Karl Borwin of Mecklenburg

Duke Karl Borwin as lieutenant

Karl Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz], also Carl (born October 10, 1888 in Neustrelitz ; † August 24, 1908 in Saint-Martin near Metz , then Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine ; full name: Karl Borwin Christian Alexander Arthur ) was a German officer and died in a duel .

Life

Karl Borwin was the second son and the youngest of four children of Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V (1848–1914) and his wife, Grand Duchess Elisabeth (1857–1933), daughter of Duke Friedrich I and Duchess Antoinette, Princess of Saxony-Altenburg . His paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm von Mecklenburg [-Strelitz] and Princess Augusta Karoline of Great Britain, Ireland and Hanover . After his older brother, he was second in line to the throne. His middle name Borwin reminded of his ancestors in the 13th century with this name ( Heinrich Borwin ). Second in line to the throne in Mecklenburg-Strelitz , he grew up with his siblings Marie (1878–1948), Jutta (1880–1946) and the Hereditary Prince and later Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI. (1882–1918) in Neustrelitz Castle . After attending school, he embarked on an officer career and became a lieutenant in the Holstein Field Artillery Regiment No. 24 , whose garrison was in Güstrow .

death

Princely crypt in Mirow with Karl Borwin's coffin (foreground, center)

Karl Borwin's eldest sister Marie had married Count Georg Maurice Jametel (1859–1944) in a morganatic marriage in 1899 . During the early years of their marriage, the couple lived alternately in London and in Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Île-de-France . Since 1906 they lived separately. When the love affair between her husband and Princess Maria Eulalia de Bourbon-Montpensier became public, Marie filed for divorce in 1908.

According to the version most widely used today, nineteen-year-old Karl Borwin, who was stationed at the war school in Metz at the time, challenged Count Jametel to a duel in August of the same year in order to defend the honor of his sister and the grand ducal house. He was fatally injured in the duel that took place near Metz on August 24th.

Karl Borwin was buried on August 31, 1908 in the New Crypt of the Mirow Castle Church. Contrary to the tradition of the grand ducal house, there was no laying out ; the coffin had already been locked in Metz and was brought directly to Mirow. The cause of his death was obscured, which led to speculation. The Duke's suicide "after a drunken ensign had made derogatory comments about his sisters" is still being discussed today . In 1918 the New York Times reported that Karl Borwin was killed in a car accident. Officially he had died after a brief, serious, insidious suffering .

The death of Karl Borwin deepened the dynastic problems of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and increased the pressure on the still unmarried Hereditary Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich, who 10 years later, since 1914 Grand Duke, (probably) died by suicide.

Memorial foundation

Duke Carl Borwin-Gedächtnis-Heim , postcard from around 1910 with pictures of Karl Bowin and his mother Grand Duchess Elisabeth

Karl Borwin's mother, Grand Duchess Elisabeth, founded the Herzog-Carl-Borwin-Gedächtnisstiftung in Neustrelitz on April 2, 1910 in memory of her son and furnished it with a newly built, spacious house, the Borwinheim , on Bruchstrasse.

medal

• Grand Cross of the House Order of the Wendish Crown with the Crown in Ore on March 12, 1905
• Grand Cross of the House Order of Albrecht the Bear
• Knight's Cross of the Order of the Griffin
• Grand Cross of the Order of Danilos I for independence

literature

• Biographical yearbook and German necrology. Volume 13, Berlin 1910, p. 61.
• Helmut Borth: Deadly Secrets. The Princely House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. End without glamor. Verlag Steffen, Friedland 2007, ISBN 978-3-937669-97-7 .

Web links

Commons : Karl Borwin zu Mecklenburg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature about Karl Borwin zu Mecklenburg in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

1. ^ Mecklenburg-Schwerin State Handbook. 1907, p. 7.
2. ^ Helmut Reichold: Bismarck's wrens. Duodez in the 20th Century: A Study of Federalism in the Bismarck Empire. Paderborn: Schöningh 1977, ISBN 978-3-506-77440-8 .
3. ^ New York Times, March 8, 1918 , accessed June 25, 2010.
4. ↑ Quoted from the website of the Herzog-Carl-Borwin-Gedächtnisstiftung ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2014 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. , accessed June 25, 2010. 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1908. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1908. p. 415.