Princess Pauline of Württemberg (1877–1965)


Princess Pauline of Württemberg was the elder daughter of William II of Württemberg and wife of William Frederick, Prince of Wied. She was for many years the regional director of the German Red Cross, in western Germany.

Early life

Pauline was born at Stuttgart in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the elder daughter of William II of Württemberg by his first wife Princess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont. She became their only surviving child after the deaths of her brother Prince Ulrich and unnamed stillborn sister.

World War II

She was indicted for concealing, since October 1945, a pair of important Nazis by a military court of the United States. She confessed to knowingly sheltering Frau Gertrud Scholtz-Klink and her spouse, former SS Maj. General August Heissmayer.
The Princess was aware that Frau Scholtz-Klink was the head of the Nazi women's organizations, but she denied that she had been aware of Heissmayer's SS position.
Princess Pauline was bailed out of custody but scheduled for trial in March 1948. She stated that she came to know Frau Scholtz-Klinik during the years when both women headed significant institutions under the Nazis, the Princess asserting that she had then been the director of the German Red Cross for Hesse, Nassau, the Rhineland and Westphalia.
Herr and Frau Scholtz-Klink informed the French that they asked for Princess Pauline's aid in 1945, Princess Pauline arranged for them to stay inconspicuously in Bebenhausen, where they were arrested by Allied authorities.

Marriage and family

Princess Pauline married on 29 October 1898 in Stuttgart to William Frederick, Prince of Wied, son of William, Prince of Wied and the spectacularly wealthy Princess Marie of the Netherlands. Her husband's elder brother was William, Prince of Albania, and she was a first cousin of the Dutch queen, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
They had 2 children: