Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg
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Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuss of Köstritz (née Duchess of Mecklenburg, born 17 December 1918) is a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Since there are no males left in the family, the house is considered extinct due to the Salic law of succession.
Early life
Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg was born at Rostock, Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 17 December 1918, just after the abdication of her first cousin Frederick Francis IV of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the establishment of the Weimar Republic. Her parents were Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg and Princess Victoria Feodora Reuss of Schleiz. Her father was the seventh son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1823–1883) by his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1850–1922). Her mother Princess Victoria Feodora died a day after her birth.
She is first cousin of:
- Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia (1876–1938) pretender to the Russian throne after the assassination of his cousin Nicholas II of Russia.
- Queen Alexandrine of Denmark (1879–1952), consort of Christian X of Denmark.
- Cecilie, German Crown Princess (1886–1954), wife of William, German Crown Prince.
- Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), queen regnant of the Netherlands.
Juliana's Wedding
Invitation
Preparations for the wedding of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands's only child Crown Princess Juliana to the German Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld were underway in the 1937 when a small diplomatic scandal occurred.
The affair was the result of Wilhelmina's opinion that the wedding be a family affair; consequently, she did not invite foreign royalty unless she was personally familiar with them.[1] As a result, Juliana’s chosen bridesmaids were either her relatives or family friends. These included Woizlawa herself (being first cousins), Duchess Thyra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (her second cousin), Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (her first cousin once removed), Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (her second cousin), and two of Bernhard’s sisters, among others.[1]
Marriage and family
On 15 September 1939 in Bad Doberan Woizlawa married, Prince Heinrich I Reuss of Köstritz elder son of Prince Heinrich XXXIV Reuss of Köstritz.[2] They had six children (one daughter and five sons).[3]
- Princess Feodora Reuss of Köstritz (b. 5 February 1942)
- Prince Heinrich VIII Reuss of Köstritz (b. 30 August 1944)
- Prince Heinrich IX Reuss of Köstritz (b. 30 June 1947)
- Prince Heinrich X Reuss of Köstritz (b. 28 July 1948)
- Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss of Köstritz (b. 4 December 1951)
- Prince Heinrich XV Reuss of Köstritz (b. 9 October 1956)
She is one of the only remaining members of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, after her cousins (twice-removed), Donata and Edwina.
Restitution Claim
In 1935 Woizlawa Feodora's husband has been adopted by one of his relatives, Heinrich XLV, Hereditary Prince Reuss Younger Line (1895–1945), head and last male member of the House of Reuss Younger Line, for inheritance reasons, and after the latter's death in 1945 had become the sole heir of the private assets that had remained in the ownership of the House of Reuss Younger Line after its dethronement in the German Revolution of 1918. In 1945 however, the communist land reform in the Soviet occupation zone (East Germany) expropriated all movable and immovable assets of the House of Reuss. After the German reunification of 1990, the princess, as her husband's heir, claimed for restitution based on the fact that her late husband was of British nationality, as well as German, and should thus legally not have been expropriated under occupation law. Furthermore, a legal restitution claim for movable assets was passed by the Bundestag, leading to vast returns of museum items. In a settlement, the princess also received Thallwitz castle and some forest property, with Waidmannsheil hunting lodge in Saaldorf near Bad Lobenstein.
Ancestry
References
- 1 2 "Bridesmaids of Royal Nuptial Announced With Dinner Dates", The Washington Post (The Hague), 22 December 1936
- ↑ C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy, in 3 volumes (London, U.K.: Garnstone Press, 1973), volume 1, page 344. Hereinafter cited as The Book of Kings.
- ↑ C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings, volume 1, page 345.
External links
- Genealogics - Leo van de Pas Woizlawa Feodora Herzogin von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- thePeerage.com Woizlawa-Feodora Herzogin von Mecklenburg-Schwerin