Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (the elder)

Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, ca.1918

Richard Hermann Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born May 27, 1882 at Berleburg Castle , † April 25, 1925 in Hanau ) was a German prince and head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg .

Live and act

Richard Hermann Gustav was the eldest son of Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1837–1889) and his wife Marie Franziska, Freiin von Gemmingen-Hornberg (1855–1946).

He was six years old when his father died. His mother moved with the three children to Stuttgart , where Richard attended high school. Other school posts were the Royal Prussian Cadet Institute in Karlsruhe and the Fridericianum boarding school in Davos . He passed his matriculation examination as an external student in Wertheim . After graduating from high school, he entered the royal school in Ludwigsburg . Wuerttemberg Uhlan Regiment, where he rose to lieutenant. He first had to end his military career when he was appointed to succeed his uncle. He later participated in World War I from the day of mobilization until the end of the war and resigned as the Royal Württemberg Rittmeister à la suite , a member of the Uhlan Regiment King Wilhelm I (2nd Württemberg ) No. 20, for which he was an active officer for a total of five years belonged to.

Prince Richard, who was still unmarried at the time, became the heir of his uncle, Prince Albrecht II zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1834–1904), who was 22 years old, in November 1904 , and became the fourth Prince Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg to head the house of the same name. A year later he married at his bride's family home near Heidelberg and returned to Berleburg on December 3, 1905, with great sympathy from the population.

He initiated extensive renovations and renovations at Berleburg Castle. Immediately after he took office, the old mint, a family home behind the castle, was restored. From 1912 onwards, changes were made inside and outside the palace, including the construction of the two flank towers of the central wing, which gave the property its present-day appearance.

Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg died at the age of 42 on Saturday, April 25, 1925 in a car accident near Hanau. He was with his wife, his youngest son Ludwig Ferdinand and the chauffeur Karl Kölschbach on the way back from the funeral of his father-in-law when the car on the Hanauer Landstrasse near Bruchköbel came off the road for unexplained reasons. After crossing a ditch, the car, which was apparently driven by Kölschbach, hit a tensioned wire that was supposed to stabilize a fruit tree. The driver died at the scene of the accident; Prince Richard and his seriously injured wife were admitted to the St. Vinzenz Hospital in Hanau, where Richard died. The son Ludwig Ferdinand suffered only minor injuries. Richard's funeral on April 26, 1925 reflected his great popularity among the Wittgenstein population. Thousands took part in the funeral procession from the Berleburger Schlosshof to the cemetery on Sengelsberg or lined the path. The coffins of the prince and his driver had previously been set up in the summer hall of the palace for days so that the population could say goodbye.

The funeral speech for her funeral in Berleburg was given by the First Pastor of Berleburg and Superintendent Johann Georg Hinsberg and Pastor Koch.

The eldest son, Gustav Albrecht zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, succeeded him as head of the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg family .

Marriage and offspring

Prince Richard married Madeleine Wilhelmine Felice Ludovika Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg on November 21, 1905 at Langenzell Castle (born March 8, 1885 in Wiesenbach , Baden, † June 30, 1976 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ), daughter of Prince Alfred zu Löwenstein -Wertheim-Freudenberg (1855–1925) and Pauline geb. Countess von Reichenbach-Lessonitz (1858–1927).

The marriage produced three sons:

• Gustav Albrecht (born February 28, 1907), who was taken prisoner as a soldier in 1944 and was pronounced dead in 1969.
• , The 1927, Christian Heinrich († 17 August 1983 born September 20, 1908) August Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein , was adopted to void the line Sayn-Wittgenstein to prevent -Hohenstein.
• Ludwig Ferdinand (April 4, 1910 - November 22, 1943), who fell in World War II.

literature

• Johannes Burkardt, Ulf Lückel: The Princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Börde-Verlag Werl, 2008.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Grand Ducal High School Wertheim am Main.
2. ^ Obituary by the First Pastor and Superintendent Hinsberg, printed in the Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt on April 27, 1925.
3. ^ Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt dated December 9, 1905: The entry of Sr. Highness of Prince Richard and Her Highness of Princess Madeleine zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg on December 3, 1905 . Accessed on March 7, 2019.
4. ↑ The Prince's obituary and first full-page report in the Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt dated April 27, 1925.
5. ^ Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt dated May 1, 1925.
6. ↑ As Se. Your Highness Prince Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and his driver Karl Kölschbach were carried to the grave. Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt dated May 6, 1925.
7. ^ Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt dated May 6, 1925.
8. ^ Philipp Dickel : Family tree of the mediatized house Sayn and Wittgenstein . Wernigerode 1907, The Berleburg Line, Plate 6 . Unchanged reprint of the 1907 edition, Heimat-Verlag und Antiquariat, Angelika Wied, Bad Laasphe 2009, No. 9/100. Addition: Marriage date incorrectly stated there: 1903 instead of 1905.
9. ↑ Evang. Berleburg Church: Copulationsregister of the city of Berleburg since 1843 - 1907 , page 169, bids and weddings: No. 9/1905. Accessed on March 7, 2019.
10. ^ Johannes Burkhardt and Ulf Lückel: The Princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Börde-Verlag Werl, 2008, p. 33.
11. ↑ Ulf Lückel, Andreas Kroh: The Princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein , Börde-Verlag, Werl 2004, pp. 30, 32.