Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, a grandson of Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and German Emperor, was the pretender to the Prussian throne from 1951 until his death in 1994.

Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia – source: Wikipedia

Prince Louis Ferdinand Victor Eduard Adalbert Michael Hubertus of Prussia was born November 9, 1907, at the Marble Palace in Potsdam, Germany, the second son of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. At the time, his grandfather, Wilhelm II, was the King of Prussia and German Emperor. Louis Ferdinand had five siblings:

 

Raised at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin and Cecilenhof in Potsdam, Louis Ferdinand also spent some time near Danzig where his father served with the Prussian military. In keeping with family tradition, Louis Ferdinand was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 1st Guards Regiment on his 10th birthday in 1917. The following year, the monarchy was abolished following World War I. His father went to the Netherlands with the former Emperor, while he and his siblings stayed in Germany, having been ensured of their safety.

After studying economics in Berlin, Louis Ferdinand traveled to the United States where he settled for some time in Detroit, Michigan. Upon his elder brother’s marriage and subsequent renunciation of his succession rights, Louis Ferdinand returned home to Germany, became involved in the aviation industry, and served in the German military.

 

In May 1938, Louis Ferdinand married Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia. She was the daughter of Grand Duke Kyril Vladimirovich of Russia and Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They were second cousins, once removed, through their mutual descent from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Two ceremonies were held, a Russian Orthodox ceremony was held at Cecilienhof in Potsdam, followed by a Lutheran ceremony held at Huis Doorn, the Dutch home of the former Emperor Wilhelm II. Louis Ferdinand and Kira had seven children:

  • Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1939 – 2015) – married (1) Waltraud Freydag, had issue; (2) Ehrengard von Reden, had issue; (3) Sibylle Kretschmer, no issue
  • Prince Michael (1940 – 2014) – married (1) Jutta Jörn, had issue; (2) Birgitte Dallwitz-Wegner, no issue
  • Princess Marie Cécile (1942) – married Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg, had issue
  • Princess Kira (1943 – 2004) – married Thomas Liepsner, had issue
  • Prince Louis Ferdinand (1944) – married Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen, had issue
  • Prince Christian-Sigismund (1946) – married Countess Nina Reventlow, had issue
  • Princess Xenia (1949 – 1992) married Per-Edvard Lithander, had issue

Louis Ferdinand served in the German military until 1940 when his elder brother was killed in action. The outpouring of sympathy and support for the former royal family at the Prince’s funeral concerned Adolf Hitler, who saw this as a threat to his leadership. Thus, Hitler issued a decree in 1940 – the Princes Decree – which prohibited members of all of Germany’s former ruling houses from participating in any military operations. From that point, Louis Ferdinand took over the management of his grandfather’s former summer residence – Cadinen Palace – in East Prussia until the end of the war.

Quite popular in Germany, Louis Ferdinand was voted as the ‘most honorable person’ to become President of the Federal Republic of Germany, despite not having had any role in politics. A later poll gained him even higher results. The Prince quickly stated that while he might accept the position, he would not give up his claim to the German Imperial Crown.

Following German reunification in 1990, Louis Ferdinand led the efforts to have his ancestor, King Friedrich II (Frederick the Great) reburied on the grounds of Sanssouci. He also began efforts to reclaim many of the private properties of his family which had been seized by the Nazis and Communists without compensation. Although unsuccessful in his attempt to regain the private properties, his efforts led to changes in German law after his death. His grandson Georg Friedrich continues to pursue the return of Hohenzollern properties and assets.

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Louis Ferdinand became the pretender to the Prussian throne upon his father’s death in 1951. His elder brother had lost his succession rights upon his marriage, making Louis Ferdinand first in line. His own two elder sons’ marriages were also deemed unequal, thus excluding them from succession. It fell upon his third son, also named Louis Ferdinand. The younger Louis Ferdinand died in 1977, leaving his young son Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia as the sole heir and first in line to succeed his grandfather. This led to a legal battle among Louis Ferdinand’s older sons – both of whom had been excluded – but claimed a right to some of their father’s estate. While the young Georg Friedrich remained his grandfather’s heir as Head of the House of Hohenzollern, he was no longer the sole beneficiary of the estate, and Louis Ferdinand’s elder sons both received a portion of their father’s estate upon his death.

Just weeks before his 87th birthday, Prince Louis Ferdinand died in Bremen on September 26, 1994. He was buried in the castle cemetery at Hohenzollern Castle.

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