Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe

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Wilhelm Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe , actually: Wilhelm Eugen Georg Konstantin Maximilian Prinz zu Schaumburg-Lippe , (born March 28, 1898 in Wels , Austria ; † February 4, 1974 in Salzburg ) was a German-Austrian automobile racing driver . He drove for Mercedes and BMW .

Life

Max Prinz zu Schaumburg-Lippe (1919 German citizen, after which the former title became part of the surname), from the Bohemian line ( Nach or Line) of the house of Schaumburg-Lippe , was the eldest son of Prince Albrecht zu Schaumburg-Lippe (1869–1942) and Duchess Elsa von Württemberg (1876–1936), daughter of Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinowna of Russia (1854–1912). He was the godchild of Prince Max von Baden , after whom he was named. He grew up in the royal Villa Berg in Stuttgart, Württemberg and Pfaffstätt Castle in Upper Austria.

During the First World War , Schaumburg-Lippe served as an officer in the Uhlan Regiment "King Wilhelm I." (2nd Württembergisches) No. 20 .

In the time of National Socialism he joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1933 after the list of party comrades who were members of princely houses and was given membership number 3,018,293.

During the Second World War he was used as a major and commander of a tank reconnaissance unit. Both father and grandfather had been kuk officers.

After his apprenticeship with the banker of the former princely family, Baron von Rothschild , he was CEO of the Phoenix Insurance Group in Berlin in the pre-war years. He also took over the ducal Fabergé collection from his grandmother Vera von Württemberg, which he showed in museums around the world.

In 1933 he married in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Helga-Lee Roderbourg (1911–2005). She was a daughter of the CEO of Accumulatoren Fabrik Berlin-Hagen AG (AFA , today VARTA ), Carl Roderbourg († 1940), and grew up in the Villa Roderbourg in Berlin-Grunewald. The marriage remained childless. However , shortly before her death , the widow adopted Gertraud Wagner-Schöppl's son .

Race results

"Prinz Sause" Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe was especially known as a racing driver:

  • On July 20, 1924, he started with a Rabag- Bugatti in the Burrenwald race, a flat hill climb from Biberach an der Riss to Schammach , which he could not finish.
  • At the German Grand Prix on July 11, 1926 at the AVUS in Berlin, with a race distance of 391.38 km, he took sixth place with an OM 665 Superba . The winner was Rudolf Caracciola with a Mercedes.
  • At the 1927 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with a distance of 508.77 km, both drivers from the Mercedes factory team, Rudolf Caracciola and Schaumburg-Lippe, had to retire due to technical defects.
  • At the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race in 1936 , the Schaumburg-Lippe / Boetzher team finished third in their class with an Adler Trumpf .
  • With his co-pilot, Count Giovanni Lurani , an Italian, he took second place in the class up to 2000 cc at the 1938 Mille Miglia in a BMW 328 , starting number 108. Of 140 cars that started, only 72 made it to their destination after 1,630 km.
  • At the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race in 1938 , Schaumburg-Lippe and his partner Ralph Roese in a BMW 328, starting number 42, came first in the class up to 2000 cc and third in the overall classification after 2996.632 km or 180 laps. The vehicle had the registration number IIA-57782, as well as the chassis no. This 85,174th BMW 328, BMW 328 and two more were in 1940/41 on behalf of the NSKK in the Carrozzeria Touring fitted body streamlined, with an open.
  • In the Grand Prix d'Anvers (Antwerp) in 1938, he finished fifth in the works BMW 328. The race went over 84 laps of 6.437 km.
  • Together with Hans Wencher , a BMW engineer, he won in 1939 with a BMW 328 Touring Coupe ( "streamlined Innenlenker") the class from 1501 to 2000 cc of the 24-hour race at Le Mans and finished fifth overall.
  • At the Litoranea Libica , a 1500 km Autodrom race, Schaumburg-Lippe and his partner Ralph Roese finished second in a BMW 328.

Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe was a board member of the Supreme National Sports Commission (ONS, today DMSB ) and co-founder of the AvD and ÖAMTC . He was the godfather of the “Prinz Max” Mercedes racing car.

statistics

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate placement Failure reason
1939 German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) BMW BMW 328 Touring Coupe German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) Hans Wencher Rank 5

literature

  • George Seeliger: "Essential BMW Roadstars & Cabriolets" , Bay View Books Ltd 1996, ISBN 187097977X .
  • Heinz Prüller: "Our Champions 1900–2003" , NP Buchverlag 2003, ISBN 3853261809 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philipp Aichinger (Die Presse), February 6, 2011
  2. ^ Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 516.
  3. ↑ website of Villa Roderbourg (accessed on 25 January 2015)
  4. ↑ Steffi Kammerer, Prince wannabe, a strange adoption & the unexpected death of an old lady ( memento from September 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
  5. ↑ LES 24 HEURES DE SPA
  6. ^ XVI Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans 1939
personal data
SURNAME Schaumburg-Lippe, Max zu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schaumburg-Lippe, Prince Max too
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Wels , Austria
DATE OF DEATH 4th February 1974
Place of death Salzburg