Germany contains some of my favorite castles, and being part German, I’ve always had an interest in the country’s royal history. So I am especially excited now with the announcement of the engagement between Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia and Sophie, Princess von Isenburg.
Photo © Preussen.de
Prussia was a German kingdom and the leading state in the German Empire, originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Though the monarchy was abolished in 1918, the members of the Hohenzollern family never relinquished their claims to the thrones of Prussia and the German Empire.
Where does Prince Georg Friedrich fit into all of this? Like most royals in Europe, he is descended from Queen Victoria. His family’s backstory is also as colorful and historic as the great Queen herself.
England and Germany Unite
Princess Victoria (Vicky), the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, met her future husband in 1851. The young Friedrich Whilhelm of Prussia (Fritz), eldest son of the Kaiser, had come to England with his parents to visit Albert’s Great Exhibition in London. Though only a child at the time, Vicky was entranced with Fritz. Throughout the tour of the Exhibition, the gregarious Vicky was more than happy to show off her knowledge to the royal guests, hoping to impress Fritz.
Fritz was ten years Vicky’s senior, and since the princess was only 11, any possibility of romance at that time was out of the question. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were willing to bide their time, since they knew that a match between the two was going to be a boon to both England and Germany.
Prince Albert was born a prince of the German Duchy of Coburg, and always dreamed of a united liberal Germany. He felt that a marriage between his eldest daughter and the democratically-minded son of the Kaiser was a step towards making that dream come true. The pair could help establish a constitutional monarchy with Parliamentary democracy once Fritz came to the throne. Both Albert and Victoria agreed that any betrothal had to be put on hold until Vicky was older, but they kept Fritz and his family close so that an eventual match could be arranged.
A few years later Fritz was invited to Balmoral to spend time with Vicky and the Royal Family. It was here that he proposed to the princess, who was now 14 years old. The Queen made sure that they waited until Vicky was at least 17 years of age before the engagement was publicly announced, and on May 19th, 1857 the world was told of the impending wedding.
The following January Vicky and Fritz were united in marriage. It was strikingly different from the marriages of that era. Royals were matched only for power and political gain, but Vicky and Fritz truly loved each other.
Their children numbered eight in all, but two died in childhood from illnesses. The heir, Prince Wilhelm, was born with a disability due to a difficult breech birth. His left arm was rendered useless and hung limply at his side. Many biographers have stated that this caused Wilhelm’s emotional development to be stunted, but this was only partly the case. Vicky, devastated that she brought a less than perfect heir into the world, did everything she could to coddle and protect Wilhelm. At the same time, she sharply criticized him and strapped him into painful gear that was meant to help strengthen his arm. This was a traumatic experience for the future Kaiser, who would forever attempt to conceal his weakness with a ferocious pugnacity.
When they finally became Emperor and Empress, Vicky and Fritz had precious little time to implement any real changes. Fritz died from cancer of the larynx three months into his reign. Upon his passing, Vicky was left alone and devoid of support or influence. The new Kaiser Wilhelm II was crowned, every inch the egotistical, manipulative, and dangerous autocrat.
Wilhelm was convinced that his cousins George and Nicholas (King of England and Tsar of Russia, respectively) were plotting against him. After fighting his own relations across Europe, he headed into exile in the Netherlands, never to see the throne again. He had hope that the monarchy would be restored with Adolf Hitler’s new regime, but when he learned of the Night of the Long Knives and Kristallnacht, the ex-Kaiser was wary of the power-hungry man and his Nazis.
“I have just made my views clear to Auwi [Wilhelm's fourth son] in the presence of his brothers. He had the nerve to say that he agreed with the Jewish pogroms and understood why they had come about. When I told him that any decent man would describe these actions as gangsterisms, he appeared totally indifferent. He is completely lost to our family …”
Wilhelm died at age 82 in 1941. He was buried in a mausoleum in the grounds of Huis Doorn, his home in exile.
Today
Georg Friedrich Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, was born June 10th, 1976 and is the current head of the Imperial House of Hohenzollern. He succeeded his grandfather, Prince Louis Ferdinand I of Prussia in 1994 at age 18. German law does not officially recognize the existence of any princely titles but, under German civil law, former titles are considered to be part of a person’s surname. As such, his legal name is Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen.
On January 21st, 2011, Georg Friedrich announced his engagement to Princess Sophie of Isenburg. The wedding is scheduled to take place in Potsdam sometime in 2011, during the celebrations to mark the 950 years of the House of Hohenzollern.
Line of Descent from Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria (great-great-great-great grandmother)
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Princess Victoria (great-great-great grandmother)
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Kaiser Wilhelm II (great-great grandfather)
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William, German Crown Prince (great grandfather)
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Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (grandfather)
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Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (father – died 1977)
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Georg Friedrich
Reading
- Wikipedia: Victoria, Princess Royal and Wilhelm II, German Emperor
- Full text of “Letters Of The Empress Frederick”
- Book Review: An Uncommon Woman
