Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern

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Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, Portrait of Günter Rittner (2003)

Friedrich Wilhelm Prince of Hohenzollern (born February 3, 1924 at Umkirch Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau ; † September 16, 2010 in Sigmaringen ) was a German industrialist and since 1965 head of the former Princely House of Hohenzollern .

Life

Friedrich Wilhelm was the eldest son of Friedrich von Hohenzollern (1891–1965) and his wife Margarete von Sachsen (1900–1962), daughter of the last Saxon King Friedrich August III. from the House of Wettin and his wife, Archduchess Luise of Austria-Tuscany .

He grew up in Umkirch Castle and attended elementary school in Freiburg im Breisgau and, from 1935, the Berthold High School . He joined the Hitler Youth when he was nine . After graduating from high school , he intended to do military service like his ancestors. The service in Infantry Regiment 9 , the traditional regiment in the successor to the 1st Guards Regiment on Foot (Potsdam), was denied to him as a result of Hitler's so-called Prince 's Decree . In 1940 he declared all members of former ruling houses to be "unworthy of defense". He was therefore not called up for the Wehrmacht , but in 1943 he was assigned to the Reich Labor Service (RAD).

Towards the end of the Second World War , he experienced the forced evacuation of the Hohenzollern family from Sigmaringen Castle by the Gestapo and internment at Wilflingen Castle . From September 1944 to April 1945, Sigmaringen Castle was the seat of the French Vichy regime under Marshal Pétain . During this time, Friedrich Wilhelm stayed in Freiburg. After the war, the south of Baden became part of the French occupation zone and General Pierre Pène resided in the castle as governor for the state of Baden on behalf of the French occupying forces from 1946 to 1952, so that Friedrich Wilhelm lived partly in his sister’s country house next door.

After graduating from the Friedrich-Gymnasium in Freiburg in 1944, he studied business administration at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg and the University of Geneva from 1945 . In 1949 he finished his studies. This is followed by work experience at the Swiss Bank Corporation in Basel.

In 1950 his father Friedrich appointed him general representative of the court chamber , the administration of the entire possessions of the Sigmaringer Hohenzollern. On January 5, 1951, he married Margarita Princess zu Leiningen (1932-1996), daughter of Karl zu Leiningen and Maria Kirillovna Grand Duchess of Russia, in Sigmaringen and on February 3, 1951 in church in Amorbach . In 1954 he was accepted into the Order of Constantine .

With the death of his father in 1965, Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern became head of the Princely House of Hohenzollern and at the same time owner of the court chamber. When what was then the Princely Hüttenwerke at the end of the 1970s was over-indebted with 100 million marks, he parted with private property in order to reorganize the company. His son Karl Friedrich has been working in the family business since 1984. The Fürst von Hohenzollern group of companies was reorganized from the Hofkammer in 2006 . These include Sigmaringen Castle , the Arber mountain railway in the Großer Arber winter sports area in the Bavarian Forest, as well as holdings in the ZOLLERN GmbH & Co. KG industrial company and the Prinz von Hohenzollern GmbH wine and sparkling wine company .

He was Honorary and Devotional Grand Cross Bailli of the Sovereign Order of Malta and from 1972 to 1992 President of the Order of Malta in Germany as well as a great sponsor of the Maltese in Baden-Württemberg. He was particularly concerned with setting up the Malteser Hilfsdienst e. V. earned outstanding services.

His hobbies included hunting, powered flying and skiing.

In the past few years, after his wife Margarita died in 1996, Friedrich Wilhelm lived in seclusion in the Landhaus Josefslust , his country estate near Sigmaringen, as well as at Umkirch Castle and left the management of the business to his son Karl Friedrich. After several strokes and an almost total blindness, he died on September 16, 2010 with his family at Sigmaringen Castle. The Requiem for the Prince took place on September 23, 2010 in the Church of the Redeemer in Hedingen Monastery . There is also the burial place of the Hohenzollern, in which he was then buried according to family tradition. The motto of the Swabian Hohenzollern Nihil sine Deo (“Nothing without God”) was always the premise of his actions for the prince.

Three and a half years later, on his 90th birthday on February 3, 2014, his body was buried next to the church next to the grave of his wife Margarita, who died in 1996. She had found her final resting place at her own request outside the church in the open air.

ancestors

Pedigree of Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern
Great-great-grandparents

Prince
Karl Anton von Hohenzollern
(1811–1885)
⚭ 1834
Princess
Josephine of Baden
(1813–1900)

King
Ferdinand II of Portugal (1816–1885)
⚭ 1836
Queen
Maria II of Portugal (1819–1853)

King
Ferdinand II of Naples and Sicily (1810–1859)
⚭ 1837
Archduchess
Maria Theresia Isabella of Austria (1816–1867)

Duke
Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (1808–1888)
⚭ 1828
Princess
Ludovika Wilhelmine of Bavaria (1808–1892)

King
John of Saxony (1801–1873)
⚭ 1822
Princess
Amalie Auguste of Bavaria (1801–1877)

King
Ferdinand II of Portugal (1816–1885)
⚭ 1836
Queen
Maria II of Portugal (1819–1853)

Grand Duke
Leopold II of Tuscany (1797–1870)
⚭ 1833
Princess
Maria Antonie of Naples-Sicily (1814–1898)

Duke
Charles III. of Bourbon-Parma (1823–1854)
⚭ 1845
Princess
Luise of France (1819–1864)

Great grandparents

Prince
Leopold von Hohenzollern
(1835–1905)
⚭ 1861
Princess
Antonia Maria of Portugal
(1845–1913)

Prince
Ludwig of Naples and Sicily (1838–1886)
⚭ 1861
Duchess
Mathilde in Bavaria (1843–1925)

King George of Saxony (1832–1904)
⚭ 1859
Princess Maria Anna of Portugal (1843–1884)

Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany (1835–1908)
⚭ 1868
Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma (1849–1935)

Grandparents

Prince Wilhelm von Hohenzollern (1864–1927)
⚭ 1889
Princess
Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (1867–1909)

King Friedrich August III. von Sachsen (1865–1932)
⚭ 1892
Archduchess Luise of Austria-Tuscany (1870–1947)

parents

Friedrich von Hohenzollern (1891–1965)
⚭ 1920
Princess Margarete of Saxony (1900–1962)

Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern (1924-2010)

progeny

When asked how the Hohenzollern property is kept together in the family, Karl Friedrich von Hohenzollern said that despite modern inheritance law, the property is still passed on to the oldest descendant, while the siblings received a severance payment. In the case of the deceased Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, the following children are entitled to inheritance:

  • Karl Friedrich (* April 20, 1952) ⚭ 1985–2010 Alexandra Schenk Countess von Stauffenberg (* 1960); ⚭ 2010 Katharina de Zomer (* 1959)
  • Albrecht Johannes (* August 3, 1954) ⚭ 2001 Nathalie Viets-Rocabado (* 1970)
  • Ferdinand Maria (* February 14, 1960) ⚭ 1990 Countess Ilona Kálnoky von Kőröspatak (* 1968)

Honors

Because of his social commitment he received the Cross of Merit First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and honorary citizenship in Sigmaringen , Sigmaringendorf , Umkirch and Bayerisch Eisenstein . On May 7, 1988, he was also awarded the Baden-Württemberg Medal of Merit .

Friedrich Wilhelm Prince of Hohenzollern had been an honorary member of the KDSt.V. since 1951. Wildenstein Freiburg im Breisgau.

On February 3, 2004, he was awarded the golden badge of honor by the Bavarian Ski Association .

Further awards are

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The full name was: Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Josef Maria Manuel Georg Meinrad Fidelis Benedikt Michael Hubert Prince of Hohenzollern . See registry office news for Sigmaringen and the surrounding area. September 2010. Deaths . In: Schwäbische Zeitung , October 28, 2010.
  2. Friedrich Wilhelm's family name at birth was Prince von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. According to an information from the register dated June 9, 2010, however, the official surname was Prince von Hohenzollern. It was not possible to verify how this former nobility component of the first-born title , contrary to the relevant provisions of Section 109 (3) WRV of 1919, Section 22 of the Prussian Nobility Act of 1920 and the Basic Law , as well as the established supreme court German jurisprudence as a component of the name, was not verified.
  3. Michael Hescheler: Prince of Hohenzollern dies at the age of 86. In: Schwäbische Zeitung , September 16, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  4. Prince von Hohenzollern dies at the age of 86 . In: Schwäbische Zeitung , September 16, 2010, accessed on September 24, 2010.
  5. a b Obituary notice of the Maltese in Germany. In: Schwäbische Zeitung , September 23, 2010.
  6. ^ Sigmaringen: Half mast at the castle . In: Südkurier , September 23, 2010.
  7. Prince Friedrich Wilhelm is now resting next to his wife . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from March 5, 2014.
  8. The prince is looking forward to the festival . In: Südkurier , March 25, 2011.
  9. Erhard Gattermann: Friedrich Wilhelm Prince of Hohenzollern receives the golden badge of honor from the BSV. ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. "Address on the occasion of the 80th birthday of His Highness Friedrich Wilhelm Prince of Hohenzollern on February 3, 2004 in Sigmaringen Castle." Website of the Bavarian Ski Association, March 11, 2004. Accessed on June 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bsv-ski.de
predecessor Office successor
Friedrich Head of the former Princely House of Hohenzollern
1965–2010
Karl Friedrich