Wolfgang-Ernst Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen

Wolfgang-Ernst zu Ysenburg and Büdingen, 2009

Wolfgang-Ernst Ferdinand Heinrich Franz Karl Georg Wilhelm Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen in Wächtersbach (born June 20, 1936 in Frankfurt am Main ) is the current head of the former Princely House of Ysenburg-Büdingen . From 1992 to 2008 he was President of the Automobile Club of Germany (AvD).

family

To Ysenburg and Büdingen is the oldest of five children of Otto-Friedrich III. Friedrich Viktor Ferdinand Maximilian Gustav Richard Bogislav (1904–1990) and Felicitas Anna Eleonore Cecilie born. Princess Reuss zu Köstritz (1914–1989). In 1967 he married Leonille Elisabeth Victoria Barbara Margarete Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg , the daughter of the former CDU treasurer Casimir Johannes Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg . He and Leonille have three children and live with them at Büdingen Castle . He had sold all of the remaining lands, including Ronneburg Castle to Forfin GmbH (Joachim Benedikt Freiherr von Herman auf Wain is the managing director and sole shareholder of Forfin GmbH). Alexandra Princess of Hanover was his sister. He is currently at rank 1080 in the British line of succession.

President of the AvD

In May 1992 he was elected honorary president of the AvD to succeed Paul Alfons von Metternich-Winneburg . During his tenure, the AvD has developed into a service company and significantly expanded its services. In 1999 the club celebrated its 100th anniversary. After he was not discharged at an extraordinary general meeting of the club on April 6, 2008, he resigned as president on June 1, 2008. This was preceded by investigations by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of infidelity to the detriment of the association's members.

Economic decline

In 1990, Wolfgang-Ernst took over the company's extensive business enterprises from his father, Otto Friedrich Fürst zu Ysenburg, which are combined in the holding company Fürst zu Ysenburg und Büdingen mbH. The object of the business is the participation in other commercial enterprises and other commercial enterprises that are considered commercial trades as well as the provision of services of all kinds for other companies. The company holds industrial holdings in the Fürsten zu Ysenburg and Buedingen group of companies, which, with exceptions, are exclusively family-owned. The group of companies also manages one of the largest private forest operations in the Federal Republic of Germany (approx. 10,000 ha) as well as extensive non-commercial real estate and houses in the vicinity of Büdingen and Wächtersbach. In view of the 700-year family history in this area, the Ysenburg family has extensive heritage and cultural holdings. These areas are organized as civil law companies: GbR Kulturgut, for which Casimir zu Ysenburg und Büdingen, Deputy Director of the Private Investment Office of Credit Suisse (Deutschland) AG , is solely responsible, and GbR Forst and GbR Kameral, in which Sylvester zu Ysenburg and Büdingen, the brother of Wolfgang Ernst, Casimir zu Ysenburg and Büdingen, and Christian zu Ysenburg and Büdingen are shareholders. The management of these areas takes place identically with the GmbH & Co. The official seat of the company is the Ronneburg . In the period that followed, bad investments and bad speculation resulted in a decline in assets and large parts of the Princely Ysenburg-Büdingischen property had to be sold. In 2005, "massless insolvency proceedings " were opened at the Friedberg district court over the forestry operations of the Princely House. The 8,500 hectare Büdinger Forest - one of the largest private forest holdings in Hesse - was sold to an investor, but this did not alleviate the financial crisis. The Princely Brewery in Wächtersbach, which had existed since 1578, was sold to Würzburger Hofbräu as early as 2001 . In 2005, the 175-year-old Waechtersbacher ceramics were sold , which shortly thereafter became insolvent. At the same time, cultural assets such as old manuscripts and folios from the property of the house appeared in the auction trade . In 2011 the family company, the holding company Fürst zu Ysenburg und Büdingen GmbH & Co. , whose managing director was Wolfgang-Ernst, also filed for bankruptcy.

On February 12, 2014, the second civil senate of the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court sentenced Wolfgang-Ernst jointly and severally with his son Ferdinand Maximilian to repay a loan of one million euros plus 7 percent interest, which the family's friend at the time, the Hamburg businessman and shipowner in Hong Kong, had paid Markus Jebsen , who had granted the noble house in 2003. The money was intended to save the ailing Waechtersbach ceramics . Until then, no repayment was made “because of poverty”.

Foundation Presence in Büdingen

As head of the family of Ysenburg and Büdingen, Wolfgang-Ernst acted as managing director of the “Presence zu Büdingen” foundation until December 31, 2013 , which has owned two churches (including the Marienkirche ) and the cemetery in Büdingen's old town for centuries which it is obliged to maintain. During his tenure, there were shifts in assets, in the course of which Wolfgang-Ernst concluded contracts with himself in both of these qualities . The Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau accused him of having acted to the detriment of the foundation and in favor of the ailing family assets, and in April 2012 applied to the regional president in Darmstadt for the removal of Wolfgang Ernst as administrator of the foundation. The public prosecutor's office in Giessen started investigations into the initial suspicion of infidelity, but these were discontinued. Until November 1, 2012, Government Vice President Wilhelm Kanther, the son of Manfred Kanther, who was convicted of infidelity due to the donation affair of the Hessian CDU, was responsible for the foundation supervision in the regional council . Casimir Johannes Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, the father-in-law of Wolfgang-Ernst Fürst zu Ysenburg and Büdingen, was also accused in these proceedings for illegal party donations.

In January 2013, the Hessian state parliament dealt with the incidents involving the Presence Foundation in Büdingen . The Hessian Ministry of the Interior has taken over the supervision of the foundation ; Government Vice President Wilhelm Kanther was seconded to this ministry on November 1st, 2012 .

Honors

In 2001 zu Ysenburg and Büdingen received the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany for his voluntary work .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Auto-President resigns
2. ^ British line of Succession ( Memento of August 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ AvD leadership continues to be targeted by the public prosecutor . In: Journal Frankfurt of May 28, 2008.
4. ↑ [1]
5. ↑ [2]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
6. ↑ website creditor info .de
7. ↑ Bruno Rieb: The decline of the house at Ysenburg . In: Frankfurter Rundschau of April 5, 2012.
8. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau : Klammes Princely House Must Pay , February 12, 2014.
9. ↑ Kreis-Anzeiger : Prince sentenced to pay millions ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , January 13, 2014.
10. ↑ Kreis-Anzeiger: Presence: New Board ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , February 6, 2014.
11. ↑ Church takes action against Wolfgang-Ernst as a foundation administrator . In: Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung of April 27, 2012.
12. ^ Ingo Nathusius: Foundation "Presence zu Büdingen" - Doubtful Prince Business ( Memento from June 23, 2004 in the Internet Archive ). In: hr-Online from April 4, 2012.
13. ↑ Prince comes under pressure - public prosecutor's office is investigating breach of trust against Wolfgang Ernst zu Ysenburg and Büdingen ( Memento from May 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In Frankfurter Neue Presse on April 12, 2012.
14. ↑ Jens Joachim: Dispute over old foundation comes to court In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of January 11, 2013.
15. ↑ Michael Giers: Accents set in a variety of ways  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), Kreis-Anzeiger, June 20, 2011. Accessed July 6, 2011.