Princess Herzeleide-Ina-Marie Sophie Charlotte Else of Prussia (25 December 1918 – 22 March 1989) was a member of the deposed House of Hohenzollern

House of Hohenzollern

The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...

. She was the only daughter of Prince Oskar of Prussia

Prince Oskar of Prussia

Prince Oskar of Prussia was the fifth son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein.-Education:...

, younger son of Emperor Wilhelm II, and his wife Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz. She is the mother of Ernst-Johann Biron, Prince of Courland, the current head of the House of Biron.

Family and early life

Her Royal Highness Princess Herzeleide of Prussia was born on Christmas Day 1918, shortly after the fall of the German Empire

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

 and the collapse of the monarchy. She was consequently given the name Herzeleide because it meant "heart's sorrow". Herzeleide had three brothers: Princes Oscar, Burchard, and Wilhelm-Karl

Prince Wilhelm-Karl of Prussia

Prince Wilhelm Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff of Prussia was the third son of Prince Oskar of Prussia, and the last surviving grandson of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor...

.

In early 1938, Herzeleide was one of three bridesmaid

Bridesmaid

The bridesmaids are members of the bride's wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony...

s at the wedding of Crown Prince Paul of Greece

Paul of Greece

Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....

 to Frederica of Hanover. Herzeleide was Frederica's first cousin. The other two bridesmaids were also close relatives: Paul's sister Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark was the third daughter and sixth child of King Constantine I of Greece and Queen Sophie .-Early life:Her paternal grandparents were King George I of Greece, child of King Christian IX of...

 and his cousin Princess Eugenie of Greece and Denmark

Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark

Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark was the youngest child and only daughter of Prince George of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Marie Bonaparte, daughter of Prince Roland Bonaparte...

.

Marriage and issue

On 15 August 1938 in Potsdam

Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

 Garrison Church

Garrison Church (Potsdam)

The Garrison Church was a Baroque church in Potsdam, eastern Germany. It was built under the second Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I. between 1730 and 1735. During World War II, the church burned down on 14 April 1945. The ruin was demolished on 23 June 1968 by the SED leadership under Walter...

, nineteen-year old Herzeleide married thirty-one year old Karl Biron, Prince of Courland. Karl was the eldest son and heir of Prince Gustav Biron of Courland, descendants of a noble Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 family. Along with the bride and groom's parents in attendee were former German Crown Prince Wilhelm, along with Emperor Wilhelm's wife Hermine Reuss of Greiz. Herzeleide wore a white silk gown with a headress trimmed with myrtle

Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...

, while all the male guests wore uniforms of the former German army. The couple planned to stop at Doorn

Doorn

Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. On 1 January 2008 the town had 10,052 inhabitants.-History:...

 on their honeymoon

Honeymoon

-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...

 to visit Emperor Wilhelm.

They had three children:

• Benigna Princess Biron of Courland (2 July 1939)
• Ernst-Johann Biron, Prince of Courland (6 August 1940)
• Michael Karl August Wilhelm Prince Biron of Courland (20 January 1944)

Titles and styles

• 25 December 1918 – 15 August 1938: Her Royal Highness Princess Herzeleide of Prussia
• 15 August 1938 – 22 March 1989: Her Royal Highness Princess Herzeleide of Courland

Ancestry

External links

• A wedding picture of Herzeleide and Karl