Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Gottfried, 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (German: Gottfried Hermann Alfred Paul Maximilian Viktor Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg; 24 March 1897 – 11 May 1960) was the only surviving son of Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Gottfried
Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
The prince in uniform, c. 1916
Born(1897-03-24)24 March 1897
Langenburg, Germany
Died11 May 1960(1960-05-11) (aged 63)
Langenburg, Germany
Spouse
Issue
Full name
German: Gottfried Hermann Alfred Paul Maximilian Viktor
HouseHohenlohe-Langenburg
FatherErnst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
MotherPrincess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Early life
Prince Gottfried at the age of nine

Gottfried was born at Langenburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, the first child of Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863–1950, son of Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Leopoldine of Baden) and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1878–1942, daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia). Through his maternal grandparents, he was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and of Tsar Alexander II.

After the fall of the Imperial German Monarchy in 1918, Gottfried continued to serve as a leader of the European royalty. He served in the German Army in World War II, becoming severely injured at the Russian front. He was dismissed from the army after the abortive attempt on Adolf Hitler's life on 20 July 1944.[1]

Marriage and issue

Gottfried was briefly engaged during 1927-28 to marry Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, the widow of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt. That engagement was however repudiated, and on 3 December 1930, Gottfried became engaged to Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark. Margarita was the daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg. Gottfried and Margarita are second cousins once removed through Queen Victoria and third cousins through Nicholas I of Russia. Many years later, Margarita's much younger brother Philip would marry Gottfried's distant cousin Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI. Elizabeth would succeed her father to the throne of the United Kingdom as Queen Elizabeth II.

Gottfried and Margarita had a generally harmonious marriage. They had six children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren:

  • A stillborn daughter (born and died 3 December 1933)
  • Prince Kraft Alexander Ernst Ludwig Georg Emich (25 June 1935 – 16 March 2004); succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
  • Princess Beatrix Alice Marie Melita Margarete of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (10 June 1936 – 15 November 1997)
  • Prince Georg Andreas Heinrich of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born 24 November 1938) married Princess Luise of Schönburg-Waldenburg on 9 September 1968. They have two daughters:
    • Princess Katharina Clementine Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born 21 November 1972) married Prince Nikolaus Carl Ferdinand of Waldeck and Pyrmont on 29 September 2002. They have two daughters:
      • Princess Laetitia Antoinette Julia Tatiana Felicitas of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 2 December 2003)
      • Princess Alexia Natalie Luise Tatiana Maresa Luise of Waldeck and Pyrmont (born 20 June 2006)
    • Princess Tatiana Luise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born 10 February 1975) married Hubertus Christian Stephan (21 November 1970- 10 May 2018) on 10 September 2010. They have two sons:
      • Carl Casper Stephan (born 22 January 2012)
      • Wolf Thomas Dres Stephan (born 5 October 2013)
  • Prince Rupprecht Sigismund Philipp Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (7 April 1944 – 8 April 1978)
  • Prince Albrecht Wolfgang Christoph of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (7 April 1944 – 23 April 1992) married Maria-Hildegard Fischer on 23 January 1976. They have one son:
    • Prince Ludwig Ferdinand Rupprecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (21 April 1976)

Their four elder children were all born at Schwäbisch Hall, while the two youngest boys, twins, were born in Langenburg.[2]

Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

At the death of his father in 1950, Gottfried inherited the title of Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.[1][3]

Titles and styles
  • 24 March 1897 – 11 December 1950: His Serene Highness Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
  • 11 December 1950 – 11 May 1960: His Serene Highness The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Ancestry

Notes
  1. "Prince Hohenlohe-Langenburg of German Noble Family Dies", The New York Times, Bonn, 12 May 1960
  2. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XIII. "Haus Griechenland". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1987, pp. 38, 203–204.
  3. Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victoria's Descendants (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 181. Hereinafter cited as Queen Victoria's Descendants.

Sources

Media related to Gottfried, 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg at Wikimedia Commons

Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Cadet branch of the House of Hohenlohe
Born: 24 March 1897 Died: 11 May 1960
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Ernst II		 — TITULAR —
Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
1950–1960
Reason for succession failure:
German nobility titles abolished		 Succeeded by
Kraft
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