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Prince Louis Ferdinand Prince of Prussia Head of the House of Hohenzollern Period 20 July 1951 – 26 September 1994 (&0000000000000043.00000043 years, &0000000000000068.00000068 days) Predecessor Crown Prince Wilhelm Successor Prince Georg Friedrich Spouse Kira Kirillovna of Russia Issue Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Prince Michael Princess Marie Cécile Princess Kira Prince Louis Ferdinand Prince Christian-Sigismund Princess Xenia House House of Hohenzollern Father William, German Crown Prince Mother Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Born 9 November 1907(1907-11-09) Potsdam Died 26 September 1994 (aged 86) Bremen

Styles of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia
Reference style	His Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Highness
Alternative style	His Royal Highness

Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (English: Louis Ferdinand Victor Edward Albert Michael Hubert, Prince of Prussia) (German: Ludwig Ferdinand Viktor Eduard Albert Michael Hubertus, Prinz von Preussen) ( 9 November 1907 – 26 September 1994), a member of the Hohenzollern family, was the pretender to the abolished German monarchy, staunch opponent of the Nazi Party in Germany, a business man, and patron of the arts.

Biography

Louis Ferdinand was born in Potsdam as the third in succession to the throne of the German Empire, after his father, German Crown Prince William and elder brother Prince Wilhelm of Prussia. The monarchy was abolished after Germany's revolution in 1918. When Louis Ferdinand's older brother Prince Wilhelm renounced his succession rights to marry a non-royal from the lesser nobility in 1933 (he was later to be killed in action in France in 1940 fighting in the German army), Louis Ferdinand took his place in line for the throne following the deaths of the Kaiser and the Crown Prince.

Louis Ferdinand was educated in Berlin and deviated from his family's tradition by not pursuing a military career. Instead, he travelled extensively and settled for some time in Detroit, where he befriended Henry Ford and became acquainted with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, among others. He held a great interest in engineering. Recalled from the United States upon his brother's renunciation of the throne, he got involved in the German aviation industry, but was barred by Hitler from taking any active part in German military activities.

Louis Ferdinand dissociated himself from the Nazis after this. He was not involved in the 20 July Plot against Hitler in 1944 but was interrogated by the Gestapo immediately afterwards.^[1]

He married the Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia in 1938 in first a Russian Orthodox ceremony in Potsdam and then a Lutheran ceremony in Huis ten Doorn, Netherlands. Kira was the second daughter of Grand Duke Kyril Vladimirovich and Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The couple had four sons and three daughters. His two eldest sons both renounced their succession rights in order to marry commoners. His third son, and heir, Prince Louis Ferdinand died in 1977 during military maneuvers, and thus his eighteen-year-old grandson Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (son of Prince Louis Ferdinand) became immediate heir to the Prussian and German Imperial throne; Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia became heir to the thrones and as Head of the Hohenzollern family upon Louis Ferdinand's death in 1994.

After the reunification of Germany, Louis Ferdinand arranged to have the remains of several Hohenzollern members reinterred at the imperial vault in Potsdam.

Louis Ferdinand was on friendly terms with the Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist Louis P. Lochner.

Children

• Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (b. 10 February 1939), married firstly Waltraud Freytag (b. 1940), secondly Ehrengard von Reden (b. 1943), thirdly Sibylle Kretschmer; he renounced his succession rights 18 September 1967. Son Philip was from his first marriage. His other children were from his second marriage.
  • Prince Philip Kirill of Prussia (b. 23 April 1968) Married 28 June 1994, Keil, Kronshagen to Anna Christine Soltau.
  • Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (b. 16 August 1979)
  • Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia (b. 2 May 1982)
  • Prince Joachim-Albrecht of Prussia (b. 26 June 1984)
• Prince Michael of Prussia (b. 22 March 1940), married firstly Jutta Jorn (b. 27 January 1943), secondly Brigitte von Dallwitz (17 September 1939); he renounced his succession rights 29 August 1966. Both of his children are from the first marriage.
  • Micaela Prinzessin von Preussen (b. 5 March 1967)
  • Nataly Prinzessin von Preussen (b. 13 January 1970)

Prince Louis Ferdinand, in the carriage, and his elder brother, Wilhelm.

• Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia (b. 28 May 1942)
• Princess Kira of Prussia (27 June 1943 – 10 January 2004)
• Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (25 August 1944 – 11 July 1977)
• Prince Christian-Sigismund of Prussia (born 14 March 1946)
• Princess Xenia of Prussia (9 December 1949 – 18 January 1992)

Ancestry

Notes

External links

• Media related to Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia at Wikimedia Commons
• European Royal History entry on Prince Louis-Ferdinand
• Genealogy of the House of Prussia

Pretenders to the German and Prussian thrones since 1918 Emperor Wilhelm II 1918–1941 Crown Prince William 1941–1951 Prince Louis Ferdinand 1951–1994 Prince Georg Friedrich since 1994 See also House of Hohenzollern