Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944–1977)



Prince Louis Ferdinand Oskar Christian of Prussia, also called Louis Ferdinand II or Louis Ferdinand Jr., nicknamed "Lulu", was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and the fifth of seven children of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and his wife, Grand Duchess Kira of Russia. He was the son and designated heir of the pretender to the German throne but had a tragic death during his military service.

Life

Louis Ferdinand was born in 1944 in Golzow, Neumark, Province of Brandenburg. In 1967, he volunteered to serve in the West German army, with the goal of becoming a reserve officer. In 1972, he started an apprenticeship at a bank and continued to perform military service on a regular basis.
In 1977, he was involved in a severe accident during military manoeuvres, when he was pinned between two vehicles. Although his leg was amputated, he succumbed several weeks later to the trauma and died on 11 July 1977 in Bremen.
Louis Ferdinand was the designated head of the Prussian branch of the House of Hohenzollern as his two elder brothers had married women who were not nobility. His premature death made his son the successor of the House.

Marriage and issue

On 24 May 1975, Louis Ferdinand married Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen. They had two children: Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand of Prussia and Princess Cornelie-Cécile Viktoria Luise of Prussia ; she was born developmentally disabled.
In 1991, Louis Ferdinand's widow married Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg. He had divorced two years before from Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia, a sister of Louis Ferdinand.

Honors