Prince Konstantin of Bavaria

Prince Konstantin
Born (1920-08-15)15 August 1920
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Died 30 July 1969(1969-07-30) (aged 48)
plane crash near Hechingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Burial Andechs Abbey cemetery, Andechs, Bavaria
Spouse Princess Maria Adelgunde of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
(m. 1942; div. 1948)
Countess Helene von Khevenhüller-Metsch
(m. 1953; his death 1969)
Issue Prince Leopold
Prince Adalbert
Princess Ysabel
House Wittelsbach
Father Prince Adalbert of Bavaria
Mother Countess Auguste von Seefried auf Buttenheim

Prince Konstantin of Bavaria (German: Konstantin Leopold Ludwig Adalbert Georg Thadeus Josef Petrus Johannes Antonius Franz von Assisi Assumption et omnes sancti Prinz von Bayern) (15 August 1920 – 30 July 1969) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach, journalist, author and a German politician.

Early life

Konstantin was born in Munich, Bavaria. He was the eldest son of Prince Adalbert of Bavaria and his wife Countess Auguste von Seefried auf Buttenheim.

In 1939, as most young German men of his age, the Prince was drafted to the military. However, his career in the German Army was short lived. In 1941, Prince Konstantin was relieved from all combat duties as a result of the so called Prinzenerlass and a year later started studying law at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg im Breisgau. After his graduation in 1944, he worked at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, but was arrested, as were most of his relatives, after the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remained imprisoned for the rest of World War II.

Post World War II

After the war Prince Konstantin began working as a journalist at the Neu Revue magazine,Süddeutsche Zeitung and later on for the popular German magazine Bunte. In addition, in 1958 he published a biography of Pope Pius XII entitled Der Papst and three years later a historical reference book Ohne Macht und Herrlichkeit. He also became a member of the Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern, one of the biggest political parties in Bavaria and was elected to the Bavarian state parliament in 1962 and in 1965 to the Bundestag.

Marriage

On 26 August 1942 Prince Konstantin married Princess Maria Adelgunde of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the daughter of Prince Friedrich von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony. The wedding in Sigmaringen has been described as "the biggest society event during the war" (i.e. World War II). According to a contemporary, "a score of photographers and newsreel cameramen" were present at the procession from the castle.[1]

The couple had two sons, but the marriage ended in divorce on 14 July 1948 and was annulled on 24 March 1950.

On 14 August 1953 Prince Konstantin married again, Countess Helene (Hella) von Khevenhüller-Metsch, the daughter of Count Franz von Khevenhüller-Metsch and Princess Anna von Fürstenberg. The civil ceremony took place at Sankt Georgen am Längsee in Carinthia and the religious wedding followed a day later at Hohenosterwitz. The couple had a daughter together.

Death

Prince Konstantin of Bavaria lost his life on 30 July 1969 in a plane crash near Hechingen, Baden-Württemberg and is buried at the Andechs Abbey cemetery in Bavaria.

Ancestry

Published works

References

  1. ↑ "The biggest society event during the war was the marriage of Princess Maria-Adelgunde of Hohenzollern to Prince Konstantin of Bavaria, which took place at Sigmaringen Castle on 31 August 1942. According to the description by Marie Vassiltchikov, it was an extraordinarily feudal event in which the local officials of the regime were kept in their proper place: '[...] the procession [...] wound its way out of the castle [...] The whole neighbourhood seemed to line the streets to watch, as had [sic] a score of photographers and newsreel cameramen...'"
    Burleigh, Michael (1996). Confronting the Nazi past: new debates on modern German history. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 63f. ISBN 978-0-312-16353-2.
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