Royal Profile: Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia

Of all the children of the last German Kaiser, probably none is more controversial than his fourth son Prince August Wilhelm. Today, the few who remember him at all, usually dismiss him as ‘the Nazi’ one among the sons of the Kaiser. As with any person, Prince August Wilhelm was a more complicated individual than such a simplistic dismissal would have one believe. Nonetheless, the decisions he made in the course of his life ended up seeing him alienated from his father and finally from his country as a whole when the political cause he embraced became rather extremely unpopular after 1945. He was born in Potsdam on January 29, 1887, the fourth of what would eventually be the seven children of Kaiser Wilhelm II; six boys and one girl. He grew up at the New Palace in Potsdam, one among many of his siblings. For his education he attended university at Bonn, Berlin and Strasbourg but was not a very exceptional student. Nonetheless, he passed and obtained a doctorate in political science in 1907. In October of the following year he married his cousin Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holsetein-Sonderburg-Gluecksburg in Berlin. Like much of his life, Prince August Wilhelm’s marriage was not a happy one and it was not until 1912 that the Princess gave birth to his one and only son; Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia.

Ironically enough, given his later political image, Prince August Wilhelm was definitely not a part of the right-wing, militaristic faction of German politics. He was not terribly comfortable in the military atmosphere and preferred more peaceful pursuits. His home, Villa Liegnitz, was a place where artists, musicians, intellectuals and the like tended to gather. It was a far cry from, for example, the circle that his eldest brother the Crown Prince moved in, surrounded by cavalry officers and athletic enthusiasts. Whereas most of his brothers found employment in the military, Prince August Wilhelm remained very much in the civilian sphere. When the First World War broke out the Crown Prince took command of the Fifth Army, Prince Eitel Fritz marched to the front as colonel of the First Prussian Foot Guards, Prince Adalbert went to sea with the navy, Prince Oskar commanded a grenadier regiment and Prince Joachim served as a junior officer in another grenadier regiment. Prince August Wilhelm, on the other hand, was the only brother not to serve at the front, having rank only as staff officer in minor roles, but rather was given the post of a district administrator.

During this time rumors began to swirl of an improper relationship between Prince August Wilhelm and his adjutant Hans Georg von Mackensen. According to the gossipmongers this was what drove the marriage of Prince August Wilhelm to ruin. How much of it is true; who can say? The two had been friends since childhood and it would not be the first time that a close friendship was blown out of proportion. On the other hand, accusations of homosexual relationships were not uncommon for that time and place. Similar accusations were made about Prince Joachim and even the Kaiser himself during his youth, which were ridiculous indeed, at least so far as Wilhelm II and his conduct were concerned. As for the failure of the marriage of Prince August Wilhelm, others at the time attributed it simply to being incompatible compounded with the loss of status for the House of Hohenzollern following the German defeat in 1918. Whatever the cause, the timing certainly raises suspicions as Prince August Wilhelm and Princess Alexandra separated as soon as the war was over and, to the disappointment of the Kaiser, divorced in 1920. It is also noteworthy that the Princess remarried within three years but later divorced that husband as well.

After the war, Prince August Wilhelm (or “Auwi” as he was known by his family) at first lived a rather solitary existence in Potsdam. Having been given custody of his son, Prince Alexander Ferdinand, he had few other close friends or regular visitors and employed himself as an artist. The war, or perhaps more the defeat, does seemed to have brought about a new sort of motivation to the life of Prince August Wilhelm. After a time of relatively melancholy isolation he began to get involved in politics and veterans affairs and to associate himself with more militaristic elements who (like most) wished to see the Versailles Treaty drastically readjusted or shaken off entirely and for Germany to rise again as a major power. Toward that end he joined the League of Frontline Soldiers, better known as “Stahlhelm” which was a paramilitary organization that was closely associated with the conservative National People’s Party (which originally had a very strong monarchist element).

As with many members of “Stahlhelm” however, it did not end there and soon many were looking with hope for the future at the rising power of the National Socialist German Workers Party, the NSDAP or Nazis. Eventually, as the Nazis came to dominate the political scene, “Stahlhelm” was absorbed into the SA, the brown-shirted storm troops of the Nazi Party. Although it thoroughly outraged his father, Prince August Wilhelm joined the Nazi Party on April 1, 1930 and because of his status was rewarded with the prestigiously low membership number of 24. At the time, a low membership number was considered impressive as it implied that someone was a “true believer”, a Nazi from the beginning and not someone who joined the party later only to benefit themselves or make life easier. Obviously, this was not the case with Prince August Wilhelm but Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did it because he intended to make use of the Prince as a symbol to win support from the monarchists and more traditional conservatives who might be reassured about the Nazi Party if they were to see one of the sons of their beloved Kaiser wearing the brown shirt. Similar efforts had been made to win the support of the Crown Prince and the Kaiser himself but it was to no avail.

Former flying ace Herman Goering had taken the lead in trying to win over the exiled Kaiser, giving the impression that the Nazis would restore the old German Empire when the time was right. For just a time it seemed as though the tactic might have been working but the Kaiser, a veteran of many political deceptions and intrigues, was not so easily fooled. He held back long enough to determine that the Nazis were not being genuine, were not to be trusted and he firmly showed them the door. As such, he was quite outraged when Prince August Wilhelm defied his wishes and joined the Nazi Party. It alienated the prince from his father and, indeed, from that time on the old Kaiser had practically nothing to do with his fourth son. The Kaiser was thoroughly offended by not only Prince Auwi’s membership in the Nazi Party but his prominent position and willingness to even campaign for them and play the dutiful devotee of the former corporal Adolf Hitler. To have simply been a member of the NSDAP as a private citizen was one thing, to openly campaign for the Nazis, accept rank from them and all the while being addressed as a Prussian prince was something else entirely.

In 1931 Prince Auwi joined the brown shirts, becoming a colonel in the SA and in due course being promoted up to the equivalent of a major general in the organization. He traveled around Germany making speeches, oftentimes alongside Hitler, sometimes introducing him. This was all part of the effort of the Nazis to win the support of traditional conservatives or to at least convince them not to oppose the Nazis in their rise to power. In 1932 he stood as a Nazi Party candidate in elections for the Prussian Landtag and later in 1933 he was given a place in the Prussian government and a seat in the Reichstag. Not everyone in the Nazi hierarchy was happy about the presence of the Prince though. Joseph Goebbels, who came from the very left end of the party, was certainly the least friendly toward royals of any kind and Hitler himself tolerated them only so long as it served his interests to do so. Any hope that Prince Auwi maintained that he or his son might have been elevated to the throne by a victorious Nazi Party were soon dashed. Once Hitler decided he no longer needed the Prince, August Wilhelm was quickly sidelined. By 1934 he was being kept away from Hitler and after the purge of the SA and their being eclipsed by the SS, there was no doubt that Prince August Wilhelm was no longer in favor with the Nazi elites.

How could this have happened, especially given how opposed the Kaiser was to any non-monarchist politics in Germany and given how anti-royalist most of the top Nazis tended to be? The situation is further confused by the fact that Prince Auwi’s sister, Princess Viktoria Luise, maintained that her brother had always opposed the racial policies of the Nazi Party and Prince Auwi himself said that several of his best friends were Jews. If that were true it must be seen as being totally at odds with any hope he might have had of Hitler elevating him to the throne of a restored German Empire. It may, perhaps, have been the result of the fact that Prince August Wilhelm, even before joining the party, already felt somewhat alienated from his family whereas many of his friends had Nazi Party connections. His lifelong friend Hans Georg von Mackensen, for example, was married to the daughter of leading Nazi Konstantin von Neurath. His ex-sister-in-law, Princess Helena (who married into the Danish Royal Family) was a Nazi and the King exiled her and her husband for that after the war. Another sister-in-law, Princess Viktoria Adelaide, was married to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who was also a Nazi Party member. Whatever the case, it would be hard to argue that the Prince had simply been duped or misled as even after Hitler began to snub him, the Prince never left the party and even as late as 1939 was given a promotion to the equivalent of a lieutenant general, the second highest rank, in the by-then largely ceremonial SA.

He carried on as before with the outbreak of World War II but his former political friends soon turned on him. When it became known in 1942 that he had spoken out privately against Dr. Goebbels, Prince Auwi was officially denounced and forbidden to speak publicly again. He fled the approaching Red Army in 1944 with his sister-in-law Crown Princess Cecilie and was later arrested by the United States Army. He was judged to be an ‘unredeemed’ Nazi, was sentenced to time served and released. Another arrest warrant was issued for him from the authorities in East Germany but before anything could be done about it Prince August Wilhelm died in Stuttgart in 1949 at the age of 62. His decisions had caused a great deal of bitter feelings amongst his family, caused his father to practically disown him and finally he was blacklisted even by his former Nazi friends only to have the war end in their defeat and with the ruination of Germany that caused his own people to view him with nothing but contempt. It is certainly not fair that he should be singled out before others that did exactly the same, and there were oh-so many in those days, but the fact remains that no good came from his foray into politics.

MM Video: Kronprinz Wilhelm III

MM Video: Crown Princess Cecilie

Monarch Profile: Kaiser Friedrich III

The sad distinction of having the shortest reign of all the German Emperors goes to Kaiser Friedrich III and yet he is a figure that continues to fascinate many people, wondering how Germany might have developed had he remained longer on the throne of Prussia and the German Empire. He was born Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl of the House of Hohenzollern at the New Palace in Potsdam, Prussia on October 18, 1831 to Prince Wilhelm and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar. At the time Prussia was ruled by his uncle King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. His parents had an often troubled relationship. Wilhelm had wanted to marry a Polish princess but his brother would not allow it and arranged the match with Princess Augusta. A known and opinionated liberal she clashed frequently with her very conservative Prussian husband and their children grew up rather troubled and isolated because of this.

Young Prince Friedrich was given a normal upbringing for a Prussian prince with a great deal of discipline, ‘tough love’ and a focus on the military. However, during these years liberalism was running rampant throughout Europe and even then Friedrich began to take a somewhat sympathetic view of them. It was the liberals who conjured up that thing called German nationalism and who advocated the unification of all the German peoples into a single empire under a constitutional monarchy. In most royal courts “constitution” was still a dirty word but Friedrich was at least sympathetic to the idea of a united Germany and this opened the way to his becoming at least more willing to consider the other liberal ideas they espoused. He was also influenced by his mother who insisted that he be given a more liberal education than was normal for Prussian princes. He grew up to be multi-lingual, speaking German, French and English with at least some knowledge of Latin. He was very athletic, particularly good at gymnastics and showed promise as a soldier. When he was 18 he went to study at the University of Bonn which strengthened his liberal leanings, as did his membership in the Freemason secret society, and rather alarmed the more traditional members of his family, particularly his father who was a very ‘old school’ Prussian royal.

This tension only increased with the search for a wife for Friedrich. His father, being sympathetic toward royal autocracy, favored a Russian bride while his mother looked to the most well established constitutional monarchy of Great Britain. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were anxious to maintain the German ties of the British Royal Family and the Belgian King Leopold I (who had helped arrange the very successful match of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) thought Prince Friedrich would make an ideal husband for the Princess Royal Victoria. Prince Albert was especially enthusiastic, thinking that the marriage of his daughter to the heir to the Prussian throne would be the turning point in making the most powerful German kingdom a model of liberal enlightenment and constitutional monarchy for the other states. Prince Wilhelm conceded at last and on January 25, 1858 Crown Prince Friedrich and Princess Royal Victoria were married at the St James Palace chapel in London (to the consternation of many Prussians who thought the wedding should be in their own country). Despite being an arranged marriage it was a winning match. The two were quite taken with each other from the start and would remain staunchly devoted to each other for the rest of their lives.

If Friedrich was a liberal by Prussian standards his new British bride was positively revolutionary. She did not find much satisfactory about Prussia when she arrived and determined that practically everything needed changing, quickly and drastically. Friedrich, for his part, tended to agree with her but was a little more realistic about the time it would take to effect this transformation. Prussia had struggled to the top of the German-speaking world by absolute royal rule and an incredibly strong army so becoming a moderate, liberal, constitutional monarchy was not a change that could be done quickly or easily. Between 1858 and 1872 Fritz and Vicky (as they were informally known) had eight children of whom the most famous and troublesome to the royal couple would be their firstborn the future Kaiser Wilhelm II.

On January 2, 1861 Friedrich became Crown Prince upon his father’s elevation to the status of King Wilhelm I of Prussia. Although liberal elements were on the ascendant in Prussia the King clashed with the parliament and would not bend to their will. He finally appointed Otto von Bismarck Minister-President and he was able to bring the politicians to heel. Crown Prince Friedrich was frequently at odds with both his father and Bismarck. The more he opposed them, the more they distrusted him and kept him out of state affairs which in turned hardened Friedrich against them. He often escaped Berlin to the more favorable political climate of Great Britain where his ideas were more mainstream. He went into battle for the first time during the war with Denmark in which he performed well. In the subsequent war with Austria he led one of the three main Prussian armies and again proved himself a capable soldier, ensuring victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Koeniggraetz. However, he had no love of warfare and actually sided with his enemy Bismarck against the other Prussian leaders who wanted to continue the war against Austria. Yet, not long after he commanded an army again during the 1870 war with the Second French Empire.

Once again, Crown Prince Friedrich won many laurels and several victories, becoming widely respected among the international community for his humanity toward the French and adored by his soldiers for the care he took of them. The German Empire was achieved, Wilhelm I became German Kaiser and Friedrich became an imperial crown prince. Yet, he remained at odds with his conservative father and increasingly so with his son who had been taken in by Prince Bismarck. Fritz and Vicky were as devoted to each other as ever but often felt quite isolated, which they were, but bided their time for when the Hohenzollern crown would pass to Friedrich and he could make, not only Prussia but now all of Germany, the liberal constitutional monarchy he and his wife envisioned.

However, when the time finally came Friedrich had already been stricken with the throat cancer that was soon to take his life. In 1888 Wilhelm I passed away at the age of 90 and his son became Kaiser Friedrich III but his illness was already so advanced he could not attend most of the festivities honoring the occasion. He bestowed honors on his wife, long unappreciated in his view by the conservative court of his father, and he did work as hard as he could in spite of the fact that he could not speak and all the doctors and all of their efforts proved ultimately useless. As his condition grew even worse Empress Victoria acted as his guardian, doing her best to thwart those who were already rushing to gain the good graces of Wilhelm II in expectation of his rapid elevation. After only 99 days on the throne Kaiser Friedrich III died on June 15, 1888 lamenting what would become of Germany when he was gone.