Alexander Otto Hugo Wladimir Count zu Münster (1 September 1858 – 12 October 1922), Prince zu Münster in 1905, at the death of his elder brother, was a German aristocrat. He was the owner of Maresfield Park estate,

Maresfield Maresfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village itself lies 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north from Uckfield; the nearby villages of Nutley and Fairwarp; and the smaller settlements of D ...

, East Sussex.

Early life

Prince Alexander Münster was born in Derneburg,

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

, on 1 September 1858, the son of Georg Herbert, Prince zu Münster (1820–1902), German ambassador in London 1873-1885 and subsequently Paris. His mother was his father's first wife, Princess Aleksandra Mikhailovna Golitsyna.

Life in England

In 1899, Münster inherited Maresfield Park estate from his friend Hervey Charles Pechell. Münster was living in Maresfield Park while Pechell and his wife, Blanche Henrietta Johnes Shelley, resided in Bellagio in Italy. He officiated at the planting of the oak on Maresfield Recreation Ground commemorating

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's Jubilee in 1897 which was performed by her eldest daughter the German Empress, wife of the German Emperor Frederick III. The Pechells had donated the ground to the parish in 1897 but Münster legally transferred it in 1899. In 1915, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it was seized from him by the British government under the Trading With the Enemy laws as he was a German citizen.History.
Maresfield Parish Council. Retrieved 31 August 2017. Records relating to Maresfield Park are held by the East Sussex Record Office.

Personal life

On 3 June 1890, he married Lady Muriel Henrietta Constance Hay (1863–1927) at St Andrews Church,

Wells Street Wells Street is a street in the City of Westminster. It runs from Riding House Street in the north to Oxford Street in the south. It is crossed by Mortimer Street and Eastcastle Street. It is joined on its western side by Marylebone Passag ...

, London. As the daughter of

George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull (16 July 1827 – 30 January 1897), styled as Viscount Dupplin until 1866, was a Scotland, Scottish peer and cricketer. His titles were Earl of Kinnoull, Viscount Dupplin and Lord Hay of Kinfauns ...

, the event was depicted on the front page of ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

''. Together, the couple had sons: * Friedrich zu Münster (1891–1942), who married Sylvia, Countess Fugger von Babenhausen, daughter of

Karl, 5th Prince Fugger von Babenhausen Karl Georg Ferdinand Jakob Maria, 5th Prince Fugger of Babenhausen (15 January 1861 – 5 July 1925) was an Austrian landowner and officer. After serving in various Hussar regiments, he commanded the 3rd Hussar Regiment as Colonel during World Wa ...

, and Princess Eleonora of

Hohenlohe-Bartenstein Hohenlohe-Bartenstein was a German principality of the House of Hohenlohe, located in northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, around Bartenstein. Hohenlohe-Bartenstein was a partition of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and was raised from a cou ...

, in 1925. They divorced in 1928. * Paul zu Münster (1898–1968), who married Vera Maud Helene Katharina von Weinberg, daughter of Carl von Weinberg and Ethel Mary Villers

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, in 1921. They divorced and he married Margaret Helene Edith Ward, daughter of Capt. Hon. Cyril Augustus Ward (son of the 1st Earl of Dudley) and Baroness Irene van Brienen, in 1929. Paul and Margaret zu Münster have at least one son: Peter Cyril zu Münster (born 1931), who married Veronica Naylor-Leyland (1932–2019) in 1955. Münster died on 12 October 1922.Alexander Otto Munster, Count.
''The Weald''. Retrieved 12 October 2017. Maresfield Park estate, now owned by the British Government, was sold in 1924 to brewer and industrialist William Henry Abbey.

Descendants

Through his second son, he was a grandfather of Peter Cyril Alexander, Count of Münster (1931–2011), who married Veronica Rosemary Naylor-Leyland (a daughter of Sir Albert Naylor-Leyland, 2nd Baronet), and Ivan, Count of Münster (1937–1952).

References

External links

The Heirs of Europe: MÜNSTER.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Münster, Alexander 1858 births 1922 deaths Nobility from Hanover German emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Maresfield