Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: The Duchy of Mecklenburg was divided and partitioned a number of times over the centuries.  In 1701, the last division created the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna recognized both Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz as grand duchies. Friedrich Franz I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin became the first Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On November 14, 1918, at the end of World War I, Friedrich Franz IV was forced to abdicate as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Today the territory encompassing the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin is in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

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Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; Credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV was the last reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was born in Palermo, Italy on April 9, 1882, the only son of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia. He had two sisters:

He also had a half-brother – Alexis Louis de Wenden – his mother’s illegitimate son, born in 1902.

Friedrich Franz with his mother and sisters, circa 1890; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Franz attended the Vitzthum Gymnasium in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, and then studied law at the University of Bonn. He became Grand Duke upon his father’s death in April 1897. Because he was still a minor, his uncle Duke Johann Albrecht, served as regent until Friedrich Franz came of age in 1901. Once he had taken control of his government, the young Grand Duke attempted to reform the Mecklenburg constitution. However, his efforts failed when the government of Mecklenburg-Strelitz refused to agree to his ideas.

Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland; Credit – Wikipedia

Encouraged to marry young by his mother, Friedrich Franz married Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland in Gmunden, Austria on June 7, 1904. She was the daughter of Ernst August, Crown Prince of Hanover and Princess Thyra of Denmark. The couple had five children:

In February 1918, Friedrich Franz IV began to serve as Regent for the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The reigning Grand Duke, Adolf Friedrich VI, had died by suicide, and the heir presumptive was serving with the Russian military and had made it known that he wished to renounce his rights of succession. The regency lasted only nine months because in 1918, after the end of World War I, Friedrich Franz IV was forced to abdicate as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, as well as the Regent in Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Forced to leave the grand duchy, Friedrich Franz and his family traveled to Denmark at the invitation of his sister Queen Alexandrine. There, they lived at Sorgenfri Palace for a year, before being permitted to return to Mecklenburg, Germany, and recovering several of the family’s properties. They lived for two years at the Gelbensande hunting lodge (link in German), and then in 1921, took up residence at Ludwigslust Palace in Ludwigslust, Germany. They also spent their summers at the Alexandrine Cottage (link in German) in Heiligendamm, Germany.

At the end of World War II, with the advance of the Soviet Union’s Red Army, Friedrich Franz, along with his wife and son Christian Ludwig, fled to Glücksburg Castle, in Glücksburg, Germany, the home of his youngest daughter and her husband, with the intention of returning to Denmark. However, the Grand Duke became ill, and while under house arrest at the Castle, he died there on November 17, 1945. He is buried in the New Cemetery in Glücksburg, Germany.

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