Prince Christian of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld

Prince Christian of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (Christian Ludwig Friedrich Adolf Alexis Wilhelm Ferdinand; 16 June 1887 – 19 October 1971) was a member of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and a German naval officer until he resigned his commission during the First World War in protest at Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

As a member of the House of Hesse, he was styled His Highness Prince Christian of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld. To distinguish between the various branches of the house, the designation -Philippsthal-Barchfeld was sometimes added to the end of the princely title.

Prince Christian joined the Imperial German Navy on 20 March 1905. In the summer of 1912, he was a Lieutenant Commander on the when the ship made an official visit to the United States as part of a squadron, commanded by Admiral Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz.

During the First World War, Prince Christian wrote an open letter to Emperor Wilhelm II that criticised Germany's campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. He then resigned his commission in protest.

First marriage

Prince Christian was a relative of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, their mothers being first cousins, and before the outbreak of the war, a marriage between the prince and the Emperor's oldest daughter Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna had been speculated on, the match being seen as a way to increase German influence in Russia. The couple had first met about a year earlier at a ball in Cairo after which her family travelled to Berlin for an extended stay and enabled the prince to renew his courtship. Unlike other American society girls who had married European royalty and nobility in the 19th and 20th centuries, Prince Christian's fiancée was not particularly wealthy As Elizabeth was not of equal birth, the marriage was morganatic and so she and any future children would be unable to share Prince Christian's title and rank. To compensate, on the day of the wedding Prince Christian's kinsman the reigning Grand Duke of Hesse bestowed the title Baroness von Barchfeld on Elizabeth.

Prince Christian and Elizabeth went on to have four children: Elisabeth Auguste (1915–2003), married in 1949 with Jacques Olivgetti (div. in 1956); Richard Christian (1917–1985), married in 1953 with Maria Lafontaine; Waldemar (1919–2002), married in 1952 with Ellen Hamilton (two sons : Alexander, born in 1956, and Heinrich, born in 1963) and Marie Louise Olga (1921–1999), married in 1952 with Michel Savich. With the permission of his brother Landgrave Chlodwig, on 14 November 1921 it was declared that Prince Christian's wife and children were permitted to title themselves Prinz/Prinzessin von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld'' (Prince/Princess of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld). The prince was close to the British royal family both before and after the First World War. In 1925, after attending the funeral of his cousin Queen Alexandra, he became the first person of German origin to dine after the war with King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace. However, the prince and his family were not among them, and in 1941, the Nazis stripped Prince Christian, his wife and their children of their German citizenship although no reason was given in the announcement. Prince Christian would later acquire Swiss nationality. His second marriage was childless.

Prince Christian spent his last years travelling and visited his second wife's native Australia in 1962. He died at 84 while he was holidaying with his wife in Geneva.

Honours Knight of the House Order of the Golden Lion of Hesse Grand Cross of the Princely House Order of Lippe

Ancestry