Prince Wilhelm of Urach

Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg (27 September 1897 – 8 August 1957) was a German prince and member of the House of Urach, a morganatic branch of the Royal House of the Kingdom of Württemberg), and a senior automotive production engineer.

Life and career Wilhelm Albert Karl Anton Paul Gero Maria, Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg, was born in Stuttgart as the eldest son of Wilhelm Karl, 2nd Duke of Urach and his first wife, Amalie, Duchess in Bavaria. On leaving his Stuttgart preparatory school, he moved on, in 1908, to the Karls-Gymnasium, a secondary school, passing his Abitur (school leaving examination) in 1914.

As was customary for members of royal houses, Wilhelm then began military service, entering the 1st Württemberg Field Artillery Regiment No. 13 (Feldartillerie-Regiment „König Karl“ (1. Württembergisches) Nr. 13) in the summer of 1914. He was named a Leutnant in the regiment on 8 July 1914 and, with the beginning of the First World War soon thereafter, went into the field. His wartime career included periods of service in Field Artillery Regiment No. 13 and Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 26, and on the staffs of the 26th Infantry Brigade, the 25th Reserve Division and the IV Reserve Corps, seeing action in France, Poland, Flanders, Serbia, the Carpathians and Bukovina. On 30 August 1915, he was decorated with Württemberg's Military Merit Order. On 18 December 1917, he was promoted to Oberleutnant.

Following his graduation, he worked successively for Steiger in Burgrieden, Cockerell in Munich and Bugatti in Molsheim. In 1927, he switched to Daimler-Benz, working in Untertürkheim, a district of Stuttgart, as a design engineer. In 1933, he joined the top management team and in 1937, he was appointed a chief engineer. His responsibilities included taking care of the Mercedes drivers at sporting events. In 1945 he returned to Daimler-Benz as a member of the top management team ("Direktions-Sekretariat"). Between 1946 and 1950, he was in charge of passenger car testing. In 1954, he received Procuration responsibility on behalf of the company, and this was also the year in which he took over the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

Honors and awards Order of the Württemberg Crown, Grand Cross Golden Military Merit Medal (1 November 1914) Military Merit Order, Knight's Cross, in lieu of the previously awarded Golden Military Merit Medal (30 August 1915) Friedrich Order, Knight's Cross 2nd Class with Swords (20 February 1918) Wilhelm Cross with Crown and Swords (5 October 1916) Kingdom of Prussia: Iron Cross, 2nd Class Iron Cross, 1st Class Albert Order, Knight's Cross 2nd Class with Swords Austria-Hungary: Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration Liakat Medal in Gold War Medal