Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944–1977)

Prince Louis Ferdinand Oskar Christian of Prussia (German: Louis Ferdinand Oskar Christian Prinz von Preußen; 25 August 1944 – 11 July 1977),[1] also called Louis Ferdinand II or Louis Ferdinand Jr., nicknamed "Lulu", was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and the fifth of seven children of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and his wife, Grand Duchess Kira of Russia. He was the son and designated heir of the pretender to the German throne but died as a result of an accident while performing military service.

Prince Louis Ferdinand
Born(1944-08-25)25 August 1944
Golzow, Neumark, Province of Brandenburg, Nazi Germany
Died11 July 1977(1977-07-11) (aged 32)
Bremen, West Germany
Burial14 July 1977
Fischerhude graveyard, Ottersberg, Germany
Spouse
Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen
​
(
m. 1975)
Issue
HouseHohenzollern
FatherLouis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia
MotherGrand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia

Life

Louis Ferdinand was born in 1944 in Golzow, Neumark, Province of Brandenburg. In 1967, he volunteered to serve in the West German army (Bundeswehr), with the goal of becoming a reserve officer. In 1972, he started an apprenticeship at a bank and continued to perform military service on a regular basis.

Grave of Louis Ferdinand, Fischerhude graveyard, Ottersberg

In 1977, he was involved in a severe accident during military manoeuvres, when he was pinned between two vehicles. Although his leg was amputated, he succumbed several weeks later to the trauma and died on 11 July 1977 in Bremen.[2]

Louis Ferdinand was the designated head of the Prussian branch of the House of Hohenzollern as his two elder brothers had married women who were not nobility. His premature death made his son the successor of the House.[3]

Marriage and issue

On 24 May 1975, Louis Ferdinand married Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen (21 June 1950 - 5 September 2015).[1] They had two children: Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand of Prussia (born 10 June 1976) and Princess Cornelie-Cécile Viktoria Luise of Prussia (born posthumously on 30 January 1978); she was born developmentally disabled.

In 1991, Louis Ferdinand's widow married Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg. He had divorced two years before from Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia, a sister of Louis Ferdinand.

Honors

Ancestry

References
  1. Patrick W. Montague-Smith (1980). Debrett's peerage and baronetage: with Her Majesty's Royal Warrant Holders 1980: comprises information concerning the Royal Family, the peerage, Privy Counsellors, Scottish Lords of Session, baronets, and chiefs of names and clans in Scotland. Debrett's Peerage. p. P-6. ISBN 0-905649-20-6.
  2. "Prinz Louis Ferdinand: Der Erbe des Hauses Preußen starb vor 40 Jahren". Corona. July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  3. Franc Domin: Jetzt wird der Preußen-Stammbaum gestutzt. Photo of a newspaper from May 12, 1977 (accessed July 15, 2020)
  4. Comradeship "Louis Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen"
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