Viktoria Luise (born 13 September 1892) is the current Duchess of Braunschweig and Princess of Prussia. She is the only daughter and youngest child of the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Her marriage with Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick in 1913 settled the decades long conflict between the Houses of Hohenzollern and Welf and was certainly one of the most important events in the months before the Weltkrieg.
History[]
The last child of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his wife the Empress Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Viktoria Luise was named in honor of her grandmother Empress Viktoria and her great-grandmother Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. She was brought up by Elisabeth von Saldern, later abbess of the Monastery of the Heiligengrabe. Nicknamed "Sissy" by her family, she was considered to be her father's favorite child while growing up.
When Prince George of Hanover and Cumberland (son of the Duke of Cumberland and grandson of Georg V, the last King of Hanover, who was deposed by the Prussians in 1866) died in a car accident in 1912, Wilhelm II sent a message of condolence to the Duke of Cumberland who, in response to this friendly gesture, sent his youngest son Ernst to Berlin to thank the German Kaiser. There, the young Prince met and fell in love with Princess Viktoria Luise.
The wedding, on May 24, 1913, was one of the last great social events in Europe before the outbreak of the Weltkrieg, attended by King George V of the United Kingdom and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. This put an end to the rift between the House of Hohenzollern and the House of Hanover that began after the annexation in 1866 of the kingdom of Hanover by Prussia. On November 1, 1913, the Duke of Cumberland renounced to his rights to the throne of Hanover and granted his claims to the Duchy of Braunschweig to his youngest son Ernst August, who became the reestablished Duke of Braunschweig. Viktoria Luise thus became the reigning Duchess.
During the Weltkrieg, she became a strong voice for the anti-war movement. She frequently made visits with enemy dignitaries in neutral Switzerland to find ways of ending the conflict. Her visits to the frontline helped bring awareness to the horrific conditions faced in the trenches.
The Princess remains very popular, both for her subjects in Braunschweig and in the Germany as a whole. Many streets, many schools, a training ship of the Kaiserliche Marine and even a zeppelin are named after her. She enjoys horseriding, hunting, and sailing on the family yacht.
Issue[]
From her husband Ernst August I of Braunschweig, she had five children who form the Ducal Family of Braunschweig:
- Hereditary Prince Ernst August of Braunschweig, Prince of Hanover (born March, 18 1914)
- Prince Georg Wilhelm Ernst August Friedrich Axel of Hanover (born March, 25 1915)
- Princess Frederica Louise Thyra Victoria Margaret Sophie Olga Cecily Isabelle Christina of Hanover (born April, 18 1917)
- Prince Christian Oskar Ernst August Wilhelm Viktor Georg Heinrich of Hanover (born September, 1 1919)
- Prince Welf Heinrich Ernst August Georg Christian Berthold Friedrich Wilhelm Louis Ferdinand of Hanover (born March, 11 1923)