Prince Wilhelm Eitel Friedrich Christian Karl of Prussia (7 July 1883 – 8 December 1942) was the second son of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany by his first wife, Princess

Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , house = Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , father = Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein , mother = Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Dolzig Palac ...

. He was born and died in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, Germany.

Life and activities

Prince Eitel Friedrich was born on 7 July 1883 as the second son of the then Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, and his first wife, Princess

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein , house = Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , father = Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein , mother = Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Dolzig Palace ...

. He was born in the

Marmorpalais The Marmorpalais (or Marble Palace) is a former royal residence in Potsdam, near Berlin in Germany, built on the grounds of the extensive '' Neuer Garten'' on the shores of the ''Heiliger See'' (lake). The palace was commissioned by King ''Friedri ...

in the

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

, where his parents resided until his father acceded to the throne as Emperor Wilhelm II in 1888. He spent his childhood with his siblings at the New Palace, also in

, and his school days with his brothers at the Prinzenhaus in

Plön Plön (; Holsatian: ''Plöön'') is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on ...

in his mother’s ancestral

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

. On 27 February 1906, Prince Eitel married

Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg (german: Sophie Charlotte; 2 February 1879 – 29 March 1964) was a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. She was the only surviving child of Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg by his first ...

(2 February 1879

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

– 29 March 1964

Westerstede Westerstede (; Low German: ''Westerstäe'') is the capital of the Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km northwest of Oldenburg. It is known for hosting the Rhodo Festival, the biggest exhibition o ...

) in Berlin. They were divorced on 20 October 1926 on the grounds of her adultery before the war. They had no children. Raised at the cadet corps of

Plön Castle Plön Castle (german: Plöner Schloss) in Plön is one of the largest castles in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein and the only one located on a hill.

, Prince Eitel was in the front line from the beginning of World War I and was wounded at

Bapaume Bapaume (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of this commune are known as ''Bapalmois'' or ''Bapalmoises''. Geography Bapaume is a far ...

, where he commanded the Prussian First Foot Guards. He temporarily relinquished command to Count Hans

von Blumenthal The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them Je ...

, but returned to duty before the end of the year. The following year, he was transferred to the Eastern Front. During the summer of 1915, he was out in a field in Russia when he had a chance encounter with

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

, who had just crashed with his superior officer, Count Holck. The two men were hiding in a nearby tree line from what they thought was the advancing Russian army and who turned out to be the grenadiers, guardsmen, and officers of Prince Eitel. In 1907, it was reported that Member of the Reichstag Otto Arendt had proposed the elevation of Alsace-Lorraine to a

grand duchy A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was oft ...

within the empire, with Eitel Friedrich as monarch; however, while the Kaiser did express interest, ultimately nothing came of the plan. After the war, he was engaged in

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

circles and ''

Der Stahlhelm ' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...

'' ex-servicemens' organization. In 1921, the Berlin criminal court found him guilty of the fraudulent transfer of 300,000 Marks and sentenced him to a fine of 5000 Marks. From 1907 to 1926, he was Master of the Knights (''Herrenmeister'') of the Order of St. John (''Johanniterorden''). He received the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...

order in 1915. His body is buried at the

Antique Temple The Antique Temple is a small round temple in the west part of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam. Frederick the Great had the building constructed to house his collection of classical works of art, antique artifacts, coins and antique gems. Carl von Go ...

Sanssouci Park Sanssouci Park is a large park surrounding Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Germany, built under Frederick the Great in the mid-1700s. Following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, the surroundings were included in the stru ...

, Potsdam.

Regimental Commissions Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat
(1918), Genealogy p.1

* Hauptmann (captain) and commander of the Leibkompagnie (Life-company), 1. Garderegiment zu Fuß (1st Regiment of Foot Guards) * ''à la suite'', Grenadierregiment König Friedrich Wilhelm IV.(1. Pommersches) Nr. 2 * ''à la suite'', 1. Gardelandwehrregiment (Guard Reserve Regiment) * Hauptmann (captain), Austria-Hungary K.u.K. Infantry Regiment "Wilhelm I., Deutscher Kaiser und König von Preußen" Nr. 34 * Hauptmann (captain), Saxon Army * ''à la suite'', 7. Königsinfanterieregiment (King's Infantry Regiment) Nr. 106 * First Brigade of Imperial Guards, commander, 1914–15

Orders and decorations

;German decorations ;Foreign decorations ;Honours Two ships were named after Prince Eitel, the passenger ship ''Prince Eitel Friedrich'' (1901) and the Reich postal steamer '' Prince Eitel Friedrich'' (1904).

Ancestry

References

Sources