Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg (;

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

s: ''Georg Borwin Friedrich Franz Karl Stephan Konrad Hubertus Maria''; born 10 June 1956), has been the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz since 1996 and of the entire

House of Mecklenburg The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Polabian Slavs, Polabian origin that ruled German revolution, until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana o ...

since 2001. The death of Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – his godfather – the last male member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 31 July 2001 made Strelitz the only remaining line of the House of Mecklenburg, which ruled in Mecklenburg until 1918. Borwin, his sons, Alexander and Michael, and his grandson, Leopold, are the only known surviving legitimate male-line descendants of the medieval princely dynasty descended from

Niklot Niklot or Nyklot (died August 1160) was a tribal chief, chief or prince of the Slavic peoples, Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. He became chief of the Obotrite confederacy, including the Kissini and the Circipani, bet ...

of the Obotrites, which has included Albert, King of Sweden.

Education and career

Duke Borwin of Mecklenburg was born in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

the youngest child and only son of Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg and his wife

Archduchess Ilona of Austria Archduchess Ilona of Austria (; 20 April 1927 – 12 January 2011) was a member of the Palatine (Kingdom of Hungary), Hungarian Palatine branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. She was married and later divorced from the late head of the House of ...

(1927–2011) the daughter of Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria and Princess Anna of Saxony. He is an

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendant of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and through his mother a descendant of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. Duke Borwin became the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to headship of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on 6 July 1963 when his grandfather died and his father succeeded as head of the house. Borwin has studied

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute and served as an officer in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

. He has also managed a Swiss drinks company. In politics, Duke Borwin is a former local party chairman for the Christian Democratic Union in the village of Hinterzarten in the

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald () is a (district) in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Fifty towns and municipalities with 133 settlements lie within the district. The district itself belongs to the region of Freiburg with the region of Sou ...

district of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, leaving his post in May 2009.

Head of the house

In 1928 his grandfather George was adopted by his uncle and the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Duke Charles Michael. His grandfather subsequently assumed the title of Duke of Mecklenburg with the style

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style (manner of address), style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Until 1918, it was also associated with the p ...

which was confirmed on 18 July 1929 by the head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich and then recognised on 23 December by the former Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On 18 December 1950, Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin confirmed the ducal title and also granted the style ''Highness'', which in conjunction with the title, is the style enjoyed by dynastic members of the House of Mecklenburg. His grandfather was also confirmed as head of the house. Duke Borwin succeeded as head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz following his father's death on 26 January 1996. With the death of Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Franz on the 31 July 2001, the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin has become extinct in the

male line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

leaving Mecklenburg-Strelitz as the only surviving branch of the grand ducal house. Duke Borwin is the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

and protector of the Order of the Griffon which was revived in September 1984. The order was founded by Grand Duke Frederick Francis III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 15 September 1884. He has also served on the

Almanach de Gotha The ''Almanach de Gotha'' () is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published in 1763 by C. W. Ettinger in ...

's Comité de Patronage. In 2005 Duke Borwin along with the head of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (born 10 June 1976, as ''Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen'') is a German heir who is the current head of the Prussian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling dynasty of the German Em ...

attended the seasonal opening of Hohenzieritz Castle in

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

. It was the castle where

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie; 10 March 1776 – 19 July 1810) was Queen of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III. The couple's happy, though short-lived, marriage produced nine children, inclu ...

, who married

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...

and became Queen of Prussia, died in 1810.

Marriage and children

Duke Borwin married Alice Marianne Wagner (born 2 August 1959 in Hinterzarten,

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

), daughter of Dr. Jürgen-Detlev Wagner (28 January 1918,

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

, 18 August 1918 - ?) and wife Marianne Biehl (3 February 1930 – Hinterzarten, 26 April 2008) in a civil marriage on 24 December 1985 in Hinterzarten followed by a religious ceremony on 19 July 1986 also in Hinterzarten. They have three children. * Duchess Helene ''Olga'' Feodora Donata Maria Katharina Theresia of Mecklenburg (born 13 October 1988 in Freiburg im Breisgau) * Duke Georg ''Alexander'' Michael Heinrich Ernst Franz Ferdinand Maria of Mecklenburg (born 17 July 1991 in Freiburg im Breisgau). Married civilly in Mirow Palace, on 17 June 2022 and religiously in

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

on 17 September 2022 to Hande Macit, born in Tarsus, on 16 September 1992, only daughter of Suphi Macit and wife Cemile Uçar. The couple is based in the Netherlands where they run a business together with her brother. They have one son: ** Duke Georg ''Leopold'' Borwin of Mecklenburg (born 23 September 2023 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

). * Duke Carl ''Michael'' Borwin Georg Friedrich Franz Hubertus Maria of Mecklenburg (born 30 January 1994 in Freiburg im Breisgau)

Honours

National dynastic honours

: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the House Order of the Wendish Crown *

: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Griffon

Foreign dynastic honours

* Montenegrin Royal Family: Knight of the Royal Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje * Montenegrin Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Prince Danilo I, Special Class

Ranks

* : Member of the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent

, Prince of the

Obotrites The Obotrites (, ''Abodritorum'', ''Abodritos'') or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany (see Polabian Slavs). For ...

and Lord of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

, 1090–1160 #

Pribislav of Mecklenburg Pribislav, ''Przibislaus'' (from Slavic ''пробивающая слава'', "pribi" – ''pierced, breaking'' or "more, much more" and "slav" - ''glory'') is a Slavic origin name. Its feminine form is Pribislava. Notable bearers of the name i ...

, Prince of the Obotrites and Lord of Mecklenburg, d. 1178 # Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg, d. 1227 # Henry Borwin II, Lord of Mecklenburg, 1170–1226 # John I, Lord of Mecklenburg, 1211–1264 # Henry I, Lord of Mecklenburg, 1230–1302 # Henry II, Lord of Mecklenburg, 1266–1329 # Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg, 1318–1379 # Magnus I, Duke of Mecklenburg, 1345–1384 (younger brother of Albert III, Duke of Mecklenburg, Albert, King of Sweden) # John IV, Duke of Mecklenburg, 1370–1422 # Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg, 1417–1477 # Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow, 1441–1503 # Albert VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow, 1486–1547 # John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow, 1525–1576 # John VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 1558–1592 #

Adolphus Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Adolf Frederick I (; 15 December 1588 – 27 February 1658) was the reigning Duke of Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin from his father's death in 1592 until 1628 and again from 1631 to 1658. Between 1634 and 1648 Adolf Frederick ...

, 1588–1658 # Adolphus Frederick II, 1st Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1658–1708 # Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1708–1752 # Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1741–1816 # George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1779–1860 # Duke George Augustus of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1824–1876 # Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1859–1909 # George, Duke of Mecklenburg, 1899–1963 # George Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, 1921–1996 #Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg, b. 1956

References

External links

The Order of the Griffin

House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borwin Of Mecklenburg, Duke 1956 births Living people House of Mecklenburg House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Hereditary grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Hereditary grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Pretenders to the Mecklenburg thrones People from Freiburg im Breisgau German people of Austrian descent German people of Russian descent German people of Italian descent German people of Portuguese descent Military personnel from Freiburg im Breisgau