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

Early life and family

Victor was born at Langenburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, eldest son of

Franz Joseph, 5th Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

(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 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 in ...

. He then studied law and modern languages in Göttingen, Bonn, Heidelberg and Lausanne. He also traveled to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Italy, France and England. He subsequently managed the property of his uncle, the Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, Victor Amadeus. These included the former monastery of Corvey in Westphalia, Ratibor in Upper Silesia. 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 on 15 October 1840 by King Frederick William IV of Prussia. His younger brother Chlodwig was

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

and Minister President of Prussia 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 The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

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. 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. 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 North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, and from 1872 to 1890 of the German Reichstag. He was also member from 1854 to 1893 of the Prussian House of Lords. 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 Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

. He was also one of the founders of the Free Conservative Party.

Marriage

Victor married 19 April 1845 at

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...

Princess Amélie of Fürstenberg Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning wiktionary:principal, principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. ...

(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 , house = Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , father =Victor I, Duke of Ratibor , mother = Princess Amélie of Fürstenberg , birth_date = , birth_place =Schloss Rauden, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_place =C ...

(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
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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