘secret archives’) in Munich, and extracts starting in 1858 were published by Evers in 1986.

Linderhof Palace (my personal favorite)

Ludwig increasingly withdrew from day-to-day affairs of state in favour of extravagant artistic and architectural projects. He commissioned the construction of lavish palaces: Neuschwanstein Castle, Linderhof Palace and Herrenchiemsee. He was also a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner.

Ludwig spent all his own private royal revenues (although not state funds as is commonly thought) on these projects, borrowed extensively, and defied all attempts by his ministers to restrain him. This extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, an accusation that has since come under scrutiny.

Ludwig was taken into custody and effectively deposed on June 12, 1886, and he and his doctor were found dead on the following day. His death was ruled to be a suicide but this too has been disputed. Today, his architectural and artistic legacy includes many of Bavaria’s most important tourist attractions.

August 6, 1806: The Holy Roman Empire is Dissolved

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Abdication, Austrian Empire, Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Battle of Austerlitz, Confederation of the Rhine, Franz II-I, German Empire, Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Austria, Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon

The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire occurred de facto on August 6, 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor, Franz II of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, abdicated his title and released all imperial states and princes from their oaths and obligations to the empire.

Franz II-I, Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Austria

The empire was dissolved following a military defeat by the French under Napoleon at Austerlitz. Napoleon reorganized much of the Empire into the Confederation of the Rhine, a French satellite.

Emperor Franz survived the demise of the Holy Roman Empire by continuing to reign as the Emperor of Austria.

Holy Roman Empire in 1806

In 1804 Emperor Franz united his hereditary lands as Archduke of Austria and Kings of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia into The Austrian Empire. Prior to the creation of this empire the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors ruled these lands in person union and not as a centralized state.

The Austrian Empire would last until the Habsburg empire’s final dissolution in 1918 in the aftermath of World War I.

German Empire & Austrian-Hungarian Empire

The Napoleonic Confederation of the Rhine was replaced by a new union, the German Confederation in 1815, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It lasted until 1866 when Prussia founded the North German Confederation, a forerunner of the German Empire which united the German-speaking territories outside of Austria and Switzerland under Prussian leadership in 1871. This state developed into modern Germany.

From the Emperor’s Desk: Starting Monday I will begin a series on an in-depth examination of the ending of the Holy Roman Empire.

June 15, 1888: Death of Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

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Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Crown Prince of Prussia, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm I, German Empire, House of Hohenzollern, Liberal, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Princess Royal, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of the United Kingdom

Friedrich III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; October 18, 1831 – June 15, 1888) Friedrich III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days between March and June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors.

Known informally as “Fritz”, was a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, rulers of Prussia, then the most powerful of the German states he was the only son of Emperor Wilhelm I who was the second son of King Friedrich Wilhelm III and, having been raised in the military traditions of the Hohenzollerns, developed into a strict disciplinarian.

German Emperor Friedrich III as Crown Prince of Prussia

Fritz’s father, Emperor Wilhelm I, King of Prussia married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, herself the Augusta was the second daughter of Charles Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Princess Augusta had been raised in the more intellectual and artistic atmosphere of Weimar, which gave its citizens greater participation in politics and limited the powers of its rulers through a constitution; Augusta was well known across Europe for her liberal views.

Because of their differences, the couple did not have a happy marriage and, as a result, Friedrich grew up in a troubled household, which left him with memories of a lonely childhood. He had one sister, Louise (later Grand Duchess of Baden), who was seven years his junior and very close to him.

Friedrich III was raised in his family’s tradition of military service. Although celebrated as a young man for his leadership and successes during the Second Schleswig, Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, he nevertheless professed a hatred of warfare and was praised by friends and enemies alike for his humane conduct.

Following the unification of Germany in 1871 his father, then King of Prussia, became the German Emperor. Upon Wilhelm’s death at the age of ninety on March 9, 1888, the thrones passed to Frederick, who had by then been German Crown Prince for seventeen years and Crown Prince of Prussia for twenty-seven years.

Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom

Friedrich married Victoria, Princess Royal, oldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The couple were well-matched; their shared liberal ideology led them to seek greater representation for commoners in the government.

Friedrich, in spite of his conservative militaristic family background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Bonn.

As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, particularly in speaking out against Bismarck’s policy of uniting Germany through force, and in urging that the power of the Chancellorship be curbed. Liberals in both Germany and Britain hoped that as emperor, Frederick would move to liberalise the German Empire.

Frederick and Victoria were great admirers of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. They planned to rule as co-monarchs, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and to reform what they saw as flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself.

The office of Chancellor, responsible to the Emperor, would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick “described the Imperial Constitution as ingeniously contrived chaos.” According to Michael Balfour:

The Crown Prince and Princess shared the outlook of the Progressive Party, and Bismarck was haunted by the fear that should the old Emperor die—and he was now in his seventies—they would call on one of the Progressive leaders to become Chancellor. He sought to guard against such a turn by keeping the Crown Prince from a position of any influence and by using foul means as well as fair to make him unpopular.

However, Friedrich’s illness, suffering from cancer of the larynx, prevented him from effectively establishing policies and measures to achieve this, and such moves as he was able to make were later abandoned by his son and successor, Wilhelm II. The timing of Friedrich III’s death and the length of his reign are important topics among historians.

His premature demise is considered a potential turning point in German history; and whether or not he would have made the Empire more liberal if he had lived longer is still a popular discussion among historians.

April 20, 1929: Death of Prince Heinrich of Prussia

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German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, German Navy, German Revolution, Hemophilia, House of Hohenzollern, Prince Henry of Prussia, Princess Irene of Hesse and By Rhine, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, World War I

Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia (August 1862 – April 20, 1929) known by his last name, Heinrich, he was a younger brother of German Emperor Wilhelm II and a Prince of Prussia. He was also a grandson of Queen Victoria. A career naval officer, he held various commands in the Imperial German Navy and eventually rose to the rank of Grand Admiral and Generalinspekteur der Marine.

Biography

Born in Berlin, Prince Heinrich was the third child and second son of eight children born to Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (later Emperor Friedrich III), and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (later Empress Victoria and in widowhood Empress Frederick), eldest daughter of the British Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Heinrich was three years younger than his brother, the future Emperor Wilhelm II (born January 27, 1859). He was born on the same day as King Friedrich Wilhelm I “Soldier-King” of Prussia.

After attending the gymnasium in Cassell, which he left in the middle grades in 1877, the 15-year-old Heinrich entered the Imperial Navy cadet program. His naval education included a two-year voyage around the world (1878 to 1880), the naval officer examination in October 1880, and attending the German naval academy (1884 to 1886).

At the beginning of World War I, Prince Heinrich was named Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet. Although the means provided to him were far inferior to Russia’s Baltic Fleet, he succeeded, until the 1917 Revolution, in putting Russian naval forces far on the defensive and hindered them from making attacks on the German coast. After the end of hostilities with Russia, his mission was ended, and Prince Heinrich simply left active duty. With the war’s end and the dissolution of the monarchy in Germany, Prince Heinrich left the navy.

Family

On May 24, 1888, Heinrich married Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, his first cousin. She was the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elizabeth of Prussia.

Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine

Heinrich’s dying father, German Emperor Friedrich III and his mother Empress Victoria were in attendance. The marriage produced three children:

Their sons Waldemar and Heinrich were both hemophiliacs, a disease which they inherited through Irene from the maternal grandmother of both of their parents, Queen Victoria, who was a carrier.

Personality and private life

Heinrich received one of the first pilot’s licenses in Germany, and was judged a spirited and excellent seaman. He was dedicated to modern technology and was able to understand quickly the practical value of technical innovations. A yachting enthusiast, Prince Heinrich became one of the first members of the Yacht Club of Kiel, established by a group of naval officers in 1887, and quickly became the club’s patron.

Heinrich was interested in motor cars as well and supposedly invented a windshield wiper and, according to other sources, the car horn.

After the German Revolution, Heinrich lived with his family in Hemmelmark near Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein. He continued with motor sports and sailing and even in old age was a very successful participant in regattas. He popularized the Prinz-Heinrich-Mütze (“Prince Henry cap”), which is still worn, especially by older sailors.

In 1899, Heinrich received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Engineering honoris causa) from the Technical University of Berlin. Also in foreign countries he received numerous similar honors, including an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) from Harvard University in March 1902, during his visit to the United States.

Prince Heinrich died of throat cancer, as his father had, in Hemmelmark on April 20, 1929.

November 1918: Abdication of German Dukes and Princes

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Abdication, Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe, Charles Eduard of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Ernst August of Brunswick, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, King of Prussia, Reuss-Gera, Saxe-Altenburg, Waldeck and Pyrmont, World War I

In the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, Chancellor Prince Max of Baden announced Wilhelm’s abdication of both titles on November 9, 1918.

Despite the announcement of his abdication and subsequent flight to the Netherlands, Wilhelm II didn’t officially abdicate until November 28, 1918 when he signed a Statement of Abdication.

Statement of Abdication. I herewith renounce for all time claims to the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith…. ” November 28, 1918 German Emperor Wilhelm II gave up his claims in a letter signed in exile from Amerongen in the Netherlands.

On November 11th I wrote about the abdication of German Emperor Wilhelm II, the other kings and Grand Dukes within the German Empire.

Today I will focus on the abdication of the German monarchs who reigned as Dukes and Princes.

Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

Bernhard assumed the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen as Bernhard III after the death of his father in 1914. With the start of World War I Bernhard hoped to be assigned command over an army but was disappointed. In reaction he also withdrew from his role in the Duchy’s government.

After Germany lost the war, the German revolution forced Bernhard to abdicate as duke on November 10, 1918. Like all the German princes he lost his title and state. He spent the rest of his life in his former country as a private citizen. Bernhard died on January 16, 1928 in Meiningen.

Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Charles Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1884 – 1954) was the last sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from July 30, 1900 until 1918. A male-line grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert ofSaxe-Coburg-Gotha, he was also until 1919 a Prince of the United Kingdom and from birth held the British titles of Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.

Charles Eduard was a controversial figure in the United Kingdom due to his status as the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was part of the German Empire, during World War I. On November 14, 1918, however, after a revolution in Germany, he was forced to abdicate as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and lost his rights to the ducal throne. Under the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917 Charles Eduard also lost his British titles of Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.

Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

Ernst II of Saxe-Altenburg was the fourth child and only son of Prince Moritz, the youngest son of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen.

The death of his father, on the May 13, 1907, made him first in the line of succession to the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg. He inherited the dukedom when his uncle and namesake, Ernst I, died without any surviving male issue.

World War I

During World War I, Ernst refused all honorary appointments at the Kaiser’s headquarters, which would have been considerably safer than other areas. Resigning from his courtesy rank of Generalleutnant, he requested and was granted the colonelcy and the command of his duchy’s regiment, the 153rd (8th Thuringian) Infantry.

Quickly promoted to General der Infanterie, Ernst II led several brigades on the western front. In 1915, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite award and was given command of the 8th Infantry Division, further distinguishing himself in the Battle of the Somme. In late 1916, he relinquished his field command because of illness and returned to Altenburg for the remainder of the war.

When Germany lost the war, all German princes lost their titles and states. Ernst was one of the first princes to realise that major changes were coming and quickly arrived at an amicable settlement with his subjects. He was forced to abdicate the government of the duchy on November 13, 1918 and spent the rest of his life as a private citizen.

Later life

After his abdication Ernst, with a moderate fortune, retired to a hotel in Berlin. Two years later, in 1920, his marriage ended in divorce. Later that year, Ernst announced his engagement to Helena Thomas, an opera singer. They had met while she was temporarily filling an engagement at the Ducal Theatre in Altenburg during the war. The marriage never took place, however.

On July 15, 1934 Ernst married his second wife, Maria Triebel, who had been his companion for many years, at his home, Schloss Fröhliche Wiederkunft (“Palace of Happy Returning”) at Wolfersdorf. It was a morganatic marriage, and she received only the title of “Baroness Reiseneck”. They had no children.

Still interested in science, Ernst established a modern observatory in Wolfersdorf, employing Kurd Kisshauer in 1922. On May 1, 1937, Ernst joined the Nazi Party.

Ernst became the only former reigning German prince who accepted German Democratic Republic citizenship after World War II, refusing an offer to leave his beloved “Palace of Happy Returning” and relocate to the British occupation zone.

The Schloß had been confiscated by the Soviet occupiers, but Ernst had been granted free use of it until his death. In March 1954, with the death of Charles Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he became the last survivor of the German princes who had reigned until 1918. One year later, he died at the Schloß.

Duke of Brunswick

On October 27, 1913, Prince Ernst August of Great Britain and Hanover, Duke of Cumberland formally renounced his claims to the duchy of Brunswick in favor of his surviving son, also named ErnstAugust. The following day, the Federal Council voted to allow Ernst August to become the reigning Duke of Brunswick.

The new Duke of Brunswick formally took possession of his duchy on November 1, 1913. In 1913 Ernst August married Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, the only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

The new duke and duchess of Brunswick moved into Brunswick Palace in the capital of Brunswick and began their family with the birth of their eldest son, Prince Ernst August, less than a year after their wedding.
During the First World War, Ernst August rose to the rank of major-general.

Abdication and later life

In 1917, the British dukedom of Ernest Augustus’s father, and his own title as a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, were suspended by the Titles Deprivation Act 1917, as a result of the Duke’s service in the German army during the war.

On November 8, 1918, Ernest Augustus was forced to abdicate his throne, as were all the other German kings, grand dukes, dukes, and princes during the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Thus, when his father died in 1923, Ernst August did not succeed to his father’s title of Duke of Cumberland. For the next thirty years, Ernst August remained as head of the House of Hanover, living in retirement on his various estates, mainly Blankenburg Castle in Germany and Cumberland Castle in Gmunden, Austria. He also owned Marienburg Castle near Hanover, although rarely ever living there until 1945.

Duke of Anhalt

Eduard was born at Dessau, the capital of the Duchy, in 1861 as the third son of Duke Friedrich I of Anhalt (1831–1904) and his wife Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg (1838–1908). As Eduard’s eldest brother, Leopold, died without male offspring in 1886, and the next brother, Friedrich, had no issue, Eduard became heir presumptive and Hereditary Prince following the death of their father, Duke Friedrich I, in 1904.

Reign

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.

Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt, succeeded his father as Duke of Anhalt on September 13, 1918. However, due to his age, his uncle Prince Aribert of Anhalt was appointed regent. His brief reign came to an end on 12 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.

Joachim Ernst died at the Buchenwald concentration camp after World War II as a prisoner of the Soviet Union, when it was called NKVD special camp Nr. 2. Following his death, the headship of the Ducal House of Anhalt was disputed between his elder son, Prince Friedrich, and brother Prince Eugen.

Principalities

Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe

Principality of Lippe

The Counts of Lippe-Detmold were granted the title of Imperial prince in 1789.

Shortly after becoming a member state of the German Empire in 1871, the Lippe-Detmold line died out on July 20, 1895. This resulted in an inheritance dispute between the neighbouring principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and the Lippe-Biesterfeld line. The dispute was resolved by the Imperial Court in Leipzig in 1905, with the lands passing to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line who, until this point, had no territorial sovereignty.

The Principality of Lippe came to an end on November 12, 1918 with the abdication of Leopold IV, with Lippe becoming a Free State. In 1947, Lippe merged into the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The princely family still owns the estate and Fürstliches Residenzschloss [de] in Detmold.

Principality of Reuss-Gera (Junior Line) and Reuss-Greiz (Senior Line)

At the death of his father on March 29, 1913 Prince Heinrich XXVII of Reuss-Gera inherited the throne of the Principality. He also continued as regent of Reuss Elder Line, because of a physical and mental disability of Prince Heinrich XXIV of Reuss-Greiz due to an accident in his childhood.

Prince Heinrich XXVII abdicated in 1918 after the German Revolution of 1918–19, when all German monarchies were abolished.

With the death of Heinrich XXIV in 1927, the Elder Line became extinct and its titles passed to Heinrich XXVII, who thus became the sole Prince Reuss.

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe

Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe was born in Stadthagen to the then hereditary Prince Georg (1846–1911) and Princess Marie Anne of Saxe-Altenburg (1864–1918) during the reign of his grandfather Prince Adolf I.

He became heir apparent to Schaumburg-Lippe on May 8, 1893 following the death of his grandfather, and the accession of his father. He succeeded his father as prince on April 29, 1911, and reigned until he was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918 following the German revolution: the principality became the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe. Adolf was exiled to Brioni in Istria. During his reign he developed the spa of Bad Eilsen and was responsible for many buildings there.

Adolf married Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus (1894–1936, previously married to Prince Eberwyn, son of Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt) in Berlin on January 20, 1920.

They were both killed in a plane crash in Zumpango, Mexico, on March 26, 1936, while flying from Mexico City to Guatemala City in a Ford Trimotor airplane.

His youngest brother Prince Friedrich Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe, who served as an adjutant to Joseph Goebbels, spoke out against letting Ellen be buried in Bückeburger Mausoleum next to her husband, because she was not of “Aryan origin”. He was succeeded as head of the House of Schaumburg-Lippe by his brother Wolrad.

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt & Schwarzburg-Sondershausen

With the death of Prince Leopold of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen on 20 April 20, 1906 Prince Günther Victor then became heir presumptive to the other Schwarzburg principality. The death of the prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Charles Günther on March 28, 1909 united the two Schwarzburg principalities under Prince Günther in a personal union. This was the first time the two principalities had been united under the same ruler since the 16th century when the Sondershausen and Rudolstadt lines had been formed. Following his succession in Sondershausen Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.

Following the outbreak of the German revolution Prince Günther Victor abdicated on November 25, 1918. Following his death in Sondershausen in the spring of 1925, he was succeeded as head of the House of Schwarzburg by Prince Sizzo.

Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1865 – 1946) was the last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from May 12, 1893 to 13 November 13, 1918.

Family

He was the only son and sixth child of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. He was a brother of the Dutch Queen consort Emma and Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany.

His maternal grandparents were Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau and his second wife Princess Pauline of Württemberg. Pauline was a daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and his wife Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Paul was a son of Friedrich I of Württemberg and his wife Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Augusta was the eldest daughter of Charles Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Augusta of Great Britain, elder sister of George III of the United Kingdom.

Abdication of the German Monarchies. Part I

Tags

Armistice, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, German Emperor, German Empire, German Revolution, Hesse and By Rhine, King of Prussia, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Oldenburg, Prince Max of Baden, Wilhelm II, Wilhelm II of Württemberg, World War I

The Armistice ending World War I was agreed upon at 5:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, to come into effect at 11:00 a.m. Paris time (noon German time), for which reason the occasion is sometimes referred to as “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”.

The German Empire consisted of 26 states, each with their own nobility, four constituent kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of Empire’s population and territory, and Prussian dominance had also been constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor (German: Kaiser)

In this post I will give a brief summary of the abdications of the German monarchs at the end of the war. Today I will mention the four kingdoms and 6 grand duchess that made up the German Empire. On November 28th, the anniversary of the abolition of the monarchy, I will summarize the abdication of the 5 Duchies and 7 Principalities that constituted the empire.

Kingdoms

German Emperor and King of Prussia

As the war was nearing its end Wilhelm II’s hope of retaining at least one of his crowns,, that of the Kingdom of Prussia, was revealed as unrealistic when, in the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, Chancellor Prince Max of Baden announced Wilhelm’s abdication of both titles on November 9, 1918.

Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff’s replacement, General Wilhelm Groener, had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Hindenburg’s command, but would certainly not fight for Wilhelm’s throne. The monarchy’s last and strongest support had been broken, and finally even Hindenburg, himself a lifelong monarchist, was obliged, after polling his generals, to advise the Emperor to give up the crown. On November 10, Wilhelm crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands.

Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Kingdom of Bavaria

On November 2, 1918, an extensive constitutional reform was established by an agreement between the royal government and all parliamentary groups, which, among other things, envisaged the introduction of proportional representation. Ludwig III, approved on the same day the transformation of the constitutional into a parliamentary monarchy. On November 7, 1918, Ludwig III fled from the Residenz Palace in Munich with his family and took up residence in Schloss Anif, near Salzburg, for what he hoped would be a temporary stay. He was the first of the monarchs in the German Empire to be deposed. The next day, the People’s State of Bavaria was proclaimed. This effectively dethroned the Wittelsbachs and ended the family’s 738-year rule over Bavaria.

Kingdom of Württemberg

King Wilhelm II of Württemberg finally abdicated on November 30, 1918, ending over 800 years of Württemberg rule. He died in 1921 at Bebenhausen. King Wilhelm II was also the last German ruler to abdicate in the wake of the November Revolution of 1918.

Kingdom of Saxony

Friedrich August III was a member of the House of Wettin, and the last King of Saxony (1904–1918). Though well-loved by his subjects, he voluntarily abdicated as king on November 13, 1918, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. He died in Sibyllenort (now Szczodre) in Lower Silesia and was buried in Dresden.

When the German Republic was proclaimed in 1918, he was asked by telephone whether he would abdicate willingly. He said: “Oh, well, I suppose I’d better.”

Upon abdicating, he is supposed to have said “Nu da machd doch eiern Drägg alleene!” (Saxon for “Well then take care of this crap yourselves!”), but there is no documentation of this.

When cheered by a crowd in a railroad station several years after his abdication, he stuck his head out of the train’s window and shouted “Ihr seid mer ja scheene Demogradn!” (Saxon for “You’re a fine lot of republicans, I’ll say!”).

Grand Duchies

Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine

During World War I, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine served as an officer at German Emperor Wilhelm II’s headquarters. In February, 1917, the February Revolution in Russia forced his brother-in-law, Emperor Nicholas II, to abdicate. Sixteen months later, in July 1918, his two sisters in Russia, Elizabeth, the widow of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and Alexandra, the wife of Nicholas II, were murdered by the Bolsheviks, Alexandra dying alongside her husband and children. At the end of the war, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig lost his throne during the revolution of 1918, after refusing to abdicate.

Wilhelm II, King of Württemberg

Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Following the 1918 suicide of Grand Duke Adolph Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin took up the regency of Strelitz. This happened because the heir presumptive Duke Charles Michael was serving in the Russian Army at the time and had indicated that he wished to renounce his succession rights. Friedrich Franz IV abdicated the grand ducal throne on November 14, 1918 following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I; the Strelitz regency ended at the same time.

Grand Duchy of Baden

Grand Duke Friedrich II of Baden was the last sovereign Grand Duke of Baden, reigning from 1907 until the abolition of the German monarchies in 1918. He abdicated on November 22, 1918, amidst the tumults of the German Revolution of 1918–19 which resulted in the abolition of the Grand Duchy.

Following the death of his uncle Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden in 1907, Margrave Maximilian (Max of Baden) became heir to the grand-ducal throne of his cousin Friedrich II, whose marriage remained childless.

in October and November 1918 Maximilian briefly served as the last Chancellor of the German Empire and Minister-President of Prussia. He sued for peace on Germany’s behalf at the end of World War I based on U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, which included immediately transforming the government into a parliamentary system, by handing over the office of chancellor to SPD Chairman Friedrich Ebert and unilaterally proclaiming the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II. Both events took place on November 9, 1918, the beginning of the Weimar Republic.

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Wiemar-Eisenach

In 1901 Charles Alexander was succeeded by his grandson Wilhelm Ernst. In 1903, the Grand Duchy officially changed its name to Grand Duchy of Saxony. However, many people continued to call it Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, to avoid confusion with the neighbouring Kingdom of Saxony.

Wilhelm Ernst abdicated the throne on November 9, 1918, thereby ending the monarchy in the state. It continued as the Free State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, until 1920, when it merged with most of its neighbours to form Thuringia, with Weimar as the state capital.

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg

Friedrich August III began his reign on June 13, 1900, when his father, Grand Duke Peter II, died. His reign came to an end on November 11, 1918, shortly before the German monarchy was formally abolished on November 28, 1918.

Friedrich August and his family took up residence at Rastede Castle, where he took up farming and local industrial interests. A year after his abdication, he asked the Oldenburg Diet for a yearly allowance of 150,000 marks, stating that his financial condition was “extremely precarious.”

October 2, 1921: Death of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg

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Abdication, Albrecht of Württemberg, Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe, George V of the United Kingdom, German Empire, Mary of Teck, Succession, William II of Württemberg, World War I

Wilhelm II (February 25, 1848 – October 2, 1921) was the last King of Württemberg. He ruled from October 6, 1891 until the dissolution of the kingdom on November 30, 1918. He was also the last German ruler to abdicate in the wake of the November Revolution of 1918.

Early years

Wilhelm was born the son of Prince Friedrich of Württemberg (1808–1870) by his wife Princess Catherine Frederica of Württemberg (1821–1898), herself the daughter of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg (1781–1864). His parents were first cousins, being the children of two brothers, and Wilhelm was their only child.

Wilhelm’s growing years coincided with a progressive dimininution of Württemberg’s sovereignty and international presence, concomitant with the process of German unification. In 1870, Württemberg took the side of Prussia in the Franco-German War. In 1871, Württemberg became a state of the German Reich, a significant limitation on its sovereignty.

King of Württemberg

Wilhelm’s father died in 1870, but his mother lived to see him seated on the throne of Württemberg. In 1891, Wilhelm succeeded his childless maternal uncle, King Charles I (1823–1891) and became King Wilhelm II of Württemberg. This was not, as it may seem, a departure from the Salic law which governed succession in the German states; his claim to the throne came because he was the nearest agnatic heir of his maternal uncle, as the senior male-line descendant of King Friedrich I of Württemberg through his younger son Prince Paul.

King Wilhelm II became a Generalfeldmarschall during World War I. In 1918, he was deposed from the throne along with the other German rulers. King Wilhelm II finally abdicated on November 30, 1918, ending over 800 years of Württemberg rule. He died on October 2, 1921 at Bebenhausen.

Personality and interests

Considered to be a popular monarch, Wilhelm had the habit of walking his two dogs in public parks in Stuttgart without being attended by bodyguards or the like. During these excursions, he would often be greeted by his subjects with a simple Herr König (“Mister King”).

Despite living in a landlocked kingdom, Wilhelm II was a yachting enthusiast. The king was instrumental in the establishment of the Württembergischer Yacht Club (formerly “Königlich Württembergischer Yacht-Club” or Royal Yacht Club of Württemberg) in 1911 on Lake Constance.

Marriages and children

On February 15, 1877 at Arolsen he married Princess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1857–1882), was the third daughter of Georg Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his wife, Princess Helena of Nassau, younger half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Marie was born in Arolsen, then part of the German Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Her younger brother, Friedrich, was the last reigning prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Two of her younger sisters, Emma and Helena, married her third cousin once removed King Willem III of the Netherlands and Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (youngest son of Queen Victoria), respectively.

They had three children:

Princess Pauline of Württemberg (December 19, 1877 – May 7, 1965); married in 1898 Wilhelm Friedrich, Prince of Wied (1872–1945), and had issue.

Prince Ulrich of Württemberg (28 July 1880 – 28 December 1880), died in infancy

A stillborn daughter (24 April 1882)

Marie died on April 30, 1882 in Stuttgart, from complications resulting from the birth of their third child. Wilhelm, already depressed by the death of his only son, is said never to have recovered from this blow.
Nevertheless, he was King and it was his duty to secure the succession.

On April 8, 1886, at Bückeburg, he married Princess Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe (1864–1946), the daughter of Prince Wilhelm Karl August of Schaumburg-Lippe, and his wife, Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau. As the second wife of King William II of Württemberg she became Queen consort of Württemberg. She was not only the last queen of Württemberg, but the last surviving queen of any German state.

They had no children.

Succession

On Wilhelm II’s death in 1921 without male issue, the royal branch of the House of Württemberg became extinct, and the headship of the house devolved to Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, head of the Roman Catholic cadet branch of the dynasty, based at Altshausen.

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Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg (December 23, 1865 – October 31, 1939) was the last Württemberger crown prince, a German military commander of the First World War, and the head of the House of Württemberg from 1921 to his death.

Duke Albrecht was born in Vienna as the eldest child of Duke Philipp of Württemberg and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen.

Albrecht entered the armies of the Kingdom of Württemberg and the German Empire in 1883, rose quickly through its ranks, and became the heir apparent to the throne of Württemberg.

Albrecht was married in Vienna on January 17, 1893 to Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria, the fourth and youngest child and only daughter of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and his second wife Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. She was named for her father’s first wife, Princess Margaretha of Saxony, and for her paternal grandmother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria. Her older brothers included Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Archduke Otto Francis of Austria.

In 1910, Albrecht attended the funeral of Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Albrecht was a second cousin once removed of Mary of Teck, who was the Queen consort of George V. Mary of Teck was a morganatic descendant of the House of Württemberg and a granddaughter of Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804–1885).

Albrecht had become heir presumptive to the Kingdom of Württemberg following the death of his father in October 1917, but the German Empire’s World War I defeat and the abdication of his cousin King Willhelm II of Württemberg following the German Revolution prevented him from ever succeeding to the throne.

Albrecht became head of the House of Württemberg after the death of Wilhelm on October 2, 1921. Albrecht died at Altshausen Castle. His son Duke Philipp Albrecht succeeded him as head of the House of Württemberg.

May 6, 1882: Birth of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia.

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Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Emperor, German Empire, Wilhelm II of Germany, World War I, World War III

Prince Wilhelm was born on May 6, 1882 in the Marmorpalais of Potsdam in the Province of Brandenburg. He was the eldest son of Wilhelm II, the last German Kaiser (Emperor) (1859–1941), and his first wife, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (1858–1921).

When he was born, his great-grandfather Wilhelm I was the emperor and his grandfather Crown Prince Friedrich was the heir apparent, making Wilhelm third in line to the throne.

His birth sparked an argument between his parents and his grandmother Crown Princess Victoria. Before Wilhelm was born, his grandmother had expected to be asked to help find a nurse, but since her son did everything he could to snub her, the future Wilhelm II asked his aunt Helena to help.

His mother was hurt and his grandmother, Queen Victoria, who was the younger Wilhelm’s great-grandmother, furious. When his great-grandfather and grandfather both died in 1888, six-year-old Wilhelm became the heir apparent to the German and Prussian thrones.

Wilhelm married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (September 20, 1886 – May 6, 1954) in Berlin on June 6, 1905. After their marriage, the couple lived at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin in the winter and at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam.

Cecilie was the daughter of Grand Duke 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.

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.

At the end of the war, Wilhelm was captured by French Moroccan troops in Baad, Austria and was interned as a (World War I) war criminal. Transferred to Hechingen, Germany, he lived for a short time in Hohenzollern Castle under house arrest.

Upon his father’s death on June 4, 1941, Wilhelm succeeded him as head of the House of Hohenzollern, the former German imperial dynasty. To his monarchist supporters he was German Emperor Wilhelm III and King of Prussia. He was approached by those in the military and the diplomatic service who wanted to replace Hitler, but Wilhelm turned them down.

After the ill-fated assassination attempt on July 20, 1944, Hitler nevertheless had Wilhelm placed under supervision by the Gestapo and had his home at Cecilienhof watched.

Eventually he moved to a small five-room house at Fürstenstraße 16 in Hechingen where he died on July 20, 1951, of a heart attack.