Vain Friedrich of Prussia

Vain Friedrich of Prussia

Vain Friedrich of Prussia and his bride, Duchess Sophie Charlotte

Wilhelm Eitel Friedrich Christian Karl Prince of Prussia (* July 7, 1883 in the Marble Palace Potsdam ; † December 8, 1942 in the Villa Ingenheim in Potsdam) was a Prussian Prince, Major General and from 1907 to 1926 34th Lord Master of the Order of St. John .

Life

Eitel Friedrich was the second son of the Prussian King and German Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife Empress Auguste Viktoria . The unusual first name " Eitel Friedrich ", often abbreviated to "Eitel Fritz" in the prince's family, has a very long tradition in the Hohenzollern family .

Eitel Friedrich spent his school days in the Plön Prinzenhaus . He had been a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn since 1904 .

On February 27, 1906, Eitel Friedrich married Sophie Charlotte von Oldenburg in Berlin . The marriage did not have any children, and the couple divorced in 1926.

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Eitel Friedrich became commander of the 1st Guards Regiment on foot . He was regarded by his troops as a model of personal bravery and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the highest Prussian valor award, the order Pour le Mérite with oak leaves. He was also a knight of the Military Order of St. Henry . Between April 4, 1915 and October 11, 1918, he led the 1st Guard Division (part of the Guard Corps under Karl von Plettenberg ), first on the Western Front , and later on the Eastern Front . In May / June 1915 he took part in the battle of Gorlice-Tarnow and in the reconquest of Lemberg . In September 1915 he returned to the Western Front, his division fought in Flanders and on the Somme in 1916 . Relocated to the Eastern Front again in July 1917, he took part in the counter-offensive near Zloczow . In the spring of 1918, deployed again on the Western Front, the Guard Division was in attack in March 1918 when crossing the Somme and Crozat Canal. On June 27, 1918, Eitel Friedrich and his troops succeeded in recapturing the Chemin des Dames . After the German withdrawal he fought in the defensive battle between Marne and Vesle . At the end of the war he was between Aisne and Aire .

After the war he was active in the “ Stahlhelm ” and in the Semper talis Bund (StB) . He was a member of the monarchist League of the Upright . In 1921 he was sentenced to a fine of 5,000 marks for moving capital of 300,000 marks abroad .

Eitel Friedrich von Preußen (x) during a steel helmet parade in the Berlin Lustgarten, March 1931

He was a co-founder of the Harzburg Front , but an opponent of Hitler . After his death in December 1942, the Nazi regime therefore refused the highly decorated officer of the First World War the usual burial with military honors and also forbade active and former military personnel to participate in uniform. His former comrades then took part in civilian clothes. Eitel Friedrich was buried in the Temple of Antiquities in Sanssouci Park .

honors and awards

In 1899 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown .

Two ships were named after him, the 1902 passenger ship Prinz Eitel Friedrich and the Reichspostdampfer Prinz Eitel Friedrich from 1904.

In 1909 Eitel Friedrich donated the Mount of Olives Cross as a civil service mark.

literature

• Heinrich von Massenbach: The Hohenzollern then and now. The royal line in Prussia, the princely line in Hohenzollern. 17th edition. Verlag Tradition und Leben, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-9800373-0-4 .
• Wolfgang Stribrny : The Order of St. John between the two world wars. In: Ders .: The Order of St. John and the House of Hohenzollern. (Series of publications by the Hessian Cooperative of the Order of St. John; Vol. 24), St. John Order House, Nieder-Weisel 2004.

Web links

Commons : Eitel Friedrich von Preußen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Eitel Friedrich von Prussia in the catalog of the German National Library
• Classification in the family tree
• official biography on preussen.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs Order 1736–1918. An honor sheet of the Saxon Army. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation, Dresden 1937, p. 518.
2. ↑ Kurt Tucholsky : Awrumele Schabbesdeckel and Prince Eitel-Friedrich von Hohenzollern In: World on Monday. May 23, 1921.
3. ↑ Court and State Handbook of the Kingdom of Württemberg 1907. p. 31.

predecessor	Office	successor
Albrecht of Prussia	Master of the Balley Brandenburg of the Order of St. John 1907–1926	Oskar of Prussia