Hermine Reuss of Greiz

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Hermine Reuss of Greiz
Born(1887-12-17)17 December 1887
Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz, German Empire
Died7 August 1947(1947-08-07) (aged 59)
Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany
Burial15 August 1947
Antique Temple, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam
Spouse
Prince Johann of Schönaich-Carolath
​
​
(m. 1907; died 1920)​
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
​
​
(m. 1922; died 1941)​
Issue
  • Prince Hans Georg of Schönaich-Carolath
  • Prince Georg Wilhelm of Schönaich-Carolath
  • Princess Hermine Caroline of Schönaich-Carolath
  • Prince Ferdinand Johann of Schönaich-Carolath
  • Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath
Reuss Elder Line
FatherHeinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz
MotherPrincess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe

Hermine Reuss of Greiz (German: Hermine, Prinzessin Reuß zu Greiz;

Hohenzollern dynasty
.

Early life

Hermine (left) and her sisters, 1903

Princess Hermine was born in

Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Her father was the ruler of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, a state of the German Empire, in what is present-day Thuringia. Princess Hermine's disabled elder brother became Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss of Greiz
in 1902.

First marriage

Princess Hermine was married on 7 January 1907 in Greiz to Prince Johann George Ludwig Ferdinand August of Schönaich-Carolath (11 September 1873 – 7 April 1920).

They were the parents of five children:

Marriage to ex-Emperor Wilhelm II

Hermine with Wilhelm II and her daughter Henriette in Doorn, 1931

In January 1922, a son of Princess Hermine sent birthday wishes to the exiled German Emperor Wilhelm II, who then invited the boy and his mother to Huis Doorn. Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive, and greatly enjoyed her company. The two had much in common, both being recently widowed: Hermine just over a year and a half before and Wilhelm only nine months prior.

By early 1922, Wilhelm was determined to marry Hermine. Despite grumblings from Wilhelm's monarchist supporters and the objections of his children, 63-year-old Wilhelm and 34-year-old Hermine married on 5 November 1922 in

King George II of Great Britain
.

In 1927, Hermine wrote An Empress in Exile: My Days in Doorn, an account of her life until then. She cared for the property management of Huis Doorn and by establishing her own relief organization, she stayed in contact with monarchist and nationalist circles in the

anti-Semitism.[5]
She remained a constant companion to the aging emperor until his death in 1941. They had no children.

Later life

Following the death of Wilhelm, Hermine returned to Germany to live on her first husband's estate in

Soviet occupation zone, and later imprisoned in the Paulinenhof Internment Camp.[citation needed] On 7 August 1947, aged 59, she died of a heart attack in a small flat in Frankfurt an der Oder[6] while under guard by the Red Army occupation forces. She was buried in the Antique Temple of Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, in what would become East Germany. Some years earlier, it was the resting place of several other members of the Imperial family, including Wilhelm's first wife, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein
.

Dramatic representation

In 2017,

Kaiser Wilhelm II
.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-220-66222-3
  2. ^ a b "Almanach de Gotha", Russie, (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1944), pp. 90, 97, (French).
  3. ISBN 9781107544192
    .
  4. ^ Röhl pp1211-3
  5. ISBN 978-0191008672
    .
  6. ^ Bloks, Moniek (19 December 2019). "Hermine Reuss of Greiz – An Empress in Exile (Part two)". History of Royal Women. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hermine Reuss of Greiz.


Hermine Reuss of Greiz
House of Reuss
Born: 17 December 1887 Died: 7 August 1947
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