Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Richard Casimir Karl August Robert Konstantin) was born on October 29, 1934, in Giessen, Germany. He was the eldest of the five children of Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Margareta Fouché d’Otrante.  Richard’s father served in the German Army during World War II and in 1944 he went missing during a mission in the then Soviet Union, but he was not declared legally dead until 1969. Richard’s mother Margareta was born in Elghammar, Sweden and the family went back to her native country where they lived with Margareta’s father Charles Louis Fouché, 4th Duke of Otranto at Elghammar Castle.

Richard had four younger siblings:

  • Princess Madeleine of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1936), married Otto, Count zu Solms-Laubach, had children
  • Prince Robin of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1938), married  (1) Birgitta af Klercker, had one son and one daughter, divorced  (2)  Marie-Christine Heftler-Louiche, had one daughter
  • Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1940) married Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, had two daughters and two sons, divorced
  • Princess Pia of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1942)

Richard was educated at boarding schools in Viggbyholm, Sweden and Sigtuna, Sweden. He then studied forestry at Munich University and obtained a degree in forestry at the University of Göttingen.  Richard then joined the Wittgenstein Berleburgische Rentkammer, based at the family home Berleburg Castle, which manages the family’s 30,000 acres of forest and about 150 plots at home and abroad, as well as its corporate investments.

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was originally a county (its ruler was a Count) located in the present district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany in the present state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1792, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was raised to a principality and its ruler was then a Prince (Fürst in German). In 1806, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was mediatized into the Grand Duchy of Hesse and then was annexed by Prussia in 1816. In 1919, Germany stopped recognizing the various titles of the nobility and royalty. In Germany today former hereditary titles are allowed only as part of the surname.

At the wedding of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1966, Richard met his future wife Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark. The couple married at the Fredensborg Palace Church in Fredensborg, Denmark on February 3, 1968.

Richard and Benedikte had one son and two daughters. Because their three children were not raised in Denmark, they are not in the line of succession to the Danish throne. However, they are styled as Highnesses in Denmark and Serene Highnesses elsewhere. Richard’s daughter Nathalie competed for Denmark in the Equestrian Team and Individual Dressage in the 2008/Bejing and 2012/London Summer Olympics. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nathalie won a Bronze Medal in Team Dressage.

 

Richard was active in many conservation programs including a project to reintroduce European bison on his 30,000-acre estate. See NPR: German Prince Plans To Put Bison Back In The Wild.

Prince Richard died at his home, Berleburg Castle, in Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on March 13, 2017, at the age of 82. He was buried at the Forest Cemetery Sengelsberg in Berleburg, Germany.

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