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Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen

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Constantine
Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Reign13 September 1838 – 7 December 1849
PredecessorFriedrich Hermann Otto
SuccessorAnnexation by Prussia
Born(1801-02-16)16 February 1801
Schloss Sagan, Sagan, Silesia, Prussia
Died3 September 1869(1869-09-03) (aged 68)
Schloss Polnisch Nettkow, Grünberg, Silesia, Prussia
Spouse
(m. 1826; died 1847)
Baroness Amalie Schenk von Geyern
(m. 1850)
Names
German: Friedrich Wilhelm Konstantin Hermann Thassilo
HouseHohenzollern-Hechingen
FatherFriedrich Hermann Otto, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
MotherPrincess Pauline of Courland
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (Friedrich Wilhelm Konstantin Hermann Thassilo; 16 February 1801 – 3 September 1869), was the last Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. Constantine was the only child of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and his wife, Princess Pauline of Courland, the daughter of the last Duke of Courland, Peter von Biron.

Regency and reign

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Constantine served as regent for his ill father, Frederick, beginning in 1834. Upon his father's death in 1838, Constantine became Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and after the death of his mother in 1845, he also inherited the Duchy of Sagan. Following the Revolutions of 1848, Constantine and Charles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen both agreed to cede their principalities to the Kingdom of Prussia and renounced their rights as sovereign princes and heads of government on 7 December 1849.

Marriages and issue

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Constantine married firstly to Princess Eugénie de Beauharnais (1808–1847) on 22 May 1826 in Eichstätt. They had no children.

After her death in September 1847, he married secondly (and morganatically) to Baroness Amalie Schenk von Geyern; upon their marriage, Frederick William IV of Prussia bestowed Amalie with the title Countess of Rothenburg. The couple had three children:

  • Countess Friederike Wilhelmine Elisabeth von Rothenburg (1852–1914)
  • Count Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Rothenburg (1856–1912)
  • Count Wilhelm Friedrich Louis Gustaf von Rothenburg (1861–1929)

He also sired a daughter out of wedlock with Sophie Scherer:

  • Ludovika Sophia (1824–1884)

Death and dynastic end

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Constantine died on 3 September 1869 at his estate in Silesia. Because Constantine was the final dynast male member of the Hohenzollern-Hechingen dynastic line, having no legitimate heirs from his two marriages, his title passed to the head of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Charles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern.

Honours

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He received the following orders and decorations:[1]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Preußen (1868). Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat: für das Jahr .... 1868. Decker. p. 8.
  2. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1834), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 32, 49
  3. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1869), "Königliche Orden" pp. 30, 56
  4. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Bayern. Königl. Oberpostamt. 1867. p. 9.
  5. ^ Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" p. 30
  6. ^ Sveriges och Norges statskalender (in Swedish). 1868. p. 459. Retrieved 30 December 2020 – via runeberg.org.

Literature

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  • Anton-Heinrich Buckenmaier, Michael Hakenmüller: Friedrich-Wilhelm Constantin. Der letzte Fürst. Glückler, Hechingen 2005
  • Gustav Schilling: Geschichte des Hauses Hohenzollern, in genealogisch fortlaufenden Biographien aller seiner Regenten von den ältesten bis auf die neuesten Zeiten, nach Urkunden und andern authentischen Quellen, F. Fleischer, 1843, p. 257 ff.
Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern
Born: 16 February 1801 Died: 3 September 1869
Regnal titles
Preceded by Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
13 September 1838 – 7 December 1849
Principality annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Himself
— TITULAR —
Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
7 December 1849 – 3 September 1869
Reason for succession failure:
Principality annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1850
Succeeded by