by Susan Flantzer

House of Ligne
Timeline: September 1, 1914 – September 30, 1914
A Note About German Titles
September 1914 – Royals Who Died In Action

House of Ligne

In both August 1914 and September 1914, a member of the House of Ligne was killed in action fighting with the Belgian army: Georges Alexandre Lamoral, Prince de Ligne who was a grandson of Eugène, 8th Prince of Ligne and Henri Baudouin Lamoral, Prince de Ligne who was the son of Ernest,10th Prince de Ligne. The House of Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian
noble families. It dates back to the 11th century and the name Ligne comes from a village that is now part of Ath, Belgium.  In 1601, Lamoral, Count of Ligne received the hereditary title of Prince de Ligne from Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor.  Since then there have been 14 Princes de Ligne.  The present Prince de Ligne, Prince Michel, is a first cousin of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.  Château de Belœil in Belœil, Hainaut, Belgium has been the residence of the Prince de Ligne since 1394.

Timeline: September 1, 1914 – September 30, 1914

• September 1 – Action at Nery (France)
• September 2–September 11 –  Battle of Rava Russka (Austrian Poland, today Ukraine) a phase of the Battle of Lemberg
• September 4-September 13 – Battle of Grand Couronne (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France), a phase of the Battle of the Frontiers
• September 5–September 12 – First Battle of the Marne (Marne River near Paris, France), German advance on Paris is halted, marking the failure of the Schlieffen Plan
• September 6-October 4 – Battle of Drina (Drina River, Serbian border)
• September 7–September 14 – First Battle of the Masurian Lakes (East Prussia, Germany, present-day Poland), Russian army withdraws from East Prussia with heavy casualties
• September 11 – Australian forces occupy German New Guinea (today New Guinea)
• September 13 – South African forces begin invading German South-West Africa (today part of Namibia)
• September 13–September 28 – First Battle of the Aisne (Aisne River, France); The Race to the Sea (France and north-west Belgium) begins
• September 19-October 11 – Battle of Flirey (France)
• September 20 – Battle of Zanzibar (off Zanzibar, Zanzibar Harbor, Indian Ocean) results in a German naval victory
• September 22-September 26 – First Battle of Picardy (France)
• September 24 – Siege of Przemyśl (Austria-Hungary, present-day Poland) begins
• September 25-September 29 – First Battle of Albert (Somme, Picardy, France)
• September 28–October 10 – Germans besiege and capture Antwerp, Belgium
• September 29–October 31 – Battle of the Vistula River (Warsaw, present-day Poland) , also known as the Battle of Warsaw

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A Note About German Titles

Most of the royals who died in action during World War I were German. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_German_Army German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to our Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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September 1914 – Royals Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or from The Peerage.  If a person has a Wikipedia page, their name will be linked to that page.

Henri Baudouin Lamoral, Prince de Ligne

• son of Ernest Louis Henri Lamoral,10th Prince de Ligne and Diane de Cossé-Brissac
• born January 28, 1896 in Brussels, Belgium
• unmarried
• killed in action at Herentals, Belgium on September 8, 1914, age 18
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00012694&tree=LEO

Werner, Freiherr von Reibnitz

• son of Karl, Freiherr von Reibnitz and Anna von der Hagen
• born August 6, 1892 in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony (Germany)
• 1914, married Theodora Quilling, had issue
• killed in action at Klein-Beynuhnen, East Prussia (Germany) at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes on September 11, 1914, age 22
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00181244&tree=LEO

Friedrich, Freiherr Senfft von Pilsach

• son of
• born March 23, 1875 in Berlin, Prussia (Germany)
• 1895, married Euphemie, Freiin von Richthofen, had issue
• killed in action near Verdun, France on September 24, 1914, age 39
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00257339&tree=LEO

Hermann, Graf von Bocholtz-Asseburg

• son of Hermann Konstantin Hubert, Graf von Bocholtz-Asseburg and Antonie, Gräfin Droste zu Vischering von Nesselrode-Reichenstein
• born March 1, 1880 in Wallhausen, Kingdom of Württemberg (Germany)
• 1908, married Gräfin Maria Franziska Huberta Apollonia Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht, had issue
• killed in action near Chivy, France of September 26, 1914, age 34
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00067415&tree=LEO

Pius Maria Alfred, Graf von Hompesch-Bollheim

• son of Ferdinand, Graf von Hompesch-Bollheim and Marie Agnes, Gräfin zu Stolberg-Stolberg
• born on September 30, 1878 in Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria (Germany)
• unmarried
• killed in action on September 26, 1914, age 35
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00073695&tree=LEO