Viktoria Luise of Prussia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Viktoria Luise of Prussia

Princess Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte of Prussia , Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Princess of Hanover, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland (born September 13, 1892 in the Marble Palace in Potsdam ; † December 11, 1980 in Hanover ), was the seventh and youngest child as well only daughter of Empress Auguste Viktorias and Emperor Wilhelm II. As the wife of Duke Ernst August , she was the last Duchess of Braunschweig until his abdication.

Surname

She was named Victoria after her grandmother, the Empress Victoria , and her great-grandmother Queen Victoria ; Luise she was named after Queen Luise of Prussia .

Life

Four-year-old Princess Viktoria Luise in a light dress next to her father Kaiser Wilhelm II, Berlin 1896
Viktoria Luise in the uniform of the "Skull Hussars " of the 2nd Leib-Hussar Regiment "Queen Victoria of Prussia" No. 2 from Danzig , of which she was head of the regiment from 1909.
Book signed in Kiel 1970

She was educated from 1904 by Elisabeth von Saldern , who later became the abbess of the Protestant women's monastery at Stift zum Heiligengrabe . On October 18, 1909, she was confirmed in the Friedenskirche in Potsdam. On October 22, 1909, the birthday of her mother Empress Auguste Viktoria, she was appointed 2nd  Regiment Chief of the 2nd Leibhusaren Regiment , based in Danzig- Langfuhr ; 1. Head of the regiment was her father, Wilhelm II.

On April 30, 1910, the young princess and her imperial parents attended the first secondary school for girls in Metz.

The engagement to Prince Ernst August III. von Hannover took place on February 11, 1913 in Karlsruhe . The marriage on May 24, 1913 to the youngest son of the Crown Prince of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland Ernst August marked the end of the conflict between Hanoverian Guelphs and Hohenzollern that had existed since 1866 . As a result, the Brunswick ducal throne fell back to the Guelphs. The wedding was one of the last major events in the social life of the European aristocracy before the First World War ; the couple's move into Braunschweig in 1913 was celebrated. The reign, however, was short and ended with the abdication of the husband on November 8, 1918. This also ended the monarchy in the Duchy of Braunschweig . Other important stops after the First World War were the flight from Braunschweig, the exile in Gmunden in Upper Austria , the return to Blankenburg in the Harz Mountains and finally the flight in 1945 to Marienburg Castle near Hanover.

After the husband's death in 1954, there was a conflict with their son Ernst August . It was mainly about the prerogative of the Duchess. On the other hand, Duke Ernst August (IV.) Wished his mother would finally withdraw from public life in accordance with the customs of the Welfenhaus and leave this activity to the young duke and ducal couple, which his energetic and popular mother did not want. She remained active in many charitable associations as well as in the Victoria-Luise-Frauenbund, left the castle in December 1956 and moved into a house made available to her by the "Braunschweiger Freundeskreis" in the Braunschweig district of Riddagshausen . With the support of this group, Viktoria Luise was active in numerous initiatives to maintain local traditions right into old age. 1965–1974 she came into the public spotlight for the last time with seven books about her life. In the fall of 1980 she moved to the Friederikenstift in Hanover.

Her body was buried in front of the Guelph mausoleum in the Berggarten in Hanover-Herrenhausen at the side of her husband, who died in 1953 , with great sympathy among the population .

family

Children with Ernst August :

Viktoria Luise's only daughter Friederike married Crown Prince Paul of Greece in Athens on January 9, 1938 and later became Queen of Greece.

Viktoria Luise's grandchildren include Queen Sophia of Spain , ex-King Constantine II of Greece and Ernst August (V) Prince of Hanover .

Honors

In the year she started school in 1899, Viktoria-Luise-Platz in Schöneberg (today in Berlin) was named after her. Braunschweig named the “Viktoria-Luise-Straße” in the Broitzem district after the former duchess, and in 1913 Soltau named the street bordering the imperial riding school. In 1912 the Zeppelin LZ 11 was baptized in her name. In several cities, such as Hameln , schools were named after her. She was the namesake of SMS Victoria Louise , a training ship of the Imperial Navy . The first cruise ship in the world was named Princess Victoria Luise . The Hotel Victoria Luise in Blankenburg (Harz) bears her name.

Publications

Viktoria Luise's memoirs were reviewed as falsifying history, but reached a large readership. By the year 2000 they had a total circulation of over 1.5 million.

Authorship of her books

It is controversial whether Viktoria Luise actually wrote her books herself or whether they were written by her publisher Leonhard Schlueter , a right-wing extremist politician:

“All of the Duchess' books were written by the publisher Schlueter himself. He did all the preparatory work, collected, sifted through and evaluated the documentary material. The manuscript is also from Schlüter's pen. Victoria Luise only provided her name. "

literature

  • Gerd Biegel (Ed.): Victoria Luise. Emperor's daughter, duchess and Brunswick citizen. Highlights from her life. Meyer, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-15-3 .
  • Duchess Viktoria Luise , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 12/1981 from March 9, 1981, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
  • Edgar Kalthoff: Duchess Viktoria Luise: From my life , in: Hannover Archive . Supplementary edition , sheet EH 41

Web links

Commons : Viktoria Luise von Preußen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source: Duchess Viktoria Luise , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 12/1981 of March 9, 1981, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible).
  2. ^ Viktoria-Luise-Platz. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near  Kaupert )
  3. ↑ Ursula Köhler-Lutterbeck; Monika Siedentopf: Lexicon of 1000 women , Bonn 2000, p. 376. ISBN 3-8012-0276-3
  4. ↑ The books of Duchess Victoria Luise and her publisher Leonhard Schlüter by Ernst-August Roloff and Uwe Meier - Saturday, April 14, 2012
  5. ↑ Ingeborg Borek: My memories of the emperor's daughter . Braunschweig 1999, p. 88f
personal data
SURNAME Prussia, Viktoria Luise von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prussia, Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte Princess of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Princess of Prussia
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Marble Palace , Potsdam
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1980
Place of death Hanover