Victor II, Duke of Ratibor, Prince of Corvey, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (; 6 September 18479 August 1923) was a member of the House of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and

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

of the

Silesian duchy The Duchy of Silesia (, ) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval provincial duchy of Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385), Poland located in the region of Silesia. Soon after it was formed under the Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piast dynasty ...

of Ratibor ().

Early life and family

Victor was born at Rauden Castle,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, eldest son of

Victor I, Duke of Ratibor Victor I, Duke of Ratibor, Prince of Corvey, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (; 10 February 181830 January 1893) was a member of House of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and later Duke of the Silesian duchy of Ratibor (, ) and Prince of Corve ...

(1818–1893), (son of Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and Princess Constanze of Hohenlohe-Langenburg) and his wife, Princess Amelie of Fürstenberg (1821–1899), (daughter of Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg and Princess Amalie of Baden). He studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and was a member of the Corps Borussia (1867) and Corps Saxonia (1890). In Saxonia were also his four brothers, Max, Karl Egon, Franz (

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

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 were entitled to wear a regimental uniform but otherwise had no official position. In Prussia ...

) and Egon (

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

Military career

After making his Doctorate in Law he entered the Potsdamer Life Guards Hussar Regiment in which he fought during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

Political career

Between 1873 and 1876 he worked at the German Embassy in Vienna. In 1893 he took over the dominions Kieferstädtel and Zembowitz in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

. From 1897 to 1921 he was Chairman of the

Silesia Province The Province of Silesia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1919, as ...

respectively of the Upper Silesian provincial parliament. As a member of the

Free Conservative Party The Free Conservative Party (, FKP) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and the German Empire which ran as the German Reich Party (, DRP) in the federal elections to the Reichstag (Ger ...

, he ran in 1885 and 1888 for the

Prussian House of Representatives The Prussian House of Representatives () was the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the upper house, the Prussian House of Lords, House of Lords (), it formed ...

. Since 1893, he was a member of the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords () in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Representatives (), it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature ...

. From 1896 to 1904 he was chairman of the New Coalition Party.

Marriage

Victor married 19 June 1877 at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to Countess Marie Breuner-Enckevoirt (1856–1929), daughter of Count August Johann Breuner-Enckevoirt, and his wife, Countess Agota Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék. They had four children: * Victor III, Duke of Ratibor (Rauden, 2 February 1879 –

Corvey The Princely Abbey of Corvey ( or ) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely abbeys'' of the Holy Roman Empire from the Late Middl ...

, 11 November 1945), married in 1910 to Princess Elisabeth of Oettingen-Spielberg (1886–1976), had issue. *Prince Hans of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (Rauden, 8 March 1882 – Walkersdorf Castle, 5 January 1948), married in 1918 to Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz (1898–1992), no issue. * Princess Agathe of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (Rauden, 24 July 1888 –

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

, 12 December 1960), married in 1910 to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (1880–1925), had issue. *Princess Margarete of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (Rauden, 3 Mar 1894 – Corvey, 23 May 1973), never married.

Honours, awards and arms

Military appointments

* Major general

of the Prussian Army

Honorary citizenships and doctorates

* Honorary Citizen of Breslau, 1913'

Orders and decorations

Arms

Ancestry

Notes and sources

*Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Reference: 1956

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Victor 02, Duke Of Ratibor 1847 births 1923 deaths Princes of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst People from Racibórz County House of Hohenlohe Major generals of Prussia 19th-century German landowners Members of the Prussian House of Lords Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 2nd class Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph Knights of Malta Pretenders