Oskar of Prussia (master master, 1888)

Prince Oskar of Prussia as an officer (postcard, First World War)

Oskar Prince of Prussia (* July 27, 1888 in the Marble Palace in Potsdam , † January 27, 1958 in Munich , full name Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf ) was the fifth son of Wilhelm II , German Emperor , and Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein , later Lord Master of the Order of St. John and Major General of the Wehrmacht .

Life

Prince Oskar in childhood

Prince Oskar of Prussia and his bride Ina Marie Countess von Bassewitz, 1912

Employment in the 1st Guard Regiment as a ten-year-old, Potsdam City Palace

Prince Oskar spent his school days, like his brothers, in the Plön Prinzenhaus . On July 31, 1914, he married Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz -Levetzow (born January 27, 1888 in Bristow , † September 17, 1973 in Munich) in Berlin in a morganatic marriage . The marriage resulted in three sons and a daughter who were not entitled to succeed in the House of Prussia in accordance with the house law. Accordingly, mother and children carried the title Countess or Count von Ruppin , which only changed after the House Law of 1920.

He moved into the First World War with the Grenadier Regiment "King Wilhelm I." (2nd West Prussian) No. 7 . On January 27, 1915 he was appointed lieutenant colonel promoted and was in August 1918 as commander of the 84th Landwehr Infantry Brigade, which in trench warfare in Lorraine was used. As a colonel , he was discharged from active military service following the Compiègne armistice .

After the war he was active in the “Stahlhelm” and from 1932 onwards, together with his brother Eitel Friedrich, provided his exiled father and former Kaiser Wilhelm II. With information against the National Socialists , whose fierce opponent he was always. From 1932 he was a member of the executive committee of the German National People's Party .

In 1927, Oskar succeeded his brother Eitel Friedrich (34th master master; reigned 1907–1926) master master of the Order of St. John and remained so until the end of his life. The institutions Johanniter-Hilfsgemeinschaft (1951) and Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (1952) , which still exist today, were founded under his aegis . Attempts by the Nazis to smash the order were successfully thwarted by Prince Oskar.

At the beginning of the Second World War , Oskar was reactivated as Colonel of the Wehrmacht and commanded the 230 Infantry Regiment from August 1939 to the end of February 1940. Promoted to Major General on March 1, 1940, he was placed in the Führer Reserve and was assigned to take over a division by the Army Personnel Office . In May 1940 Hitler banned its further use by the prince's decree and released him from the Wehrmacht on May 19, 1943.

His eldest son Oskar was killed in the attack on Poland in 1939 .

Oskar was involved in the monarchist association Tradition und Leben, founded in 1956 . He was a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn (1909) and corps loop bearer of the Saxo-Borussia (1952) in Heidelberg. On January 27, 1958, the 70th birthday of his wife, Oskar von Preußen died of stomach cancer at the age of 69 in a Munich clinic and was buried in Hohenzollern Castle.

progeny

Oskar von Prussia with his wife and four children, 1925

Oskar von Preussen 1930 on a medal by the sculptor Heinrich Missfeldt

Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Cuno (1915–1939), first lieutenant in the reserve . He fell at the beginning of World War II. After the reunification, his coffin was transferred to Potsdam and buried again in the Bornstedt cemetery .

Burchard Friedrich Max Werner Georg (1917–1988), Major a. D. ⚭ 1961 Eleonore Countess Fugger von Babenhausen (1925–1992)

Herzeleide Ina Marie Sophie Charlotte Else (1918–1989) ⚭ 1938 in Potsdam Karl Prince Biron von Curland (1907–1982)

Viktoria Benigna Princess Biron of Courland (* 1939) ⚭ 1968 Johannes Christoph Robert Freiherr von Twickel (* 1940)
- Nicolas von Twickel (* 1969)
- Tassilo von Twickel (* 1976)
Ernst Johann Prince Biron of Courland (* 1940) ⚭ 1967 Elisabeth Princess of Isenburg-Philippseich (* 1941)
- Anja Biron from Kurland (* 1975)
- Christiana Biron of Courland (* 1976)
Michael Prince Biron von Kurland (* 1944) ⚭ 1969 Kristin von Oertzen (* 1944)
- Veronika Biron von Kurland (* 1970) ⚭ 2006 Christoph Carl
- Alexander Biron von Kurland (* 1972) ⚭ 2003 Michaela Countess von Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche-Camminetz (* 1979)
- Calixta Biron von Kurland (* 1975) ⚭ 2006 Christian Fuchs
- Stéphanie Biron von Kurland (* 1975) ⚭ 2008 Georg Güber

Wilhelm Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff (1922–2007) ⚭ 1952 Armgard von Veltheim (1926–2019)

Donata Viktoria (* 1952)
Wilhelm Karl (* 1955)
Oskar (* 1959) ⚭ 1992 Auguste Therese Alexandra Hendrijke Zimmermann von Siefart (* 1962)
- Oskar Julius Alvo Carlos Prince of Prussia (* 1993)
- Wilhelmine Princess of Prussia (* 1995)
- Albert Burchard Carl Marcus Nikolaus Prince of Prussia (* 1998)

literature

Heinrich Freiherr von Massenbach: The Hohenzollern then and now. Tradition and Life Massenbach, Schleching 1994, ISBN 3-9800373-0-4 .

Wolfgang Stribrny : The Order of St. John between the two world wars. In: Wolfgang Stribrny: The Order of St. John and the House of Hohenzollern. Niederweisel 2004 (= Issue 24 of the series of publications of the Hess. Genossenschaft des Johanniterordens, in the name of the Hess. Genoss. Edited by Otto Böcher)

Friedrich Wilhelm Prince of Prussia : God protect our fatherland.

Oskar , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 07/1958 of February 3, 1958, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Manfred Menger : The failure of Duke Adolf Friedrich zu Mecklenburg's ambitions for the Finnish royal throne in 1918 . In: Finland Studies III . Volume 3. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2003, p. 121 f.

Anders Huldén: Finland's German King Adventure 1918. Reinbek 1997. Published by: German-Finnish Society eV and published by: Traute Warnke Verlag, ISBN 3-980-15919-1 .

Web links

Commons : Oskar Prinz von Preußen - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Oskar von Prussia's only sister noted: Oskar had married Ina Maria von Bassewitz when the war broke out. The wedding took place in Bellevue Palace. Of course there was no talk of a wedding celebration. On August 3rd, Adalbert married Adelheid von Sachsen-Meiningen in Wilhelmshaven. Because of the war, none of our family could be present ; from: Duchess Viktoria Luise , 'A Life as Daughter of the Emperor', Göttingen 1965, p. 141.
↑ In her memoirs, Oskar von Prussia's sister wrote that she stood up for her brother when her son was baptized: I used my father's joy in our family happiness to ask him for my brother Oskar and my friend Ina Maria von To put forward Bassewitz. They had loved each other for years without my father's consent to marry. The word I put in with him on the day of my son Ernst August's baptism changed him. A few days later, the two were able to get engaged. I went to Berlin to get engaged and spent two wonderful days there, in the places of my childhood. ; from: Duchess Viktoria Luise , 'A Life as Daughter of the Emperor', Göttingen 1965, p. 132.
↑ The love affair may have served as a model for the fairy tale Peterchens Mondfahrt from 1912. As a relative of the bride, the author Gerdt von Bassewitz , in the sense of "fetching the moon from heaven out of love", would have taken into account the conflict of an improper marriage. From: Findings on the genesis of Peterchens Mondfahrt by Gerdt von Bassewitz. In: Children's and Youth Literature Research 2012/2013. Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 120, ISBN 978-3631645895 .
↑ ^a ^b Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite. Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933–1945. (Military history studies), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1982, ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 , p. 90.
^ 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. 466.
↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 9/910; 6671530
↑ From week to week . In: The Ostpreußenblatt of February 1, 1958, p. 2.

predecessor	Office	successor
Vain Friedrich of Prussia	Master of the Balley Brandenburg of the Order of St. John 1927–1958	Wilhelm Karl of Prussia

personal data
SURNAME	Prussia, Oskar von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Prussia, Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prussian officer; Major General of the Wehrmacht; Lord Master of the Order of St. John
DATE OF BIRTH	July 27, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH	Potsdam
DATE OF DEATH	January 27, 1958
Place of death	Munich

[1] Oskar von Prussia's only sister noted: Oskar had married Ina Maria von Bassewitz when the war broke out. The wedding took place in Bellevue Palace. Of course there was no talk of a wedding celebration. On August 3rd, Adalbert married Adelheid von Sachsen-Meiningen in Wilhelmshaven. Because of the war, none of our family could be present ; from: Duchess Viktoria Luise , 'A Life as Daughter of the Emperor', Göttingen 1965, p. 141.

[2] In her memoirs, Oskar von Prussia's sister wrote that she stood up for her brother when her son was baptized: I used my father's joy in our family happiness to ask him for my brother Oskar and my friend Ina Maria von To put forward Bassewitz. They had loved each other for years without my father's consent to marry. The word I put in with him on the day of my son Ernst August's baptism changed him. A few days later, the two were able to get engaged. I went to Berlin to get engaged and spent two wonderful days there, in the places of my childhood. ; from: Duchess Viktoria Luise , 'A Life as Daughter of the Emperor', Göttingen 1965, p. 132.

[3] The love affair may have served as a model for the fairy tale Peterchens Mondfahrt from 1912. As a relative of the bride, the author Gerdt von Bassewitz , in the sense of "fetching the moon from heaven out of love", would have taken into account the conflict of an improper marriage. From: Findings on the genesis of Peterchens Mondfahrt by Gerdt von Bassewitz. In: Children's and Youth Literature Research 2012/2013. Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 120, ISBN 978-3631645895 .

[Stumpf-4] Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite. Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933–1945. (Military history studies), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1982, ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 , p. 90.

[5] 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. 466.

[6] Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 9/910; 6671530

[7] From week to week . In: The Ostpreußenblatt of February 1, 1958, p. 2.