Figure 1.---The children here are Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, his brother Christian Ludwig born 1912. We believe that they are with with their cousins Ernst August of Hannover (their father was Duke of Brunswick) and his brother Georg. The portrait is undated, but looks like it was taken just after the War about 1920-21. We are not sure just where the beach was. One might guess somewhere along the Baltic coast. Mecklenburg is located along the Baltic Sea.

Friedrich Franz was born in 1910. We have no information on his childhood at this time. we notice that Friedrich Franz and his little brother Christian spent time with his Hannovarian cousins, nephews of their mother. We note the Mecklenburg princes at the beach together after the War. We notice the boys wearing a variety of clothes, including tunics, sailor suits, and Lederhosen. The princes were commonly dressed in identical outfits. Family portraits show him wearing tunic suits with kneepants as a younger boy (figure 1). The boys were still quite young when as a result of World War I, the Mecklenburg ducal dynasty fell from power. with the creation of the Weimar Republic.

Created: 9:05 PM 6/27/2011
Last updated: 2:53 AM 6/28/2011