Karin, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Karin Elisabeth Henriette Lori Gudela, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (née von Schaper born 31 January 1920) is a member by marriage of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is the widow of Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Early life

Karin Elisabeth von Schaper was born at Breslau, Province of Lower Silesia, Weimar Republic (now Wrocław, Poland) on 31 January 1920. She was the only daughter of Dr. Walter von Schaper and Baroness Louise von Münchhausen.

Marriage and family

On 11 June 1941 in Schwerin Karin Elisabeth married, Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin eldest son of Frederick Francis IV the last reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.^[1] They divorced on 22 September 1967 but remarried a decade later in Glücksburg on 27 April 1977.^[2] They had no children.

As being a member by marriage of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her nieces Donata and Edwina are the only remaining senior members of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the other being Duchess Woizlawa Feodora, only daughter of Duke Adolf Friedrich and granddaughter of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On the death of her husband in 2001, the Mecklenburg-Schwerin male line became extinct.

Titles and styles

• Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1945–1967), (1977–present)

Ancestry

References

1. ^ C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy, in 3 volumes (London, U.K.: Garnstone Press, 1973), volume 1, page 417. Hereinafter cited as The Book of Kings.
2. ^ L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI : Bade-Mecklembourg. pp. 253. 

• Genealogics - Leo van de Pas Karin-Elisabeth von Schaper
• thePeerage.com Karin Elisabeth Henriette Lori Gudela von Schaper