Friedrich Franz von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst (full

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

name: ''Friedrich Franz Augustin Maria Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst''; 15 February 1879 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

– 24 May 1958 in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) was an Austrian prince who served as a military attache in Saint Petersburg. Later he was chief of German propaganda and director of German espionage in Switzerland. He also served with his regiment on the Russian front. He was married from 1914 to 1920 to Stephany Julienne Richter, a commoner who became a princess by marriage. In December 1920, he married Countess Emanuela Batthyány von Német-Ujvár of Hungary. They had no children. They moved to Brazil during or after the war, and lived the remainder of their lives there. Princess Stephanie continued to use the title after they divorced. She was suspected as a spy for the German government, and operated in Europe and Britain during the late 1920s and 1930s. This was confirmed in 2005 by the release of previously secret

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

and

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

files. Fleeing Britain in 1939 when war was declared, she spent the war years in the United States. She was arrested in 1941 when the US entered the war, and was interned from 1941 to 1945 as an

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any alien native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secur ...

Early life and marriage

He was the son of Chlodwig Karl Joseph Maria Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst and Maria Franziska Anna Theresia Hedwig Countess Esterházy of Galántha. Educated as part of the aristocracy, Prince Friedrich was appointed military attache at the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Embassy in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, then the Russian capital. According to

files released in 2005, during the First

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

Prince Friedrich became involved in spying as chief of

propaganda and director of German espionage in Switzerland. There he became involved with Stephanie Richter, a young Austrian woman from Vienna, who was beautiful and charming, and Jewish by birth (her mother). Stephanie, then 23 although claiming to be 17, soon told him she was pregnant, but not that it was by another man. The royal family could not risk a scandal, and, with the impending birth, the marriage could not be long delayed. They arranged for the couple to marry quietly in London. The wedding was held on 12 May 1914 in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

. Richter was reasonably well off and settled the prince's not inconsiderable gambling debts. She also helped to maintain their lifestyle. On 5 December 1914, her son, named Franz Josef von Hohenlohe, was born in Vienna. His full name was Franz Josef Rudolf Hans Weriand Max Stefan Anton von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst. Stephanie and her family returned to

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. ...

. Her husband joined his regiment. Using her contacts, Princess Stephanie arranged to be posted to the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n front, where she worked in a field hospital at Lemberg, which had just been recaptured from the Russians. Two years after the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the shot-gun marriage ended. On 20 July 1920 Prince Friedrich's divorce was formalised in

. Later that year Prince Frederick married Countess Emanuela Batthyány von Német-Ujvár of Hungary. They had no children.Martha Schad, op. cit., s. 20 His former wife always referred to herself as Princess Stephanie. She was suspected by French, British and American intelligence of being a spy for the German government during the 1930s, after developing close relationships with the Nazi elite, despite her Jewish birth. From 1932 she lived in London. She became involved with powerful and influential men, such as the Anglo-Irish

Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (26 April 1868 – 26 November 1940), was a leading British newspaper proprietor who owned Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is best known, like his brother Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Northcl ...

, (1868–1940), who ran influential newspapers in London and promoted support for Germany. Princess Stephanie fled England after war was declared, joining a former lover in the United States. After the attack at Pearl Harbor and US entry into the war, she was arrested by the FBI and interned as an

, being paroled in May 1945. She returned to Germany and established new influential relationships. She died in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1972 and is buried there.

Family and death

Friedrich Franz Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst usually went by his middle name of Franz. He had four siblings, two brothers and two sisters. His elder brother Nikolaus Moritz Aloys Hubertus Maria zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst (1877–1948) was the head of the family. Prince Friedrich and his second wife had no children. They moved to

in the closing days of World War II. He died there on 24 May 1958, and his wife also died in Brazil.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* Jim Wilson: ''Nazi Princess. Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe'', The History Press, 2011, *Martha Schad, ''Hitler's Spy Princess: The Extraordinary Life of Princess Stephanie Von Hohenlohe'' (translated by Angus McGeoch), Haynes, 2004. (first published in German as ''Hitlers Spionin: das Leben der Stephanie von Hohenlohe'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Franz von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfurst, Prince 1879 births 1958 deaths House of Hohenlohe Austrian princes