Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern (30 August 1891 – 6 February 1965) was the eldest son of William, Prince of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had a twin brother, Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden, who was born a few minutes after he was.

Life

After studying forestry and economics, he served with the 5th Reserve Mountain Battalion during World War I and retired from military service in 1919 with the rank of oberst. He then managed the Hohenzollern estate in Umkirch near Freiburg im Breisgau until his father's death in 1927. During the 1920s he was engaged in a dispute with the SPD Government over the use of his princely title and royal surname. The District President of the province of Hohenzollern, Alfons Scherer, informed the authorities in a circular dated July 9, 1928 that after the death of his father, Frederick had no right to either the predicate Highness nor the title Prince of Hohenzollern, arguing that the title had expired in 1927 with the death of Wilhelm Prince of Hohenzollern. This was resolved when Frederick threatened the city of Sigmaringen with moving his administration to Munich, prompting Minister of the Interior Carl Severing to put Scherer on leave. Despite the adverse conditions during the global economic crisis of the early 1930s, Frederick managed to secure ownership of the family properties and its businesses, especially the extensive forest holdings in East Germany. He managed to buy back part of the art treasures that his father had already sold and thus save the Hohenzollern art collection. Frederick was honorary chairman of the Silesian Maltese Knights of Law and head of the Stahlhelm in Württemberg and Baden. His affinity for cultivating military traditions led to a rapprochement with the Nazis. His younger twin brother joined the SS and in 1935 the Nazi state awarded Frederick the title of Royal Highness. He was however forbidden to serve in the German military because of Hitler's 1940 Prinzenerlass decree. From the early 1930s he served as Prince-Grand Prior of the Order of Saint Lazarus in Germany.

Marriage and children

He married Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony, daughter of Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and Archduchess Luise, Princess of Tuscany, on 2 June 1920 in Schloss Sibyllenort, Silesia, Germany. Margarete's sister Princess Maria Alix of Saxony subsequently married his twin brother, Francis Joseph. Frederick and Margarete Karola had seven children:

Romanian succession

In 1948, soon after the deposition of king Michael of Romania the line of succession was discussed during a meeting between Michael, his uncle Prince Nicholas of Romania, and Prince Frederick. Shortly after this meeting, the spokesman of King Carol II, in an interview with the French paper Le Figaro, expressed his strong support for Prince Frederick, additionally asserting that Michael would never regain the throne.

Honours

He received the following awards: • Hohenzollern: Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, Cross of Honour 1st Class with Swords • Kingdom of Prussia: • * Order of the Red Eagle, Grand Cross with Oak Leaves • * Iron Cross, 1st Class • Duchy of Anhalt: Order of Albert the Bear, Grand Cross • Baden: • * House Order of Fidelity, Knight • * Order of Berthold the First, Grand Cross • * Order of the Zähringer Lion, Knight 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords; Grand Cross • Kingdom of Bavaria: • * Order of St. Hubert, Knight • * Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, Knight 2nd Class • Ernestine duchies: Saxe-Ernestine House Order, Grand Cross • Hamburg: Hanseatic Cross • Mecklenburg: • * Military Merit Cross, 2nd Class (Schwerin) • * Cross for Distinction in War, 2nd Class (Strelitz) • Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Family: Order of the Golden Fleece, Knight, 1950 • 🇸🇪 Sweden: Order of the Seraphim, Knight, 22 October 1936

Ancestry