Friedrich Franz IV (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)

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Friedrich Franz IV

Großherzog Friedrich Franz
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
In office
10 April 1897 (9 April 1901) – 14 November 1918
Preceded by Grand Duke Franz Friedrich III
Born 9 April 1882(1882-04-09)
Palermo, Kingdom of Italy
Died 17 November 1945 (aged 63)
Flensburg, Allied-occupied Germany
Resting place Salzgitter-Hohenrode
Birth name Friedrich Franz Michael von Herzog von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Spouse(s) ∞ 1904 Alexandra Prinzessin von Hannover und Cumberland
Children 5
Military service
Allegiance  German Empire
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
Rank General of the Cavalry
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Order of the Wendish Crown
Order of the Griffon
House Order of Fidelity
Black Eagle Order
Red Eagle Order
House Order of Hohenzollern
Saxe-Ernestine House Order
House Order of the White Falcon
Iron Cross

Friedrich Franz IV (9 April 1882 – 17 November 1945) was a German aristocrat, general of the Prussian Army and the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He inherited the throne when he was fifteen years old in 1897 and was forced to renounce it in 1918.

Life

The young Grand Duke (left) and the Regent (reigning monarch) Duke Johann Albrecht (right)
Friedrich Franz IV, c. 1897
Silver medal awarded by Friedrich Franz IV. for the golden wedding of his aunt Elisabeth with Friederich August von Oldenburg on 24 October 1901
From right to left: Engagement on 20 December 1903 and wedding on 7 June 1904.
Wedding medal 1904
Friedrich Franz attended the Vitzthum Gymnasium in Dresden [Note: together with Erbprinz Adolf Friedrich, who would become VI. Großherzog of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1914], Kingdom of Saxony and then studied law at the University of Bonn. He became Grand Duke upon his father’s death in April 1897. Because he was still a minor at the time, his uncle Duke Johann Albrecht, served as regent until Friedrich Franz came of age in 1901. Once he had taken control of his government, the young Grand Duke attempted to reform the Mecklenburg constitution. However, his efforts failed when the government of Mecklenburg-Strelitz refused to agree to his ideas. In February 1918, Friedrich Franz IV began to serve as Regent for the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The reigning Grand Duke, Adolf Friedrich VI, had died by suicide, and the heir presumptive was serving with the Russian military and had made it known that he wished to renounce his rights of succession. The regency lasted only nine months, as on November 14, 1918, Friedrich Franz IV was forced to abdicate as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, as well as the regency in Strelitz. Forced to leave the grand duchy, Friedrich Franz and his family traveled to Denmark at the invitation of his sister, Queen Alexandrine. There, they lived at Sorgenfri Palace for a year, before being permitted to return to Mecklenburg, Germany, and recovering several of the family’s properties. They lived for two years at the Gelbensande hunting lodge, and then in 1921, took up residence at Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Germany. They also spent their summers at the Alexandrinen Cottage in Heiligendamm, Germany. At the end of World War II, with the advance of the Soviet Union’s Red Army, the Grand Duke, along with his wife and son Christian Ludwig, fled to Glücksburg Castle, in Glücksburg, Germany, the home of his youngest daughter and her husband, with the intention of returning to Denmark.[1]

WWI and abdication

Tunic
Epaulettes
General der Kavallerie Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin II.jpg
General der Kavallerie Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin III.jpg

In the First World War, despite his rank as a General of the Cavalry, he did not lead an active troop command. As sovereign, he visited Mecklenburg troops on the Western Front. When Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz committed suicide, Friedrich Franz IV administered his part of the country as administrator until the November Revolution. In the autumn of the last year of the war, the monarch was not fully informed about the situation at the front and continued to plead for an agreement towards peace. Finally, he tried to bring about a change in the Mecklenburg constitution by proclaiming it himself until he was surprised by the outbreak of the revolution. On 14 November 1918, he abdicated and emigrated to Denmark. In the interwar period, Friedrich Franz first lived in Gelbensande Castle and then in Ludwigslust Castle. His younger son Christian Ludwig described him as a lively person, able to talk to several people at the same time. His sporting pleasures included driving, horse riding, tennis, sailing and hunting. In 1933, he became a member of the Corps Visigothia Rostock.

Expulsion

Given the “such serious times,” he made himself available to the Mecklenburg Reich Governor in October 1944 “to protect our beloved fatherland from the onslaught of enemies.” He thanked the now 62-year-old Friedrich Franz for “wanting to serve in the Volkssturm”. "I didn't even mention it," as the former imperial infantry general noted angrily - he had to admit that he was no longer needed for higher military tasks. Meanwhile, from January 1945 onwards, with the Red Army advancing ever further into the German Reich, his escape was discussed with increasing urgency. But he didn't want to get involved in that at all; the trauma of his ten-month exile in Denmark after the abdication in November 1918 was probably still having an impact. Regardless of this, at the end of April 1945, Friedrich Franz and his younger son went to Schleswig-Holstein, where his wife, daughters and daughter-in-law, as well as his uncle Adolf Friedrich and his wife, had been there since the 22nd.[2]

Fleeing from the Red Army at the end of April 1945, the Grand Duke and his youngest son left Ludwigslust and moved to Glücksburg Castle. On 1 May 1945, the Americans (7th Armored Division, the 8th Infantry Division and the 82nd Airborne Division) made Ludwigslust Castle their headquarters. Kurt von Tippelskirch, deputy commander of Army Group Weichsel, surrendered there on 2 May 1945. When the Grand Duke found out, Ludwigslust was under American control, he returned with his family at the end of May 1945. This happiness was short-lived, because when West Mecklenburg was handed over to the Soviet Allies on 1 July 1945, the family moved again to Schleswig-Holstein. For Friedrich Franz IV it was a final farewell, while Christian Ludwig stayed and was arrested 14 days later without any specific charges. Regardless of this, expulsion and the resulting “tribulations” undoubtedly took a toll on him, a sick old man once again estranged from his homeland.

Death

On 3 October 1945, he came to the St. Franziskus Hospital in Flensburg malnourished and weak, according to statements from his two daughters. Due to severe bladder and intestinal problems, he had to undergo intestinal surgery immediately and then surgery on his bladder about a week later. Still in hospital, he was arrested by No6 RAF Security section on 9 November 1945. From now on, care and nutrition were reduced to a minimum on order of the British. On 11 November 1945, son Friedrich Franz was arrested by the British and brought to the Internierungslager Gadeland (Civil Internment Camp No. 1) near Neumünster.

On 12 November 1945, an acute pneumonia developed and the Grand Duke did not have the strength to heal. Both his sister Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia and her sister-in-law Viktoria Luise of Braunschweig-Lüneburg later stated that he also suffered from severe hunger edema. On 17 November 1945, son Friedrich Franz was allowed to visit his terminally ill father under heavy guard. The younger son, who was interned in the Soviet occupation zone, was denied the opportunity to do so. During this last visit from the family, Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, closed his eyes forever at 10.50 p.m. The funeral took place at Glücksburg (Neuer Friedhof Glücksburg) on 23 November 1945.

Family

Descent

Friedrich Franz the only son of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia from the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov, the only daughter of Grand Duke Michael Nikolayevich Romanov (1832–1909) and his wife Princess Cecilie of Baden (1839–1891), granddaughter of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I. He had two sisters:

  • Duchess Alexandrine Auguste (1879-1952) – married King Christian X of Denmark (1870–1947)
  • Duchess Cecilie Auguste Marie (1886-1954) – married Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst von Preußen, German Crown Prince (1882–1951)

He also had a half-brother – Alexis Louis de Wenden – his mother’s illegitimate son, born in 1902.

Marriage

On 7 June 1904 in Gmunden, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV married his fiancée Alexandra Louise Marie Olga Elisabeth Therese Vera Prinzessin von Hannover und Cumberland (1882–1963), daughter of Ernst August, Crown Prince of Hanover, and his wife Princess Thyra of Denmark.

Children

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess had five children:

  • Friedrich Franz Michael Wilhelm Nikolaus Franz-Joseph Ernst August Hans (1910–2001), Hereditary Grand Duke (Erbgroßherzog) of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, member of the NSDAP and the NSDAP/AO, SS-Sturmbannführer of the Allgemeine SS, until 1943 diplomat, then SS-Untersturmführer der Reserve of the Waffen-SS in WWII (until early 1945); ⚭ 1941 Karin Elisabeth von Schaper (1920–2012)
  • Christian Ludwig Ernst August Maximilian Johann Albrecht Adolf Friedrich (1912–1996), 1st Lieutenant of the Wehrmacht in WWII (until November 1944), post-war farmer, member of the executive board of the Mecklenburg State Association, Knight of Justice and Commander of Honour (Ehrenkommendator) of the Order of St. John; ⚭ 1954 Barbara Irene Adelheid Viktoria Elisabeth Bathildis von Preußen (1920–1994)
  • Olga (1916–1917)
  • Thyra Anastasia Alexandrine Marie Luise Olga Cecile Charlotte Elisabeth Emma (1919–1981)
  • Anastasia Alexandrine Cecile Marie Luise Wilhelmine (1922–1979); ⚭ 1941 Friedrich Ferdinand Carl Ernst August Wilhelm Harold Casimir Nikolaus Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1913–1989), Oberst i. G. (Colonel in the General Staff) of the Wehrmacht and Oberst der Reserve (Reserve Colonel) of the Bundeswehr

Promotions

  • Sekondeleutnant (2nd Lieutenant) on 24 August 1893 as Hereditary Grand Duke (Erbgroßherzog) when he was 11 years old (imperial princes received thier honorary commission at the age of 10)
    • à la suite of the Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 89
  • Oberst (colonel) on 9 April 1901 (the ranks in between were skipped)
    • à la suite of the Garde-Kürassier-Regiment in Berlin
  • Generalmajor on 1 January 1904
  • Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) on 27 January 1907
  • General der Kavallerie on 13 September 1911
    • à la suite of the Garde-Kürassier-Regiment in Berlin and the I. See-Bataillon (Kaiserliche Marine) in Kiel

Awards, decorations and honours (excerpt)

Pre-war

Mecklenburg:

  • Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Collar and Crown in Ore
  • Grand Cross of the Griffon
  • Memorial Medal for Grand Duke Frederick Francis III (Gedächtnismedaille Großherzog Friedrich Franz III.) on 21 April 1897
  • Commemorative Medal for the Battle of Loigny-Poupry, 1910

Baden:

  • Knight of the House Order of Fidelity (BdT/BT), 1902
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Berthold the First

Bavaria:

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Meiningen Ernestine duchies:

  • Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order

Kingdom of Hanover (Hanoverian Royal Family):

  • Knight of St. George
  • Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Ernst August

Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine:

  • Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 6 June 1905

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg:

  • Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Collar and Golden Crown

Kingdom of Prussia:

  • Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
  • Knight of the Black Eagle with Collor
    • Knight on 11 June 1898
    • Collar on 17 January 1902
  • Grand Cross of the Red Eagle
  • Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, with Collar
  • Knight of Justice, later Commander of Honour (Ehrenkommendator) of the Johanniter-Orden
    • Ehrenkommendator, 1907

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Grand Duchy of Saxony):

Kingdom of Saxony:

  • Knight of the Rue Crown, 1900

Denmark:

  • Knight of the Elephant, 3 August 1897
  • Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog, 4 February 1906
  • King Christian IX Centenary Medal

Thailand Siam:

  • Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, with Collar, 2 April 1902

Austria-Hungary:

  • Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1904

Bulgaria:

  • Grand Cross of St. Alexander
  • Knight of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Netherlands:

  • Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
  • 1901 Wedding Medal of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Russian Empire:

  • Knight of St. Andrew (RAd)
  • Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky (RAN)
  • Knight of the White Eagle
  • Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class (RA1)
  • Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class (RSt1)

WWI (incomplete)

Post-war

Honours

  • Colonel-in-Chief of the I. and III. Battalion (both stationed in Schwerin) of the Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 89[3]
  • Colonel-in-Chief (Regimentschef) of the 1. Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 17 (Prussian Army) in Ludwigslust on 18 April 1897
  • Colonel-in-Chief (Regimentschef) of the Infanterie-Regiment „Großherzog Friedrich Franz II. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin“ (4. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 24 (Prussian Army) in Neu-Ruppin on 2 September 1904
  • Colonel-in-Chief (Regimentsinhaber) of the k.u.k. Dragonerregiment „Friedrich Franz IV. Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Schwerin“ Nr. 6 (Gemeinsame Armee) in 1906
  • Colonel-in-Chief (Regimentschef) of the Königlich Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment „Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin“ (Bavarian Army) on 7 November 1911

Gallery

  • Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin II.jpg
  • General der Kavallerie Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin.jpg
  • Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grab, Neuer Friedhof Glücksburg.jpg

External links

References

  1. ↑ Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
  2. ↑ Dr. Matthias Manke: Das letzte Lebensjahr des letzten regierenden Großherzogs von Mecklenburg, 2023
  3. ↑ Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1900, p. 238
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