Opinions/advice on Dr.Louis Ferdinand v. Prinz

[ValhallaMilitaria]

I bought this today from a house in Hillsdale NY after receiving a phone call last week from one of my newspaper ads, I was told it was a Kaiser Wilhelm signed photo which it clearly is not, I can't make out the last name here, its inscribed to an Oberleutenant so and so....does anyone have any clue as to who this person was who signed it? clearly a Prussian Prince but beyond that I am out of my depth. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Kind regards,
Eric

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Second set

[Gerdan]

Last line I read "Louis Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen" and it seems to be Kaiser Wilhelm II in the middle but as an old man living in Holland.


Gerdan

[Gerdan]

If it was this man:

http://www.preussen.de/de/Geschichte...Ferdinand.html

Louis Ferdinand von Preußen had a Doctor in philosophy and I can also see "Dr." in the beginning of the signature in the last line. It could be him.


Gerdan

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Thanks Gerdan! very much appreciated! now I need to see if anyone collects such pieces.

[max history]

Louis Ferdinand Hohenzollern.
Birth: Nov. 9, 1907
Brandenburg, Germany
Death: Sep. 26, 1994
Bremen, Germany

The second son of German Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Crown Princess Cecelie, he was also the grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kaiserin Augusta Viktoria. With the collapse of the German monarchy in November 1918, his guaranteed life as a royal person ended, and he was obliged to earn his living. After completing a university degree in Berlin, he eventually worked from 1929-1934 in Detroit, Michigan for Henry Ford. Despite their loss of power in Germany, the royal family remained important to German life, and many looked upon the royal family’s loss of power as only temporary. With the removal of his eldest brother due to an unsuitable marriage to a commoner, he became the next in line after his father to be the future head of the House of Hohenzollern. Upon his return to Germany in 1934, he became an instructor with the German Luftwaffe, although he was unable to take up any real military leadership position due to Hitler's dislike of the former dynasty. In 1938 he married Russian Grand Duchess Kira Kirilovna, daughter of Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna, and a granddaughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria. Although the communists had overthrown the Russian royal family in 1917, Kira’s father, Grand Duke Cyril, was the titular heir to the Russian throne and head of the House of Romanov. The couple were married in two ceremonies: the first at the Russian Orthodox Church in Potsdam and the other a Lutheran ceremony at Doorn in the Netherlands at the home of his of his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Louis Ferdinand and Kira had four sons and three daughters. At the end of World War II, he lived in Bremen and also had a residence in Berlin. He became Head of the House of Hohenzollern in 1951 on the death of his father, Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. He spent a considerable time trying to restore the reputation of his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm II. When his wife Kira died in 1967 from a heart attack, he never remarried. With the reunification of the two Germanys in 1991, he was able to make the transfer of a number of remains of his ancestors possible. One of them was the famous King Friedrich the Great, who was reburied where he had wished: in the gardens of his beloved Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam. This was his last great public appearance as the Head of the house of Hohenzollern. His two elder sons had renounced their positions in order to marry commoners, and his third son died in 1977 in an accident, thus leaving his grandson, Prince Georg Ferdinand as his designated heir.

[Br. James]

Hi Eric,

What a wonderful photo of the Hohenzollern imperial family! While I am no expert, it appears that there are at least three of the kaiser's sons present in this photo including the former Crown Prince Wilhelm and Prince August Wilhelm, who would become known as The Brown Prince because of his membership in the SA and his association with the NSDAP leadership. I would guess that this photo was taken at the imperial residence in Doorn in the late 1920s when the kaiser was approx. 70 years old -- perhaps a birthday celebration? His second wife, Empress Hermione, must also be present -- perhaps at the far left of the women seated -- and the prince's wives there, as well. Many thanks for sharing this, and also for Max's historical vignette.

Br. James

[VtwinVince]

Great photo, and possibly previously unknown.

[Gerdan]

Hermine Prinzessin von Preussen the 2nd wife of Wilhelm II:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermine...%A4ltere_Linie

http://www.preussen.de/de/geschichte...h__teil_2.html


Gerdan

[ValhallaMilitaria]

I am overwhelmed with the generous outpouring of knowledge regarding this photo, the PM's are appreciated as well and I will pursue some of the leads provided thus. I took a shot in the dark buying this one, I will keep you all posted regarding the outcome of my efforts.
Kind regards,
Eric Korbel

[Elwyn]

On the upper left (from our perspective) in Hussar uniform in 2nd row from top was Kronprinz (no longer) Wilhelm. Directly above him in 1st row were Prinz Oskar and Prinz Eitel.

In the middle right above the Kaiser's head was Louis Ferdinand, second son of Kronprinz ( 1st son Wilhlem Friedrich killed in 1940 in France). Two to the right (from our perspective) was Prinz August Wilhelm.

Any chance you can zoom in a little on the general on the right and the man with many decorations immediately to the left of the "nun". Watermark them if you are worried others are going to use your pic without permission.

Cheers
Elwyn

[Br. James]

Great ID work, Elwyn! I had missed Prince Oskar in the back row, and I too would like to know who the two highly-decorated gents are from down front. What do you think of my suggestion that Empress Hermine might be the woman in black seated at the far left? And at least some of the seated women must be the wives of the princes...?

Br. James

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Elwyn, I will post the requested photos shortly, amazing work on your part (as well as the others) in decoding the identities of these now lost to time personages. What an incredible photo!-edit: here are the two requested shots, if they are too blurry to work with I will take new ones and post later.
Many thank yous for all the assistance with this photo!

[Elwyn]

On closer look, Prinz Louis Ferdinand was the one standing behind Prinz Eitel in the top row. If you go left past Prinz Oskar, the 1st left in that row was Gorßherzog Ernst August v Braunschweig, here balding and older, husband of the 7th child and only daughter of the Kaiser, Prinzessin Victoria Louise.

Right above the Kaiser was actually Prinz Wilhelm, the eldest son of the Kronprinz that was killed in France.

Prinzessin Victoria Louise was standing 2 to the right of the Kaiser. In between her and the Kaiser could well be Kronprinzessin Cecile. Underneath Cecile was Kaiser's 2nd wife Prinzessin Hermine Reuß v Greiz.

"General" on the left with big moustache was GFM Friedrich August III v Sachsen, no wife to be seen with him as she skipped town pregnant with a seventh child creating the biggest scandal at the time.

Cheers
Elwyn

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Elwyn: incredible wealth of information from you! very much appreciated and you speak almost as if you were there and knew these people personally bringing an immediacy to a seemingly lost time. I need to copy and paste this info.
Cheers!
Eric