Luxarazzi 101: Prince Karl Alfred of Liechtenstein

We asked, you answered, we listened. Let's have a look at the life of one of the lesser known historical members of the Princely Family: Prince Karl Alfred, younger brother of Prince Franz Josef II and thus uncle of Prince Hans-Adam II. Karl Alfred Maria Johannes Baptista Heinrich Aloys Georg Hartmann Ignatius Benediktus Franz Joseph Rochus, as was his full name, was born on August 16, 1910, as the third child of Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and his wife née Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria.

Photo: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

He was born at Schloss Frauenthal in Styria when Austria was still a monarchy. Prince Karl Alfred spent much of his childhood and youth at his father's estate Gross Ullersdorf in Moravia, today known as Velké Losiny. Attending local schools, he received his Matura higher school certificate in 1928 at Mährisch Schönberg (Šumperk). Afterwards, he moved to Vienna where the prince attended the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences graduating with a Diplom-Ingenieur diploma, comparable to the Master of Engineering, in forestry.

While his elder brother Franz Josef turned his focus on Liechtenstein, Karl Alfred returned to their father's estate in Gross Ullersdorf, managing it between 1935 and 1946, when it was lost. Karl Alfred was also responsible for the princely forestries, sawmills and commercial operations in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Austria.

On February 17, 1949, Prince Karl Alfred married Archduchess Agnes of Austria, daughter of Archduke Hubert Salvator of the Tuscan branch of the Habsburg family and his wife Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm, at the bride's home, Schloss Persenbeug. 18 years his junior, she was the great-granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth. The couple had seven children: Dominik, Andreas, Gregor, Alexandra, Maria-Pia, Katharina and Birgitta. Their daughter Princess Maria-Pia is occasionally featured on this blog as she serves as Liechtenstein's ambassador to Austria and the Czech Republic.

Photo: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

Between 1946 and 1971, Prince Karl Alfred was responsible for the redevelopment of the princely forestries in Austria after the Second World War. During the 1970's, Prince Hans-Adam II took over the management. Karl Alfred played a major role in the development of the Sparbach nature park as well as a chipboard enterprise in Kalwang. Already in 1946, he had founded a wood and veneer trading company together with his brothers, which he became the sole owner of in 1969. That same year, his oldest son Dominik became the manager of the company.

As the younger brother of the Fürst, Prince Karl Alfred also played a political role. He represented Liechtenstein's interests against Czechoslovak and Soviet authorities as well as during negotiations about a double taxation agreement between the Principality and the Republic of Austria. He also was a member of different boards of director for various companies including the Bank in Liechtenstein, Presta and Finanzkontor Etablissement.

Prince Karl Alfred, who held the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Austria as well as the Grand Cross With Diamonds of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein, died on November 17, 1985 at Hainburg, Lower Austria. He was laid to rest at the cemetery of the Kahlenbergerdorf parish church on the outskirts of Vienna. He was outlived by his wife Agnes for 22 years.

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Prince Félix in Nice for Rally Start

Photo: Château les Crostes

On March 19, Prince Félix was in Nice (France) where he enjoyed the start of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc. The participation to the rally mostly held in the deserted parts of southern Morocco is restricted to women only. Château les Crostes sponsored one of the teams participating in the rally.

Liechtenstein: From Farmer to Banker

Firstly, a happy and peaceful Easter to all of you celebrating it and your loved ones!

Secondly, not sure anyone recalls but about one and a half years ago, members of the Princely Family attended the movie premiere of 1818 - Die Liechtenstein Saga. The Youtube-loving champion procrastinator that I am sometimes, I stumbled over a shortened version of the documentary aired by Austrian TV station ORF the other day. Narrated by Friedrich von Thun (a.k.a. Count Friedrich of Thun and Hohenstein), it is titled "Liechtenstein: Vom Bauer zum Banker" (Liechtenstein: From Farmer to Banker). It includes interviews with Prince Hans-Adam II, Hereditary Prince Alois and Prince Philipp, and covers the country's history from a poor agricultural backwater to one of the richest country's in the world.

Luxarazzi 101: Princess Sophie of Luxembourg, Duchess of Saxony

Sophie (l.) with her sister Elisabeth

The third profile in our series of the daughters of Grand Duke Wilhelm IV and Grand Duchess Maria Ana is Sophie, the youngest of the six girls. Sophie Caroline Marie Wilhelmine (as she was christened) was born on February 14, 1902, the day before her sister Hilda's fifth birthday.  Like three of her older sisters, Sophie was born at Château de Berg.

The Grand Duchess was forty years old at the time of her youngest daughter's birth. As such, it became clear soon after Sophie's arrival that Wilhelm and Maria Ana would not have any sons.  This prompted Wilhelm to make changes to the Nassau house law (excluding the Counts of Merenberg from the succession in Luxembourg, as we've discussed previously) and allowing the eventual succession of his eldest daughter, Marie-Adelaide.

Sophie's early life was spent mostly at Schloss Hohenberg in Bavaria, revolving almost solely around her family. Sophie was close to all of her sisters, but particularly with Antonia and Elisabeth who were closest to her in age. Although her childhood was largely considered a happy one, Sophie's father's ill health was an issue even before her birth.  She was six years old when Wilhelm's final illness began in 1908.  Although Sophie was quite young, she assisted her mother and sisters in helping to care for her father until his death in 1912.

During World War I, Sophie lived with her mother and sisters at Château de Berg. Due to her young age, Sophie largely escaped the interests of German princes seeking brides in the occupied Grand Duchy. But as fate would have it, Sophie did indeed marry a German, but fortunately the match came about from mutual love.

Sophie initially met Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony, the youngest son of former Saxon King Friedrich August III, at Schloss Hohenburg, possibly in the summer of 1920. Five years Sophie's senior, Ernst Heinrich was a good friend of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, the husband of Princess Antonia and therefore Sophie's brother-in-law. The young couple fell in love, and Ernst Heinrich proposed to Sophie during the autumn of 1920.

Sophie and Ernst Heinrich married on April 12, 1921, at Hohenberg. Her elder sister Antonia had married Rupprecht just five days earlier. The ceremony was conducted by Ernst Heinrich's uncle Maximillian, a Roman Catholic priest. Sophie and her husband followed up the wedding with a honeymoon in Italy. Ernst Heinrich later recounted in his memoirs that while traveling on the island of Sicily, Sophie visited with a fortune teller who correctly predicted the couple would have three sons.

Sophie and her husband Ernst Heinrich, around the time of their engagement

Ernst Heinrich managed the Wettin family's finances as the couple settled into married life. Sophie supervised the education of the couple's children.

Sophie's three sons were all born in Munich. They were:

- Albrecht Friedrich August Johann Gregor Dedo, known as Dedo (1922-2009)

- Georg Timo Michael Nikolaus Maria, known as Timo (1923-1982)

- Rupprecht Hubertus Gero Maria, known as Gero (1925-2003)

The family made frequent trips to Egypt due to Ernst Heinrich's love of art and the management of the Wettin family's vast art collection.  Sophie and her family lived at Schloss Moritzburg during World War II. The home was a happy one, and Sophie and Ernst often entertained their large extended family.

The outbreak of World War II had numerous devastating effects on the Grand Ducal Family, not the least of which was lack of contact among members separated over enemy lines.  Charlotte and her family had fled to North America following the German invasion of Luxembourg taking Dowager Grand Duchess Maria Ana with them. Hilda and her husband Adolf of Schwarzenberg, both staunch in their opposition of the Nazi regime, spent some time in Switzerland before leaving for the United States. Antonia and her family lived in exile in Italy and Hungary before being confined at Dachau concentration camp. Sophie could only correspond with her sister Elisabeth, who also resided in Germany. 

Sophie with her three sons

Sadly, the separation from her family was to be permanent for Sophie. She suddenly contracted influenza in early May 1941 during a trip to Munich. The disease quickly turned serious, and Sophie was admitted to Rechts der Isar Hospital with a very high fever. The influenza then progressed into pneumonia. Nevertheless, doctors predicted a full recovery given Sophie's young age and overall good health.

Sophie developed further complications from the influenza and pneumonia which ultimately took her life. She died of a blood clot on the lungs, a complication of the influenza and pneumonia, on May 24, 1941, at the age of 39.  She is buried at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Dresden.  Ernst Heinrich married German actress Virginia Dulon six years later and died in 1971.

Guillaume and Stéphanie Mourn Victims of Brussels Attack

Photo: Christophe Olinger / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were among the mourners at a minute of silence held in front of the Belgian embassy in Luxembourg today. About 200 people, also including Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, had gathered to pay their respects to the 31 people who lost their lives during the Brussels bombings on Tuesday. The Hereditary Grand Duchess, of course, is a born Belgian herself as was Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, Guillaume's grandmother.

More pictures and videos at Wort.

Prince Sébastien to Attend Sandhurst

One of the news bits from the new Point de Vue article is that Prince Sébastien will enter the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in September of this year. The youngest child of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa will be the sixth of the grandsons of apapa Grand Duke Jean to attend. Prince Sébastien will follow in the footsteps of older brothers Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Prince Félix (who did not finish for medical reasons) and cousins Prince Josef, Prince Wenceslas and Archduke Alexander. Grand Duke Henri and Prince Jean also graduated from Sandhurst.

Grand Ducal Family in Point de Vue

Photo: David Atlan / Point de Vue

The new openness of the cour doesn't only show in loads of new pictures but also in regular appearances by the Grand Ducal Family in French magazine Point de Vue, it seems. (Je l'aime!) In the edition published today, there's a lengthy article about the 60th birthday of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well as heaps of new family pictures including the lovely one above. The feature largely consists of quotes by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa about the members of her family, as well as the children, children-in-law and grandchildren about their maman and amaman.

Grand Duke Henri Sends Condolences to Belgium

Today, Grand Duke Henri sent a letter of condolences to Philippe, King of the Belgians. The full text below:

Sire, 

Profondément bouleversés par le malheur qui frappe votre pays, la Grande-Duchesse et moi-même vous exprimons au nom du peuple luxembourgeois notre entière compassion. 

En ces heures très sombres, nous pensons avec recueillement aux victimes des attentats perpétrés à Bruxelles et à leurs familles. 

Soyez assuré de notre solidarité inconditionnelle dans la défense de nos valeurs communes.  

Henri  

Grand-Duc de Luxembourg           

The text in translation (via Google):

Deeply shocked by this tragedy your country, the Grand Duchess and I express to you on behalf of our entire people of Luxembourg compassion. 

In these very dark times , we think with reverence to the victims of the attacks in Brussels and their families. 

Be assured of our unconditional solidarity in defending our common values.

The text is also available from the Cour.

Prince Guillaume Awards "Jonk Fuerscher" Prizes

On Sunday, Prince Guillaume attended the awards ceremony for the "Jonk Fuerscher" competition, which recognizes young people's efforts in areas ranging from biology and engineering to medicine and history, and more. Thirty competitors, aged 11-21, joined into 17 different teams for the event, which saw both Prince Guillaume and Lydie Polfer, the Mayor of Luxembourg City, handing out prizes.

One winning project by Camilla Hurst (aged 15), was entitled "What do we bring home from school? Phase 2" and saw the second year in a row that Camilla has been recognized in this competition (with her "Phase 1" project also highlighted in the 2015 awards ceremony). Additionally, "Das Elektro-magnetische Auto" by Same and Tom Herz (aged 17) was honored by the judges. 

The winning competitors will go on to represent Luxembourg in other international competitions.

Some photos of the winners at Chronicle.

The Grand Ducal Family Received by Pope Francis

Photo: Charles Caratini

On Monday, members of the Grand Ducal family were in the Vatican for a private half-hour audience with Pope Francis. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were accompanied by their children and their children's spouses, as well as their grandchildren, for the visit. The ladies of the family wore what you wear when visiting the Pope.

The visit to the Vatican is occurring in conjunction with the Jubilee of Mercy, and following the audience they visited St. Peter's Basilica through the Porta Santa. 

Many more photos, as well as some history of the Grand Ducal Family's previous visits to the Vatican and papal meetings, at Wort here and here, as well as this old Luxarazzi 101.