Noble Houses: The quarrels in the family Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Recently I read an article in a German magazine about the noble family
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. It immediately took my attention because
I'm very interested in the former royal families of Germany. See also my
blog page on top of the blog or on this link.

The article mentioned the quarrel in the family about the succession of
the chief of the family Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. After the death of
Prince Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who was married to
Princess Benedikte of Denmark, a succession war broke out in this noble
house.

Author picture: Holger Motzkau

Two candidates wanted to be the head of the family.
1/ Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (the son of Prince Richard);
2/ Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. (nephew of
Prince Richard), who claimed his rights from an old testament dating from
1943.

However it was not this quarrel who took my attention. No, I wanted to 
know more about the family's history. 

Some history

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was one of the imperial counties ruled by the
House of Sayn-Wittgenstein. It was located in the present district of
Siegen-Wittgenstein, which is nowadays located in North Rhine-Westphalia
in Germany. The residence of this noble family was the town and place of
Berleburg (now Bad Berleburg).

Later the imperial city was raised to a principality (Reichsfürstentum).
However in 1792, it was mediatised to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1806
and thereafter in 1816 annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia.

One of the first members of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
was Ludwig I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein. He firstly married to
Anna of Solms-Braunfels from Dillenburg.

 From this man the family was devided in 4 branches:

- Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who was a descendant from
Count Georg (1565-1631).

- Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who was a descendant from
Count Christian Ludwig (1725-1797).

- Counts zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who were descendants from
Count Georg Ernst (1735-1792).

- Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, who was a descendant from
Count Ludwig (1571-1634).

Later the princely title of these families were recognized by the Russian,
Prussian and Bavarian monarchies.

In 1912, Ludwig, 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein , died. The
eldest of his three sons, Prince August (1868-1947) became the 4th Prince of
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. However he was a childless bachelor
and one of his other brothers, Georg, had married morganatically, while the
younger Wilhelm was unmarried.

Prince August adopted Prince Christian Heinrich of the Berleburg line. So,
the family didn't extinct. This Christian Heinrich was the second son of the
later Richard, the 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.

Gustav Albrecht, the eldest son of Richard, the 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-
Berleburg inherited the senior line of his father.  He became the 5th Prince.
This Gustav Albrecht was the father of Richard, the 6th Prince and the husband
of Princess Benedikte of Denmark

Can it be more complicated? Oh, yes!

In November 1960, Christian Heinrich married Princess Dagmar zu Sayn-
Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. She was the elder daughter of his adopted father's
younger brother, Georg. This was no morganic wedding but a dynastic match. It
ensured that their son Bernhard was born in November 1962 according the house
laws. This Bernhard is the current head of the family zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-
Hohenstein.

Links to other countries

Did you know that the mother of Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-
Berleburg was a Countess born in Sweden? She was born on 28 March 1909
as Margaret, Countess Fouché d'Otrante.

Background

According to the German magazines the family of Prince Richard had a lot
of private possessions and businesses. They belonged to the top 500 of the
richest families in Germany.




Source pictures: Wikipedia