Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (, 27 May 1882 – 25 April 1925) was Prince of

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was one of several imperial counties and later principalities ruled by the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein. Most of the former county is located in the present district of Siegen-Wittgenstein (in the modern state of North ...

from 1904 to 1918.

Life

Prince Richard was born on 27 May 1882 at Berleburg,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, to Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1837–1889) and Baroness Marie von Gemmingen-Hornberg (1855–1946). His father was the younger son of (Friedrich) Albrecht, 2nd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1777–1851), and his wife Countess (Christiane) Charlotte of Ortenburg (1802–1854). Richard had two older sisters, Charlotte (1879–1968) and Hildegard (1880–1973), and a younger brother, Wolfgang (1887–1966), who all married and had issue. On 21 November 1902, at Langenzell, he married Princess Madeleine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, daughter of Prince Alfred of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and Countess Pauline von Reichenbach-Lessonitz. Richard became head of the House of

on the death of his paternal uncle, Albrecht (born 15 March 1834), the 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who died unmarried and childless on 9 November 1904. His title was de-recognized by the Weimar and other German Republics after abolition of the German Empire in 1918 but lawfully retained henceforth as a surname. He died as the result of a traffic accident in

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

on 25 April 1925 at age 42.

Issue

* Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1907-1944, declared dead in 1969 after being

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...

in Russia in 1944) * Prince Christian Heinrich of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1908-1983) – adopted by August, 4th Prince of

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was a county and later principality between Hesse-Darmstadt and Westphalia. History The county with imperial immediacy was formed by the 1657 partition of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein and raised from a county t ...

, who he succeeded as 5th Prince in 1947. Married firstly Countess Beatrix von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1921-2006) in 1945 at Berleburg. They had 4 children and were subsequently divorced in 1951. He married secondly Princess Dagmar of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1919-2002), daughter of his adopted father's younger brother, Prince Georg, in 1960 at Schwarzenau. They had two children. ** Princess Loretta of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 6 June 1946) who has married twice and had 3 children. ** Princess Johanna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 22 October 1948) who has married thrice and had 4 children. ** Hereditary Prince Albrecht of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1950-1953). ** Princess Madeleine of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 17 March 1961) who has married twice and had 2 children. ** Bernhart, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 15 November 1962). * Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1910-1943).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg 1882 births 1925 deaths Princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Members of the Prussian House of Lords Road incident deaths in Germany Pretenders