Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen

Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (11 October 1892 – 6 January 1946) was the head of the house of Saxe-Meiningen from 1941 until his death.

Biography

He was born in Kassel as the eldest son of Prince Frederick Johann of Saxe-Meiningen (1861-1914) and Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1870–1948). His father was a son of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his mother a daughter of Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Georg studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the University of Jena.

Georg suspended his studies to serve in World War I and saw action as a captain in a cavalry regiment. His uncle Bernhard III abdicated on 10 November 1918 following the German Revolution as the German monarchies were abolished. After the war he resumed his law studies and for a time served as a substitute judge for the town of Hildburghausen in the Free State of Thuringia. becoming NSDAP member (# 2.594.794).

After the death of his uncle Ernst on 29 December 1941, Georg succeeded to the headship of the house of Saxe-Meiningen and assumed the title of Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and style Georg III.

Georg and his family were expropriated without compensation in 1945. Georg, who served as a major in the Wehrmacht died in the Russian prisoner of war camp near Cherepovets (Tscherepowetz in German) in Northern Russia. His heir was his second and only surviving son Prince Frederick Alfred who renounced the succession, being a monk in 1953, allowing it to pass to his uncle Bernhard.

Marriage and children He was married in Freiburg im Breisgau on 22 February 1919 to Countess Klara Marie von Korff genannt Schmising-Kerssenbrock (Darmstadt, 31 May 1895 – Högerhof bei Türnitz, Lower Austria, 10 February 1992), daughter of Count Alfred von Korff genannt Schmising-Kerssenbrock and Baroness Helene von Hilgers. They had four children:

Name Birth Death Notes Prince Anton Ulrich of Saxe-Meiningen 23 December 1919 Killed in Action at Albert-sur-Somme during World War II Prince Frederick Alfred of Saxe-Meiningen 5 April 1921 Renounced the succession allowing it to pass to his uncle. A Carthusian monk since 1953. Princess Marie Elisabeth 18 December 1922 31 March 1923 Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen 6 January 1925 She married Otto von Habsburg on 10 May 1951 and had issue.

Ancestry