You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (September 2012)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Michael | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach | |||||
Tenure | 14 October 1988 – present | ||||
Predecessor | Hereditary Grand Duke Charles Augustus | ||||
Heir presumptive | Prince Wilhelm Ernst | ||||
Born | Bamberg, Germany | 15 November 1946||||
Spouses | Renate Henkel (div.) Dagmar Hennings | ||||
Issue | 1 | ||||
| |||||
House | Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach | ||||
Father | Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach | ||||
Mother | Baroness Elisabeth von Wangenheim-Winterstein | ||||
Religion | Lutheranism |
Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach [1] (German : Michael Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach; born 15 November 1946) is the current head of the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, as well as the most senior agnate of the entire House of Wettin. [2]
Prince Michael was born in Bamberg, Bavaria, the only son of Hereditary Grand Duke Charles Augustus of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Baroness Elisabeth von Wangenheim-Winterstein (1912–2010). [3] Among his godparents were Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia imposter, Anna Anderson, who was living with his aunt Princess Luise of Saxe-Meiningen. [4]
When his father died on 14 October 1988, Prince Michael succeeded him as Head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. On 13 February 1991, he inherited the leadership in the House of Saxe-Altenburg,[ citation needed ] as that line became extinct, and since 23 July 2012 he regards the Albertine royal Saxon line to be extinct. [5] However, Prince Michael has also stated that he "[does not] believe in historical carnival" and that "Germany should have done it like Austria long ago and abolished all titles." [6]
In 2004, he withdrew his claim for restitution of numerous properties, archives (partly including those of Schiller and Goethe) as well as priceless artwork in a settlement with the Free State of Thuringia and acquired some forest estates in exchange. [7]
Since Prince Michael has no sons, the current heir to the headship of the grand ducal house is his elder (by age) first cousin, Prince Wilhelm Ernst (b. 10 August 1946), whose only son Prince Georg-Constantin (13 April 1977 – 9 June 2018), a banker who was married but without issue, was killed in a horse riding accident on 9 June 2018 while riding with Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten. [8] Therefore, the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach will most likely become extinct in the male line.
Prince Michael married Renate Henkel (b. Heidelberg, 17 September 1947), daughter of industrialist Konrad Henkel and wife Jutta von Hülsen and sister of Christoph Henkel, in a civil ceremony on 9 June 1970 at Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, and religiously on 4 July 1970 at Linnep bei Breitscheid. [3] The marriage was childless and dissolved by divorce at Düsseldorf on 9 March 1974.
He was married secondly to Dagmar Hennings (b. Niederpöcking, Upper Bavaria, 24 June 1948), daughter of Heinrich Hennings and wife Margarethe Schacht, in London on 15 November 1980. They have one daughter.
Ancestors of Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The House of Wettin was a dynasty which included Saxon kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.
Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the son and heir apparent of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He died aged 24 under circumstances still not entirely clear. He was a first cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of the United Kingdom and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
The Ernestine duchies, also known as the Saxon duchies, were a group of small states whose number varied, which were largely located in the present-day German state of Thuringia and governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.
Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, was the reigning Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen, Duke of Saxony was a German soldier and member of the Ducal House of Saxe-Meiningen.
Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg, was a member of the ducal house of Saxe-Altenburg. He was the father of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.
Charles Alexander was the ruler of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach as its grand duke from 1853 until his death.
Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, was a German prince and head of the grand ducal house of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, was a duke of Saxe-Weimar and, from 1741, of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Frederick Francis IV was the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He inherited the throne when he was fifteen years old in 1897 and was forced to renounce it in 1918.
Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a German prince and Hereditary Grand Duke (Erbgroßherzog) of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau is a chivalric order shared by the two branches of the House of Nassau.
Prince Arnulf of Bavaria was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a General of Infantry.
Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a member of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. He was heir to his relative William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach until 1909, when he was disinherited of his royal status. From that point onwards, Hermann was commonly referred to with the lesser style, Graf von Ostheim.
Baroness Elisabeth of Wangenheim-Winterstein was the wife of Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and the mother of Prince Michael, current head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Hermann George Bernard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Duke of Saxony, and a general in the Württemberger army.
Eleonore Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Köthen was a princess of Anhalt-Köthen by births and by marriage successively Princess of Saxe-Merseburg and Duchess of Saxe-Weimar.
Prince Wilhelm Karl Bernhard Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a member of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
The House Order of the Wendish Crown is a dynastic order that was jointly instituted on 12 May 1864 by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. It is the oldest and most senior order of the House of Mecklenburg.
Emil Friedrich Franz Maximilian Graf von Schlitz genannt von Görtz was a German sculptor, Hessian nobleman, cultural policymaker and confidant of Kaiser Wilhelm II.