Princess Pauline of Württemberg (1877–1965)

Princess Pauline of Württemberg (German: Prinzessin Pauline Olga Helene Emma von Württemberg; 19 December 1877 – 7 May 1965) was the elder daughter of William II of Württemberg and wife of William Frederick, Prince of Wied. She was for many years the regional director of the German Red Cross, in western Germany.

Princess Pauline
Princess of Wied
Born(1877-12-19)19 December 1877
Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg
Died7 May 1965(1965-05-07) (aged 87)
Ludwigsburg, West Germany
SpouseWilliam Frederick, Prince of Wied
IssuePrince Hermann
Prince Dietrich
Full name
Pauline Olga Helene Emma
HouseWürttemberg
FatherWilliam II of Württemberg
MotherPrincess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Early life

Pauline was born at Stuttgart in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the elder daughter of William II of Württemberg (1848–1921) by his first wife Princess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1857–1882).[1] She became their only surviving child after the deaths of her brother Prince Ulrich and unnamed stillborn sister.

World War II

She was indicted for concealing, since October 1945, a pair of important Nazis by a military court of the United States. She confessed to knowingly sheltering Frau Gertrud Scholtz-Klink and her spouse, former SS Maj. General August Heissmayer.[2][3] The Princess was aware that Frau Scholtz-Klink was the head of the Nazi women's organizations, but she denied that she had been aware of Heissmayer's SS position.[3]

Princess Pauline was bailed out of custody but scheduled for trial in March 1948.[3] She stated that she came to know Frau Scholtz-Klinik during the years when both women headed significant institutions under the Nazis, the Princess asserting that she had then been the director of the German Red Cross for Hesse, Nassau, the Rhineland and Westphalia.[3]

Herr and Frau Scholtz-Klink informed the French that they asked for Princess Pauline's aid in 1945,[3] Princess Pauline arranged for them to stay inconspicuously in Bebenhausen, where they were arrested by Allied authorities.[2]

Marriage and family

Princess Pauline married on 29 October 1898 in Stuttgart to William Frederick, Prince of Wied (1872–1945), son of William, Prince of Wied and the spectacularly wealthy Princess Marie of the Netherlands.[4] Her husband's elder brother was William, Prince of Albania, and she was a first cousin of the Dutch queen, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.[1]

They had 2 children:[1]

  • Prince Hermann of Wied (18 August 1899 – 5 November 1941), married Countess Marie Antonia von Stolberg-Wernigerode, and had issue, including Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Wied.
  • Prince Dietrich of Wied (30 October 1901 – 8 June 1976), married Countess Antoinette Julia von Grote, and had issue.

Titles and styles
  • 19 December 1877 – 29 October 1898: Her Royal Highness Princess Pauline of Württemberg
  • 29 October 1898 – 22 October 1907: Her Royal Highness Princess William Frederick of Wied
  • 22 October 1907 – 18 June 1945: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wied
  • 18 June 1945 – 7 May 1965: Her Royal Highness The Dowager Princess of Wied

Ancestry

Notes and sources
  1. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (editor). Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, Burke's Peerage, London, 1973, pp. 210-212, 215-216, 258, 302. ISBN 0-220-66222-3
  2. Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. Fashioning a Nation. retrieved 12 December 2018.
  3. New York Times. 3 March 1948. Princess indicted for helping the Nazis.
  4. C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy, in 3 volumes (London, U.K.: Garnstone Press, 1973), volume 1, page 226. Hereinafter cited as The Book of Kings
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