Prussia’ s Royalty
A very short biography of the Kaiser’s children.
Crown Prince Wilhelm
Friedrich WILHELM Viktor August Ernst, Crown Pr of Germany (Marmorpalais 6 May 1882-Hechingen 21 Jul 1951); m.Berlin 6 Jun 1905 Cecilie Dss of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Schwerin 20 Sep 1886-Bad Kissingen 6 May 1954)
5th Army in 1914
Kürassier-Regt. Königin (Pommersches) Nr.2
(Pasewalk) II Armee Korps
Wilhelm II’s oldest son was born in Potsdam in 1882. In (1888) he became youngest corporal in the Prussian Army. At age 10, Prince Wilhelm received the rank of Lt. of the 1st Infantry Regiment, in accordance with tradition. When W was 14, another important stage of his life began. Together with his younger brother EF he was sent to the military Academy at Ploen where he would spend 4 yrs.. It was the rule in the Hohenzollern family, that every Prince had to learn a trade. Wilhelm decided to become a lathe operator (a drechsler). 3 days later he began his officer training in Potsdam. As he was 18 & of age, he began active service with his regiment in 1900. He seems to have had a over-blown sense of his own importance & abilities. He was commissioned in the 1st Foot Guards in 1900 and commanded the Death’s Head Hussars in 1910. The rumor mill was not kind to him where there were claims of his Opium smoking and womanizing. On a trip to England he behaved so badly that his father was furious. He had given a confirmation ring given him by Queen Victoria to a female liaison. He was pro-war before hostilities and a favorite of the Pan-Germans. He was quoted prior to the war as saying, “…only by relying on the sword can we gain the place in the sun that is our due, but that is not voluntarily accorded us.” He commanded the Fifth Army (1914-15) at the age of 32, and Army Group Deutsches KronPrince (1915-18 ) at 33. In 1914 he was tasked with holding the French along the Ardennes front. He is best known militarily for being in charge of the Verdun Offensive(1916). Awarded a much-coveted Pour le Merite in 1915. While his marriage to Cecille of Mecklenburg Schwerin,was an excellent dynastic match, the marriage unfortunately did not prove to be a happy one. Even before the marriage, Cecilie, expressed displeasure with the time the prince spent with his regimental friends. Problems developed on the honeymoon, when the CP reportedly lonely for his bachelor drinking pals made clear that Cecile was not to interfere with those friends. The couple were, however, blessed with 6 children. One daughter, Alexandrine, appears to have suffered from Down Syndrome. His wife, Cecile was once described as the only man in the Hohenzollern household. After the armistice, joined his father in exile in the Netherlands. Later returned to Germany and joined the SA and Nazi Party with two of his sons, Prince Wilhelm and Prince Hubertus. The oldest son, Prince Wilhelm, the heir to the Hohenzollern crown, renounced his claim when he married a commoner. Young Prince Wilhelm died of wounds in France, May 1940,while serving as a Lieutenant.
Eitel Friedrich Christian Karl (Marmorpalais 7 Jul 1883-Potsdam 8 Dec 1942); m.Berlin 27 Oct 1906 (div 1926) Sophie Charlotte, Dss of Oldenburg (Oldenburg 2 Feb 1879-Westerstede, Oldenburg 29 Mar 1964)
Child #2: Kaiser Wilhelm II’s second child. He commanded the 1st Foot Guards, the premier Regiment of the German army at the start of the war. A story is told of his bravery during the Battle of Guise in 1914. He allegedly grabbed a drum and rallied his wavering regiment into the attack. He then commanded the 1st Guards Infantry Brigade as a Colonel (1914-15) when he was awarded the Pour le Merite, in 1915. From 1916 through most of 1918, he commanded 1st Guards Infantry Division until October 1918 when ostensibly his health failed. He was constantly surrounded by rumors of homosexuality. He was extremely anti-Nazi even though he also belonged to the Stalhelm Veterans organization.
Adalbert Ferdinand Berengar Viktor (Marmorpalais 14 Jul 1884-La Tour de Peilz, Switzerland 22 Sep 1948); m.Wilhelmshaven 3 Aug 1914 Adelheid Pss of Saxe-Meiningen (Kassel 16 Sep 1891-La Tour de Peilz 25 Apr 1971)
Child #3, he was a Captain in the Imperial German Navy in 1914. He served in staff and battleship duties. Started war as junior officer aboard battleship SMS Luitpold, became captain of cruiser SMS Danzig, ended war with torpedo boat flotilla in Flanders.
Known as being Anti-Nazi he had a falling out with his father and moved to Switzerland between wars.
August Wilhelm Heinrich Günter Viktor (Potsdam 29 Jan 1887- Stuttgart 25 Mar 1949); m.Berlin 22 Oct 1908 (div 1920) Alexandra Victoria Pss of Schleswig-Holstein (Grünholz 21 Apr 1887-Lyon 14 Apr 1957)
Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia. Child #4. Started war as staff officer, no distinguished career, reverted to civilian occupation 1915!!!! Ended the war as a Landrat. A fervent Nazi (SA-Obergruppenführer) and supporter of Hitler, something happened, they fell out, he stayed under house arrest for most of the war. Was a politician though in Nazi Germany and was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment at hard labor by a Ludwigsburg denazification tribunal and confiscation of 40% of his property. Died in 1949. His marriage to Alexandra Victoria (AV) of Schleswig-Holstein (a relative of his mother’s) was not successful and ended in divorce after one son, Alexander Ferdinand. AV family all had Nazi-connections. One sister, Helena, married to a Danish prince was actually banished from Denmark for years by Christian X over it. Another sister, Victoria Adelheid married Charles Edward, Duke of Coburg, a fervent Nazi supporter who was arrested & tried after WW2.
Princess August Wilhelm,nee Prss Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Gluksburg (1887-1957), 2d daughter of Duke Friedrich Ferdinand and Prss Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg. So Alexandra Victoria was a first-cousin of her spouse as her mother was a sister of Empress Augusta Viktoria. Alexandra and Auwi married in 1908,divorced in 1920,they had only one son. She married again. Ended life penniless living in a trailer and moving from free parking lot to free parking lot. She also sold paintings.
Prince Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf of Prussia was the fifth son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg.
Child number five.TPrince Oskar was educated, along with his brothers, in the Plön Prinzenhaus, and married morganatically in 1914 to Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz, a love marriage that provided them four children. During the Weltkrieg, he assumed command of the Kgl. Preuß. Grenadier – Regiment Nr. 7, from Legnica, Silesia. In 1926 as Grand Master of the Order of Saint John. Although he expressed great disapproval about the National-Populist cause. He was one of the few members of the House of Hohenzollern who did not suffer from political scandals.
Joachim Franz Hubert (Berlin 17 Dec 1890-d.of self-inflicted gunshot at Potsdam 18 Jul 1920); m.Schloß Bellevue 11 Mar 1916 Marie Auguste Pss of Anhalt (Ballenstedt 10 Jun 1898-Essen 22 May 1983)
Child #6. The youngestson, Joachim,born on 17 Dec 1890 in Berlin. He died on 18 Jul 1920 in Potsdam. He was also the subject of homosexual rumors. He was married unhappily to Princess Marie of Anhalt. They had one child, Karl Franz Joseph who would marry his step-grandmother’s daughter. He was apparently not as strong as the other boys and his mother worried about him. Joachim appears to have been an impatient boy. He served in WWI as a calvary officer. He was wounded in the battle in the Masurian Lake District of East Prussia. He married Marie of Anhalt in 1916. After the Armistace in 1918, Joachim visited his father at Doorn. It was not a happy reunion. The former Kaiser was unhappy with his sons’ behavior, including Joachim’s gambling. Joachim eventually returned to Germany. He found it difficult adjusting to his reduced circumstances. His wife left him. He shot himself in 1920 at a hunting lodge near Potsdam. Considered his mother’s favorite, it was thought this hastened her demise. Marie of Anhalt later adopted as a “son” who calls himself Prince of Anhalt and who is married to Zsa-Zsa Gabor.
Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte (Marmorpalais 13 Sep 1892-Hannover 11 Dec 1980); m.Berlin 24 May 1913 Ernst August Pr of Hannover, Duke of Braunschweig (Penzing 17 Nov 1887-Schloß Marienburg 30 Jan 1953)
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia was the seventh and last child of Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia and his first wife, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. Victoria Louise, who was the Emperor’s only daughter, was born on September 13, 1892 at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam. Although she was born rather small, she soon developed into a healthy young girl. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, and her paternal great-great-grandmother, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. But to her family, she was simply known as “Sissy”.