Countess Nina von Stauffenberg (German: ''Elisabeth Magdalena Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg''; born Elisabeth Magdalena Freiin von Lerchenfeld; 27 August 1913 – 2 April 2006) was the wife of Colonel

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German German Army (1935–1945), army officer who is best known for his 20 July plot, failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf ...

, the leader of the failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944. Following the plot's failure and her husband's execution, she was arrested and imprisoned, during which time she delivered her youngest child.

Early life

Born Elisabeth Magdalena

Freiin (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

von Lerchenfeld in Kowno,

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

(now Kaunas,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

), in 1913, she was known by her nickname "Nina". She was the only child of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n nobleman and politician General Consul Gustav

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

von Lerchenfeld (1871–1944) and his wife, Anna Elfriede Louise

von Stackelberg (1879–1945). Her mother was a Baltic German noblewoman, great-granddaughter of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Johan Mauritz von Hauke, which made Nina a third cousin of

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

Marriage

Nina von Lerchenfeld and Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg were married on 26 September 1933 in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, making Nina the Countess ('' Gräfin'') von Stauffenberg. Count Claus belonged to the House of Stauffenberg, an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

Bavarian noble family. Although Nina's and Claus von Stauffenberg's mothers were both

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s, the couple's children were raised as

Roman Catholics 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 ...

, in accordance with the wishes of Stauffenberg's father. The marriage produced five children: * Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 3 July 1934). * Heimeran Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 9 July 1936 in

, Bavaria – died 20 October 2020 in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

), unmarried and without issue. * Franz-Ludwig Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 4 May 1938). * Valerie Ida Huberta Karoline Anna Maria Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (born 15 November 1940 in Bamberg; died 4 June 1966 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Bavaria of leukemia), married Heino von L'Estocq (born 6 April 1935 in

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

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

) on 4 April 1964. * Konstanze Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (born 27 January 1945 in

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

, Brandenburg), married Dietrich von Schulthess-Rechberg (born 13 October 1937 in

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 ...

) on 8 April 1967.

Arrest

After her husband's failed attempt to assassinate Hitler (he was summarily executed the following evening), the Countess von Stauffenberg was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

and taken into custody under the ancient ''

Sippenhaft ''Sippenhaft'' or ''Sippenhaftung'' (, ''kin liability'') is a German term for the idea that a family or clan shares the responsibility for a crime or act committed by one of its members, justifying collective punishment. As a legal principle, it ...

'' law reinstated by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

government. Her five children were placed in an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

in Bad Sachsa,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, under the surname of Meister. At the time of her husband's death, Stauffenberg was pregnant and gave birth while imprisoned in a Nazi maternity center in

. That same year, her own mother, Anna, died in a Soviet detention camp.

Post-war

By the end of the Second World War, Stauffenberg had been moved to the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

province of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

. There she was held as a hostage in return for the redemption of Nazi property. After the war, she was reunited with her family at the Stauffenberg family seat in Lautlingen,

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 ...

Death

She died in Kirchlauter, near Bamberg, Bavaria, on 2 April 2006 at the age of 92.

Biography

The biography ''Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg – Ein Porträt'' by Konstanze von Schulthess-Rechberg, Stauffenberg's youngest daughter, was published in 2008 (Munich: Pendo Verlag, ).

Notes

# #

References

Sources

* Zeller, Eberhard (1994). ''Oberst Claus Graf Stauffenberg. Ein Lebensbild.'' Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh. . * Steffahn, Harald (2002). ''Stauffenberg''. Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag Reinbek. . * Ueberschär, Gerd R. (2004). ''Stauffenberg. Der 20. Juli 1944.'' Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag. . * Hassel, Fey von, "Niemals sich beugen". dtv. * Meding, Dorothee von (1997). ''Mit dem Mut des Herzens – Die Frauen des 20. Juli''. btb Verlag. .

External links

*
Nina von Stauffenberg
''The Times'', 2006-04-11 (retrieved 2009-07-18). *

, ''Netzzeitung'', 4. April 2006. *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stauffenberg, Ninaschenkgrafinvon 1913 births 2006 deaths German Lutherans Countesses in Germany People of Baltic German descent German people of World War II Protestants in the German Resistance Nazi concentration camp survivors People from Bamberg People from Kaunas Nina Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany