Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Richard
4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Reign1904 – 1918
PredecessorAlbrecht, 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
SuccessorGustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Born(1882-05-27)27 May 1882
Berleburg, Germany
Died25 April 1925(1925-04-25) (aged 42)
Hanau, Germany
Spouse
Princess Madeleine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg
​
​
(m. 1902)​
IssueGustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Christian Heinrich, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
Prince Ludwig Ferdinand
Names
Richard Hermann Gustav
FatherGustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
MotherBaroness Marie von Gemmingen-Hornberg

Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (German: Richard Hermann Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, 27 May 1882 – 25 April 1925) was Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg from 1904 to 1918.

Life

Berleburg Castle, photographed in 2022.

Prince Richard was born on 27 May 1882 at Berleburg, Germany, to Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1837–1889) and Baroness Marie von Gemmingen-Hornberg (1855–1946).[1] His father was the younger son of Albrecht, 2nd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1777–1851), and thus a younger brother of Prince Albrecht (1834–1904), who at the time was the 3rd Prince of the mediatized German principality of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.[2]

Richard had two older sisters, Charlotte (1879–1968) and Hildegard (1880–1973), and a younger brother, Wolfgang (1887–1966), who all married and had issue.

On 21 November 1902, at Langenzell, he married Princess Madeleine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, daughter of Prince Alfred of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and Countess Pauline von Reichenbach-Lessonitz.

Richard became head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg on the death of his paternal uncle, Albrecht (born 15 March 1834), the 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who died unmarried and childless on 9 November 1904.

His title was de-recognized by the Weimar and other German Republics after abolition of the German Empire in 1918 but lawfully retained henceforth as a surname.

Prince Richard died aged 42 on 25 April 1925 in Hanau as the result of a traffic accident by Bruchköbel in the vicinity of Hanau.[3] He was succeeded as head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg by his eldest son, Prince Gustav Albrecht.[4]

Issue

  • Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1907-1944, declared dead in 1969 after being missing in action in Russia in 1944)
  • Prince Christian Heinrich of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1908-1983) – adopted by August, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, who he succeeded as 5th Prince in 1947. Married firstly Countess Beatrix von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1921-2006) in 1945 at Berleburg. They had 4 children and were subsequently divorced in 1951. He married secondly Princess Dagmar of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1919-2002), daughter of his adopted father's younger brother, Prince Georg, in 1960 at Schwarzenau. They had two children.
    • Princess Loretta of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 6 June 1946) who has married twice and had 3 children.
    • Princess Johanna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 22 October 1948) who has married thrice and had 4 children.
    • Hereditary Prince Albrecht of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1950-1953).
    • Princess Madeleine of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 17 March 1961) who has married twice and had 2 children.
    • Bernhart, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 15 November 1962).
  • Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1910-1943).

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Gustav Wolfgang Wilhelm Christian Friedrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg".
  2. ^ "Friedrich Albrecht Ludwig Ferdinand Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg".
  3. ^ Bald, Dieter (2025). "Tragische Rückkehr vor 100 Jahren – Der Tod des Fürsten Richard". Blätter des Wittgensteiner Heimatvereins e.V. 113 (in German). 89 (1): 36–47.
  4. ^ "Wittgensteiner Kreisblatt" (in German). 6 May 1925.

Bibliography

  • Burkardt, Johannes; Lückel, Ulf (2005). Das Fürstliche Haus zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (in German). Werl. ISBN 3-9810-3150-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Stumpf, Marcus (2024). "Unruhige Zeiten: Die Fürsten Richard und Gustav Albrecht zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in ihrer Rolle als Chef des Hauses in den 1920er Jahren". In Stumpf, Marcus (ed.). Adelsarchive im 21. Jahrhundert - Standortbestimmungen (in German). Münster. pp. 257–278.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard,_4th_Prince_of_Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg