Victor I, Duke of Ratibor, Prince of Corvey, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (german: Viktor Moritz Carl 1.Herzog von Ratibor, 1.Fürst von Corvey, Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst; 10 February 181830 January 1893) was a member of House of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and later

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

of the Silesian duchy of Ratibor ( cs, Ratiboř, pl, Racibórz) and Prince of Corvey.

Early life and family

Victor was born at

Langenburg Langenburg () is a town in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on a hill above the river Jagst, 18 km northeast of Schwäbisch Hall. It is also the place where Wibele - small, sweet, biscuit-like ...

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

, eldest son of Franz Joseph, 5th Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1787–1841), (son of Karl Albrecht II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürs and Baroness Judith Reviczky of Revisnye) and his wife, Princess Constanze of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1792–1847), (daughter of

Karl Ludwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Karl Ludwig, 3rd Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (10 September 1762 in Langenburg – 4 April 1825 in Langenburg) was the third Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. He was the first child of Prince Christian Albert of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife ...

and Countess Amalie of Solms-Baruth). After initial private lessons, he attended the Royal Grammar School in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. He then studied law and modern languages in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

. He also traveled to Switzerland,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He subsequently managed the property of his uncle, the Landgrave of

Hesse-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg is a former German landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathed to princes Victor and Chlodwig of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst were reu ...

, Victor Amadeus. These included the former monastery of Corvey in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, Ratibor in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

. This area was 34,000 hectares in size and consisted mainly of forest areas. Victor was created

Duke of Ratibor Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

and Prince of

Corvey The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princel ...

on 15 October 1840 by King Frederick William IV of Prussia. His younger brother

Chlodwig Louis is the French form of the Old Frankish given name Chlodowig and one of two English forms, the other being Lewis (). Etymology The name Louis (through the intermediate form Clovis) derives from the Frankish name ᚺᛚᛟᛞᛟᚹᛁᚷ ...

was Chancellor of Germany and

Minister President of Prussia The office of Minister-President (german: Ministerpräsident), or Prime Minister, of Prussia existed from 1848, when it was formed by King Frederick William IV during the 1848–49 Revolution, until the abolition of Prussia in 1947 by the All ...

from 1894 to 1900.

Military career

During his military service, made at an early age in the cavalry. In the 1850s he commanded in repeated exercises the 2nd - Landwehr Regiment. During the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, he organized as Chairman of the Silesian Association Knights Voluntary Health Care. Since 1872, he led the honorary title of General of Cavalry

à la suite À la suite (, ''in the entourage f') was a military title given to those who were allotted to the army or a particular unit for honour's sake, and entitled to wear a regimental uniform but otherwise had no official position. In Prussia, these w ...

. In 1893, he was elected as the first president of the German Experimental Institute for Small Arms.

Political career

In 1847 Ratibor was a member of the Prussian United Diet. Between 1856 and 1893 he was a member of provincial parliament for

Silesia Province The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

. At first he was Marshal of the Assembly. After the introduction of the new provincial order, he was repeatedly chairman. He was also from 1849 to 1852 on the second chamber of the Prussian State Parliament. In 1850 Ratibor was a member of the Erfurt Union Parliament. From 1867 to 1870 he was a member of the North German Reichstag, and from 1872 to 1890 of the

German Reichstag The Reichstag (, ; officially: – ; en, Parliament) is a historic government building in Berlin which houses the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament. It was constructed to house the Imperial Diet (german: Reichstag) of the ...

. He was also member from 1854 to 1893 of the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Re ...

. In the latter, he was co-founder of the New Group in 1870/72, from 1877 to 1893 President of the House. Ratibor was one of the liberal-conservative Aristocracy, political reformants, he was a supporter of Otto von Bismarck. He was also one of the founders of the

Free Conservative Party The Free Conservative Party (german: Freikonservative Partei, FKP) was a liberal-conservative political party in Prussia and the German Empire which emerged from the Prussian Conservative Party in the Prussian Landtag in 1866. In the federal ele ...

Marriage

Victor married 19 April 1845 at Donaueschingen to Princess Amélie of Fürstenberg (1821–1899), third child of Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg, and his wife, Princess Amalie of Baden. They had ten children: *Princess Amelia of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (3 October 1846 – 25 August 1847) * Viktor II, Duke of Ratibor (6 September 1847 – 9 August 1923), married in 1867 to Countess Maria Breunner-Enkevoirth, had issue. *Prince Franz of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (6 April 1849 – 27 May 1925) *Princess Elisabeth of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (27 February 1851 – 5 October 1928) *Prince Egon of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (4 January 1853 – 10 February 1896), married in 1885 to Princess Leopoldine of Lobkowicz, had issue. *Princess Marie of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (27 June 1854 – 29 May 1928) *Prince Maximilian of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (9 February 1856 – 12 January 1924), married in 1882 to Countess Franziska Grimaud d'Orsay, had issue. *Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (10 Nov 1857 – 25 February 1891) *Prince Karl Egon of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (7 July 1860 – 4 June 1940) *Princess Margaret of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (3 June 1863 – 4 June 1940)

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:''Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat fur das jahr 1893''
p. 185
/ref>

Ancestry

Notes and sources

* Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Reference: 1956 * * Tiggesbäumker, Günter: ''Viktor I. Herzog von Ratibor und Fürst von Corvey, Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1818–1893)''. In: ''Westfälische Zeitschrift.'' Band 144, 1994. p. 266–280
Digitalisat
* Tiggesbäumker, Günter: ''Von Franken nach Westfalen und Schlesien. Der Erbprinz von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst wird erster Herzog von Ratibor und Fürst von Corvey''. In: ''Frankenland.'' 3/2003. p. 207–212. * Tiggesbäumker, Günter: ''Das Herzogliche Haus Ratibor und Corvey. 7. erweiterte Auflage''. Werl: Börde-Verlag, 2012. (Deutsche Fürstenhäuser. 5.)

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Victor 01, Duke Of Ratibor 1818 births 1893 deaths People from Langenburg People from the Kingdom of Württemberg House of Hohenlohe German Roman Catholics German landowners Political party founders Free Conservative Party politicians Members of the Prussian House of Lords Members of the 2nd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 3rd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 4th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 5th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 6th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 7th Reichstag of the German Empire Generals of Cavalry (Prussia) Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX Knights of Malta