Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia


Prince Wilhelm Eitel Friedrich Christian Karl of Prussia was the second son of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany by his first wife, Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. He was born and died in Potsdam, Germany.

Life and activities

On 27 February 1906, Prince Eitel married Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg in Berlin. They were divorced on 20 October 1926 on the grounds of her adultery before the war. They had no children.
Raised at the cadet corps of Plön Castle, Prince Eitel was in the front line from the beginning of World War I and was wounded at Bapaume, where he commanded the Prussian First Foot Guards. He temporarily relinquished command to Count Hans von Blumenthal, but returned to duty before the end of the year. The following year, he was transferred to the Eastern Front. During the summer of 1915, he was out in a field in Russia when he had a chance encounter with Manfred von Richthofen, who had just . The two men were hiding in a nearby tree line from what they thought was the advancing Russian army and who turned out to be the grenadiers, guardsmen, and officers of Prince Eitel.
After the war, he was engaged in monarchist circles and Der Stahlhelm ex-servicemens' organization. In 1921, the Berlin criminal court found him guilty of the fraudulent transfer of 300,000 Marks and sentenced him to a fine of 5000 Marks.
From 1907 to 1926, he was Master of the Knights of the Order of St. John. He received the Pour le Mérite order in 1915. His body is buried at the Antique Temple in Sanssouci Park, Potsdam.

Regimental Commissionshttp://dlibra.bibliotekaelblaska.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=53802 Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat (1918), Genealogy p.1

;German decorations
;Foreign decorations
;Honours
Two ships were named after Prince Eitel, the passenger ship Prince Eitel Friedrich and the Reich postal steamer Prince Eitel Friedrich.

Ancestry