Ernst August von Hannover (1914–1987)

Ernst August of Hanover

Ernst August (IV.) Georg Wilhelm Christian Ludwig Franz Joseph Nikolaus Oskar Prince of Hanover, Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland (born March 18, 1914 in Braunschweig ; † December 9, 1987 in Schulenburg in the Calenberg estate) was head of the House of Hanover and hereditary prince in the Duchy of Braunschweig from his birth until 1918 .

Life

Duchess Viktoria Luise of Braunschweig and Lüneburg with her son, 1914

Ernst August, who was born as Hereditary Prince in Braunschweig in 1914 , grew up with his parents and siblings in exile in Austria after the end of the monarchy as a result of the November Revolution in 1918. He attended the Salem boarding school and after graduating from high school, studied law in Göttingen . In 1936 he received his doctorate in law here. In the Second World War he took part in the war against the Soviet Union and served until January 1942 as a first lieutenant in the staff under Colonel General Hoepner . In the spring of 1943 he was seriously wounded near Kharkov and expelled from the Wehrmacht in May 1943 by the prince's decree . After the assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 , he was imprisoned for a few weeks by the Gestapo at the Berlin headquarters on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse.

After the end of the war, he and the whole family fled from the Red Army from Blankenburg Castle in the Harz Mountains to Marienburg Castle near Hanover (today Pattensen ). With the death of his father in 1953 he became head of the family of the Welfs and head of the Hanover family. Under the direction of his wife Ortrud, Marienburg Castle was converted into a castle museum.

Ernst August died in 1987 on the Calenberg estate in Schulenburg , his son Ernst August succeeded him as head of the House of Hanover and of the Guelph entire House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg.

family

Ernst August was the son of the last reigning Duke of Braunschweig , great-grandson of King George V of Hanover and, through his mother, Duchess Viktoria Luise, a grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II. His sister was Queen Friederike of Greece (1917–1981), his brother Georg Wilhelm ( 1915-2006) was married to Princess Sophie of Greece (1914-2001), a sister of Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh .

In his first marriage he was married to Ortrud Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1925–1980). They had six children:

• Marie Viktoria Luise Hertha Friederike (* 1952) ⚭ 1982 Michael Graf von Hochberg
• Ernst August (* 1954)

⚭ 1981 to 1998 Chantal Hochuli

⚭ 1999 Caroline Princess of Monaco

• Ludwig Rudolph (born November 28, 1955; † November 28, 1988) ⚭ October 4, 1987 Countess Isabella von Thurn and Valsassina (* 1962; † 1988)
• Olga Sophie Charlotte Anna (* 1958)
• Alexandra Irene Margitha Elisabeth Bathildis (* 1959) ⚭ 1981 Andreas Prinz zu Leiningen
• Heinrich Julius (* 1961) ⚭ 1999 Thyra von Westernhagen

In 1981 he married Monika Gräfin zu Solms-Laubach (* 1929; † 2015) in his second marriage.

literature

• Thomas Vogtherr: Die Welfen: From the Middle Ages to the Present , 1st edition, CH Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-66177-8 .

Web links

• Monarch without office
• Ernst August (1914–1987) Prince of Hanover, Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg
• The mirror 38/1956
• The mirror 36/1955
• Ernst August Prince of Hanover - Munzinger biography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas Vogtherr: Die Welfen: From the Middle Ages to the Present , Publisher: CH Beck; Edition: 1 (March 11, 2014), p. 104.
2. ↑ Short biography of Ludwig Rudolph
3. ↑ http://geneanjou.blog.lemonde.fr/2015/06/05/monika-zu-solms-laubach-1929-2015/ , accessed on June 9, 2015

predecessor	Office	successor
Ernst August III.	Head of the House of Hanover 1953–1987	Ernst August V.