Paul (Greece)

Paul I of Greece (1939)

Paul of Greece as Crown Prince (right) with Spyridon Louis (center, in traditional Greek costume) at the Olympic Games in Berlin 1936

Paul I of Greece (born December 1 ^{. Jul} / 14. December 1901 ^greg. In Athens , † 6. March 1964 in Tatoi near Athens) was from 1947 to 1964 King of Greece .

family

Paul was the youngest son of Constantine I of Greece and his wife Sophie of Prussia , daughter of Emperor Friedrich III. and his wife Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland .

Crown Prince Paul had been married to Friederike von Hannover since 1938 . From this marriage there were three children:

Sophia (* 1938); ∞ King Juan Carlos I of Spain
Constantine (* 1940), later King Constantine II of Greece
Irene (* 1942), Princess of Greece

Term of Office and Politics

After the end of the German occupation of Greece, Paul returned in 1946 and was sworn in as king a year later - after the death of his brother. Due to the weakening of the country by the World War and the looming East-West conflict , the country got into a civil war . Paul and Friederike tried to fight communism by traveling to the crisis areas. These trips are considered a success and contributed to both the popularity of the monarchy and the western course of Greek politics.

At a time when the international community was still holding back official contacts with Germany (even after the occupation statute ended in May 1955), Paul invited the German Federal President Theodor Heuss to Greece. He had Ernst August von Hannover , his wife's brother, deliver the invitation . The state visit in May 1956 was the first of a German Federal President.

Tomb of King Paul in Tatoi

King Paul died of gastric cancer in his summer residence Tatoi and was buried there in the Royal Cemetery. Queen Friederike lived in Spanish exile in Madrid after the collapse of the Greek monarchy (her daughter Sophia was Spanish queen), where she died on February 6, 1981. She was buried next to her husband in the Royal Cemetery in Tatoi.

Awards (selection)

Web links

Commons : Paul I of Greece - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Newspaper article about Paul in the press kit of the 20th century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Paul I of Greece. In: Second German Television, Mainz, dynastien.zdf.de/. 2019, accessed November 21, 2019 .
↑ Frieder Günther: Heuss on trips: the foreign representation of the Federal Republic. P. 84.
↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF file; 6.59 MB)

predecessor	Office	successor
George II	King of Greece 1947–1964	Constantine II

personal data
SURNAME	Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Paul I of Greece; Paul I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	greek king
DATE OF BIRTH	December 14, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH	Athens
DATE OF DEATH	March 6, 1964
Place of death	Tatoi

[ZDF-1] Paul I of Greece. In: Second German Television, Mainz, dynastien.zdf.de/. 2019, accessed November 21, 2019 .

[2] Frieder Günther: Heuss on trips: the foreign representation of the Federal Republic. P. 84.

[3] List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF file; 6.59 MB)