Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

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Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, around 1880

Prince Friedrich Christian Karl August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (born January 22, 1831 at Augustenburg Castle ; † October 28, 1917 in Schomberg House , London ) was a German-Danish prince from the House of Oldenburg and a member of the British by marriage Royal House ( His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg ).

Life

Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

Christian was the third son of Duke Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1798–1869) and his wife (and second cousin), Countess Louisa-Sophie Danneskjold-Samsøe (1797–1867). Paternal grandson of Duke Friedrich Christian II and Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark .

He took part in the first Schleswig-Holstein war and then studied political science and law at the University of Bonn . Here he met the Crown Prince and later brother-in-law, Friedrich of Prussia . In September 1865 he met his future wife Helena "Lenchen" from Great Britain and Ireland at a family celebration . Queen Victoria favored him, an intimate friend of her eldest daughter Victoria and the Prussian Crown Prince, as the husband of her daughter Lenchen . Christian was the younger brother of Frederick VIII of Schleswig-Holstein (1829-1880), the candidate for the two duchies, who was supported by the smaller German states. At the end of the Danish War, Bismarck (1815–1898) was angry that the two brothers did not want to give up their rights, both their military offices and their property. In the Treaty of Gastein in August 1865, he ensured that Holstein was administered by Austria and Schleswig by Prussia . The claims of the Augustenburger were ignored. Bismarck felt the choice of Prince Christian as husband for Queen Victoria's third daughter like a slap in the face and a warning that the British Queen expected Prussia not to swallow the smaller German states and oust their rightful rulers. The fact that Crown Prince Friedrich and his wife Victoria also voted for Prince Christian as Helena's husband and called him “the best person in the world” angered Bismarck very much. The fact that the Crown Prince had previously been one of the leading advocates for peace with Austria and for justice in Schleswig-Holstein and thus openly opposed Bismarck's policy made the situation even more difficult. He suspected the couple would take pleasure in teasing him.

Prince Christian and his fiancee Princess Helene, around 1865

When Prince Christian and Princess Helena planned to spend part of their honeymoon in the Augustenburg family castle in Gravenstein , they were forbidden to do so by the Prussian king on Bismarck's advice . Queen Victoria found the behavior of the Prussian king grossly insulting and demanded that the Crown Prince show his father an indignant letter from her - which in turn gave the impression that the Crown Prince was under his mother-in-law's knuckle.

On July 5, 1866, Prince Christian married Princess Helena "Lenchen" of Great Britain and Ireland (1846–1923), third daughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland and Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at Windsor Castle . The marriage had six children:

When Georg V changed the name of the British royal family from House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to House of Windsor in July 1917, when Great Britain had already been at war with the German Empire for three years , all German titles were also changed from in Great Britain living nobles abolished, which is why Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg became Prince Christian , without any territorial definition. His wife, a born Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, took her maiden name Princess Helena again, and the daughters called themselves Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise from then on , also without any territorial definition. The only surviving son had already fought on the side of Germany in World War I, so he kept his name and became Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in 1921.

title

  • 1831–1917: His Highness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
  • 1866–1917 (only in Great Britain): His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
  • 1917: HRH Prince Christian

Awards

Others

  • It was not just a joke when Princess Helena asked her eldest sister, the Prussian Crown Princess, to send her Bismarck's head on a war horse as a wedding present. He had to go - otherwise sisters would fight sisters and brothers would fight brothers in Bismarck's civil war in Germany.

Web links

Commons : Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Andrew Sinclair, Victoria, Empress for 99 days ; Bastei Lübbe Verlag, ISBN 3-404-61086-5 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps for 1914 , Ed .: War Ministry , Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Son , Berlin 1914, p. 361.
personal data
SURNAME Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich Christian Karl August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Danish prince, member of the British royal family
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Augustenborg Castle
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1917
Place of death Schomberg House , London