Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Ernst, 7th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (Ernst Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Maximilian, 7. Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg; 13 September 1863 – 11 December 1950) was a German aristocrat and Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. He served as the Regent of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha during the minority of his wife's cousin, Duke Charles Edward, from 1900 to 1905.

Biography

Family Born in Langenburg, Kingdom of Württemberg on 13 September 1863, Ernst was the oldest of three children, and the only son, of Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and Princess Leopoldine of Baden, daughter of Prince William of Baden. He was the grand-nephew of Queen Victoria; his paternal grandmother was Feodora of Leiningen, Victoria’s elder half-sister. His paternal great-grandmother was Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, the mother of Princess Feodora and Queen Victoria. He married the Queen's granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh, daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, on 20 April 1896 at the Ehrenburg Palace (Schloss Ehrenburg) in Coburg, Germany. He was known as "Erni" to his relatives.

Education After finishing high school in Karlsruhe, the young prince studied law in Paris, Bonn, Tübingen and Leipzig, where he graduated in 1885 with the first legal exam in Naumburg. He also gained membership in the Corps Suevia Tübingen (1st Class) in 1884, when he was at the University of Tübingen and Borussia Bonn in 1886, because he had gone to the University of Bonn.

Career Ernst served as a Sekondelieutenant in the 2nd Guards Dragoon Regiment (2. Garde-Dragoner-Regiment) of the Prussian Army from 1885 to 1891, and was separated from active military when he entered diplomatic service. He underwent diplomatic training in Berlin and London from 1889 to 1891 and passed the diplomatic examination on 15 July 1891. During the First World War, the Prince was active in voluntary military medical aid efforts (freiwillige Krankenpflege). He was promoted to Oberstleutnant à la suite of the army on 24 December 1914. From 19 July 1915 to 5 October 1915, he was sent as a special envoy to the German Embassy in Constantinople and to the Balkans to assume the duties of the envoy Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim who had fallen ill.

Relationship with the Nazi Party After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Ernst joined his son (who had already entered in 1931) in the Nazi Party with the membership number of 3726902.

Retirement After the Second World War, Ernst retired to private life. His wife, who suffered from various illnesses, died in 1942. Ernst was dedicated to church and nursing activities and was a member of the German Evangelical Church Assembly (the Kirchentag), Commander of the Württemberg-Badenschen Genossenschaft (Württemberg-Baden Cooperative), Governor of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg Order of St. John, Honorary President of the Württemberg State Association of the Red Cross as well as of the Evangelical People's League of Württemberg (Evangelischen Volksbund für Württemberg). On 11 December 1950, Ernst died at the age 87 at Langenburg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany.

Children The children of Prince Ernst and Princess Alexandra of Hohelohe-Langenburg were descended from both Queen Victoria and Victoria's half-sister Feodora of Leiningen. They were: Prince Gottfried, 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (24 March 1897 – 11 May 1960); married Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, the eldest sister of the future Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and had issue. Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (18 January 1899 – 8 November 1967); married Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and had issue. Princess Alexandra Beatrice Leopoldine of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (2 April 1901 – 26 October 1963) Princess Irma Helene of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (4 July 1902 – 8 March 1986) Friedrich-Luise Medal Kingdom of Prussia: Order of the Red Eagle, Grand Cross Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Order of the White Falcon, Grand Cross Kingdom of Württemberg: Order of the Württemberg Crown, Grand Cross (1901) Friedrich Order, Grand Cross (1893) Order of Saint Alexander, Grand Cross Kingdom of Romania: Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Cross Order of Saint Vladimir, 4th Class

Ancestry