Figure 2.--Prince Wilhelm-Karl is seen here wearing a dress. He looks to be about 4 years old. He has bangs with longish hair at the side. |
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Prince Wilhelm Karl was the youngest son of Prince Oskar. Prince Oskar morganatically married Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz in 1914, the year World war I broke out. There were three siblings, two brothers and a sister. Prince Wilhelm-Karl was the youngest in the family. We have no information on his childhood at this time. As he was born in 1922, it was after his grandfather had abdigated and the Hohenzollern's were no longer the German ruling family. His childhood was thus very different than his father's childhood. Almost surely as he was 11 years old when the NAZIs seized power and his father was an ardent NAZI, he must have joined the Hitler Youth. As a boy he wore dresses, a fashion that was becoming less common after World War I in the 1920s. He is pictured here about 1927 or 28 wearing a long pants sailor and strap shoes with older sister Princess Herzeleide. I'm not sure what color the strap shoes were, but the look identical to the ones worn by his sister. Many boys who normally wore short pants might have a long pants sailor suit. Actually the long pants suits were common among royal families. The suit looks to be a button-on style and the pants, at least in the legs are cut quite narrow. He wore bangs as a boy, but when he was breeched his hair at the side was cut shorter. Wilhelm-Karl married Armgard von Veltheim in 1952 and they had three children.
Oscar Charles Gutav Adolf Hohenzollern (1888-1973) was a son of Kaiser Wilhelm II. He was given the title of Prince of Prussia. He became an early supporter of the NAZIs.
Prince Oskar morganatically married Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz (1888-1973). Her parents were Count Karl Heinrich von Bassewitz-Levetzow and Countess Margarete Cäcilie von der Schulenburg. Ina-Marie was created Countess of Ruppin. The year of the marraige, 1914, was a fatefull one for German royalty as it was the year World War I broke out.
There were three siblings, two brothers and a sister. Prince Wilhelm-Karl was the youngest in the family.
We have no information on his childhood at this time. As he was born January 30, 1922 at Potsdam, Germany. It was after his grandfather had abdigated and the Hohenzollern's were no longer the German ruling family. His childhood was thus very different than his father's childhood. Almost surely as he was 11 years old when the NAZIs seized power and his father was an ardent NAZI, he must have joined the Hitler Youth.
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As a boy, Wilhelm-Karl like his brothers, wore dresses, a fashion that was becoming less common for boys after World War I in the 1920s. He wears a white dress at about age 4. His dress was different from that of his sister in that it was a "A"-line dress without a waist. His sister also wore a white dress, but it had a definite low waist, presumably with a bow in back. I'm not sure when he was breeched, but he looks to still be wearing dresses at age 4 years. He is pictured here about 1927 or 28 wearing a long pants sailor and strap shoes with older sister Princess Herzeleide (figure 2). He had both long pants and short pants sailor suits. We are not sure what color the strap shoes were, but the look identical to the ones worn by his sister. They do not look black. Many boys who normally wore short pants might have a long pants sailor suit. We are not sure what determined whether he woire long or short ontsxwith hith his sailor suits. Actually the long pants suits were common among royal families. The suit looks to be a button-on style and the pants, at least in the legs are cut quite narrow. This may have been axparty outfit. He wore bangs as a boy, but when he was breeched his hair at the side was cut shorter. Note that his sister wears ringlets and a hair bow.
Wilhelm-Karl received the title of the Count von Ruppin.
Wilhelm-Karl was 10-years old when Hitler and the NAZIs seized power. As the son of a prominant right-wing supporter and eventually NAZI-supporter, presumbly he joined the Hitler Youth (HJ). We have no information yet, however, on his involvement as a boy with the HJ.
Wilhelm-Karl's older brother, Oskar, was killed during the fighting in Poland at the beginning of the War (September 1939). His cousin Wilhelm was wounded in France (June 1940) and died. The outpouring of grief for the two princes caused Hitler to ban Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs, with a few exceptions from serving in the military. This Wilhelm-Karl, although of military age, did not serve in the War. After the War, Wilhelm-Karl wrote a book about the July Bomb Plot to kill Hitler. Several participants werecmembers of the Johanniterorden.
Wilhelm-Karl joined he Protestant Bailiwick of the Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem--the Johanniterorden) (1944). This was a fratenal/charitable organization. His father who had been an early NAZI supporter,
managed to keep it out of NAZI hands. The NAZIs made a major effort to take over and centralize welfare organizations. These organizations before the NAZIs were largely church groups. Wilhelm-Karl succeeded his father as head of the group. He served as the thirty-sixth Herrenmeister ("Master of the Knights") of the Order (1958-99). He worked to keep the Order intact during the Cold War. He worked to reunite its membership after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989).
Wilhelm-Karl married Armgard von Veltheim (1926- ). Armgard was born in Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Her parents were Freidrich Bertram Hans and Ottonie Luise Sophie von Alvensleben. The marriage was a civil ceremony on March 1, 1952 at Destedt, near Brunswick, Germany.
There were three children: Prince Donata Victoria Ina Maria (1952- ), Prince Wilhelm Karl Oskar F. (1955- ), and Prince Oskar Michael Hans Karl (1959- ).
Hophenzollern, Wilhelm-Karl and Gen-Lt Bernd frhr Freytag von Loringhoven. Johanniter and the July 20, 1944 Plot (1989).
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