Prince Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Wittekind Adolf Heinrich Georg-Wilhelm Fürst zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (9 March 1936 – 16 December 2024) was a member of the former German nobility who from 1967 to 2024 was head of the House of Waldeck and Pyrmont. A life-long champion of the Waldeck region's cultural and environmental heritage, he served as president of the Hessian Forest Owners Association from 1978 to 1999.

Biography

Born in Arolsen (now Bad Arolsen) in Hesse, Germany, Wittekind was the only son of Josias Georg Wilhelm Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1896−1967), an SS officer later found guilty of war crimes, and Duchess Altburg Marie Mathilde von Oldenburg (1903–2001), daughter of Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg. His godfather was Heinrich Himmler.

After studying business economics at Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Cologne, he served in the German army, eventually holding the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Wittekind became head of the House of Waldeck and Pyrmont on his father's death in 1967. Until 2016 he was chair of the foundation that managed the estate, museum and library at Arolsen Castle, where he lived with his family. He worked to preserve the Hesse region's historical and architectural heritage and was president of the Hessian Forest Owners Association from 1978 to 1999, promoting the interests of private and communal forest owners at the regional and federal levels. He also inherited Schaumburg Castle, Rhineland-Palatinate, which he sold to an investment group in 1983.

Wittekind died in Bad Arolsen on 16 December 2024, at the age of 88. In a statement, the Minister-President of Hesse, Boris Rhein, paid tribute to Wittekind's achievements in promoting the region's cultural heritage.

Marriage and family On 19 May 1988, in Frohnleiten, Wittekind married Countess Cecilia von Goëss-Saurau (born 1956), with whom he had three sons, including Carl-Anton, who succeeded him as Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Honours On 9 August 2001, Wittekind was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by Roland Koch, Minister-President of Hesse, in recognition of his decades of work with the Hessian Forest Owners Association. In 2011 he was also awarded the for his forestry work.

Ancestors