Wilhelm Albert, Duke of Urach
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Prince Wilhelm Albert Raphael Maria of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 5th Duke of Urach (german: Wilhelm Albert Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg, 5. Herzog von Urach; born on 9 August 1957), is the head of the
morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...
Urach branch of the
dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
which reigned as
kings of Württemberg Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh' ...
in Germany until 1918.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 435, 438, 443. 445. French. He was also the fourth successor to the defunct Lithuanian throne until his
morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...
, following which the Lithuanian royal pretension was passed on to his youngest brother, Prince Inigo.


Life

Prince Wilhelm Albert was born at Hohenberg Castle near
Seeshaupt Seeshaupt is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany. Gallery File:Carl Spitzweg 002.jpg, ''Ankunft in Seeshaupt'', by Carl Spitzweg Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German roma ...
,
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, the son of Prince Eberhard of Urach and Princess Iniga of Thurn and Taxis.Willis, Daniel A., ''The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain'', Clearfield Company, 2002, p. 73. He is the grandson and heir of Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach, who was offered the throne of Lithuania in anticipation of its conversion to an independent post-World War I kingdom, but he declined the crown in November 1919,de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. ''Le Petit Gotha''. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 158-163 (French) as the prospect of a
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
monarchy lost momentum. In October 1924 Duke Wilhelm also renounced
his claim His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...
to the throne of Monaco. The Urachs' ducal and princely titles ceased being insignia of rank when the German Empire fell and the republican regime which succeeded it decreed in 1919 that hereditary titles would henceforth simply be treated as surnames, carrying no legal privileges. Urach had, in fact, been a dukedom in name only, to which no territorial duchy had been attached. Prince Wilhelm Albert succeeded his brother Karl Anselm as titular
Duke of Urach The title of Duke of Urach (German: ''Herzog von Urach'') was created in the Kingdom of Württemberg on 28 March 1867 for Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand, Count of Württemberg, with the style of Serene Highness. The first Duke of Urach was ...
when the latter renounced the headship of the family at
Niederaichbach Niederaichbach is a municipality in the district of Landshut in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...
on 9 February 1991, upon the occasion of his marriage to a commoner. He is described as an
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
who lives at Ossenberg Castle near
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
. He and his family also remain in possession of the House of Urach's historical
family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families ...
, Lichtenstein Castle, south of Stuttgart, which is open to the public.


Marriage and issue

Prince Wilhelm Albert's marriage with Karen von Brauchitsch-Berghe von Trips (who was born in Rimburg Castle on 24 September 1959 to Konrad von Brauchitsch, member of a noble family of
Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
known since the 12th century, and wife Mariette Hermans, and who had been adopted in 1988 by her first cousin twice removed Count Clemens Berghe von Trips, inheriting Ossenberg Castle) was celebrated religiously at Rimburg in Limburg on 1 February 1992, the couple having been wed civilly on 23 December 1991 at
Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, an ...
in Wessel. They have one son and two daughters: * Prince ''Karl Philipp'' Amedee Konrad Maria of Urach (b. 6 July 1990) * Princess Alexandra-Charlotte of Urach (b. 18 February 1992) * Princess Louisa Antonia Gabriele Elisabeth of Urach (b. 12 February 1994) The marriage produced a minor dispute as to whether it, like that of his elder brother, was also morganatic. This due to the fact that Karen von Brauchitsch-Berghe von Trips did not meet . As such, the next in line would be his younger brother Inigo who married Baroness Daniela von und zu Bodman. Wilhelm Albert remained unconvinced


Ancestry


Notes


References


The Peerage website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm Albert of Urach, Prince 1957 births Living people Dukes of Urach German Roman Catholics Lithuanian people of German descent People from Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Princes of Urach