THE
KINGDOM OF LITHUANIA
The Kingdom of
Lithuania was a short lived constitutional monarchy created towards
the end of the First World War when Lithuania was
under German occupation. The Council
of Lithuania had declared Lithuania's independence of February 16, 1918. Germany
recognised Lithuania's independence on March 23, 1918. Four Months later on July 4,
1918 the Council of Lithuania
voted to offer the throne to the German noble Duke
Wilhelm of Urach although this was a controversial decision with
many members leaving
in protest. Duke Wilhelm accepted the offer on July 13, 1918 and took the name
Mindaugas II.
On November 2, 1918 the council changed the constitution replacing
it with a republican one thereby ending the short
reign of King Mindaugas II.
Mindaugas II of Lithuania (born Prince William
of Urach, Count of Württemberg;
May 30, 1864 - March 24, 1928) was elected King of Lithuania, on July 11, 1918.
He never assumed the crown, as German authorities declared the election invalid
and the invitation was withdrawn in
November 1918.
Born as HSH Prince Wilhelm Karl
Florestan Gero Crescentius of Urach, Count of
Württemberg, he was the elder son of Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach (the
head of a
morganatic branch of the Royal House of Württemberg), and his second wife,
Princess Florestine
of Monaco, occasional acting Regent of Monaco
(daughter of Prince Florestan I of Monaco).
At the age of four Wilhelm succeeded his father
as Duke of Urach. He was born
and spent much of his childhood in Monaco, where his mother Florestine often
managed
the government while her nephew, Prince Albert I of Monaco, went on
long oceanographic explorations. Wilhelm was culturally
francophone.
On June 4, 1918 the Council of Lithuania voted
to invite Wilhelm to become the
king of a newly independent Lithuania. Wilhelm agreed and was elected on July 11,
1918, taking the name Mindaugas II. According to Wilhelm's agreement with the
Council of Lithuania he had to live
in Lithuania and speak its language.
From the beginning Wilhelm's reign was controversial.
The four socialists of the
twenty members of the Council of Lithuania left in protest. The German government
did
not recognize Wilhelm's selection as king, though the influential Mattias
Erzberger supported the claim, being also
a Catholic and from Württemberg. Wilhelm
never had the chance to visit Lithuania, remaining instead at Lichtenstein
Castle
his home south of Stuttgart; however he started to learn the Lithuanian language.
Within a few months of
his election, it became clear that Germany would lose World
War I, and on November 2, 1918, the Council of Lithuania
reversed its decision.
In
the tiny chapel of Lichtenstein Castle is a framed letter from Pope Benedict XV
welcoming Wilhelm's selection as the
future king of Lithuania.
Wilhelm
was married twice. In 1892, he married Duchess Amalie in Bavaria (1865-1912),
daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria,
a niece of Empress Elisabeth of Austria,
and a direct descendant of the Lithuanian princess Louise Caroline Radvila of
Biržai.
Nine children were born of this marriage:
* Princess Marie Gabriele of Urach (1893-1908)
* Princess Elisabeth of Urach (1894-1962) who married Prince Karl of Liechtenstein
(1878-1955), an uncle of Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein, and had issue.
* Princess Karola of Urach (1896-1980)
* Prince Wilhelm of Urach (1897-1957), who morganatically married Elisabeth Theurer
(1899-1988) and had two daughters, Elisabeth and Marie Christine, neither of whom married.
* Karl Gero, Duke of
Urach (1899-1981), 3rd Duke, who married Countess Gabriele of
Waldburg of Zeil and Trauchburg (1910-2005). No issue.
* Princess Margarete of Urach
(1901-1975)
* Prince Albrecht
of Urach (1903-1969). Married first Rosemary Blackadder and second Ute
Waldschmidt. Divorced both of them and had issue
by both. His daughter Marie-Gabrielle
(aka Mariga) was the first wife of Desmond Guinness. A diplomat and artist turned
journalist
and expert on the Far East. His marriages were also considered morganatic but his
descendants can claim
titles that pass in the eldest female line.
* Prince Eberhard of Urach (1907-1969), who married Princess Iniga of Thurn and Taxis
(1925-2008)
and had issue; including Karl Anselm and Wilhelm Albert the current and 5th
Duke of Urach. While a notional pretender
to the crown of Lithuania, he has not made a
formal public claim. Eberhard's descendants inherit the dukedom on the basis
of the
Salic law principle of Agnatic primogeniture
* Princess Mechtilde of Urach (1912-2001), who married Friedrich
Karl, Prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst
and had issue.
Though Wilhelm's
first wife had died in 1912, two of her ancestors had
been elected to rule the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the
1700s;
August III the Saxon and Stanisław Leszczyński. This may have been a
contributory factor in his
election as king of Lithuania.
In 1924, Wilhelm married Princess Wiltrud of Bavaria
(1884-1975),
daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria. This marriage was childless.
The
Genealogy of The Royal House
3b) Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand Gf
von Württemberg, cr Duke von Urach
(Serene Highness) 28 May 1867 (Stuttgart 6 Jul 1810-Schloß Lichtenstein
17 Jul
1869); m.1st Munich 8 Feb 1841 Theodelinda de Beauharnais, Dss von Leuchtenberg
(Mantua 13 Apr 1814-Stuttgart
1 Apr 1857); m.2d Monaco 15 Feb 1863 Florentine
Pss of Monaco (Fontenay 2 Oct 1833-Stuttgart 24 Apr 1897); his issue
bore the
title Prince[ss] von Urach, Graf/Gräfin von Württemberg (Serene Highness)
1c) Auguste Eugenie Wilhelmine Marie Pauline Friederike
Pss von Urach (Stuttgart
27 Dec 1842-Schwaz, nr Innsbruck 11 Mar 1916); m.1st Schloß Lichtenstein 4 Oct
1865
Parzifal Gf von Enzenberg zum Freyen und Jöchelsthurn (Innsbruck 25 Aug 1835
-Schwaz 1 Jan 1874); m.2d Innsbruck
16 Jun 1877 Franz Gf von Thun und Hohenstein
(Choltic 27 Jul 1826- Schwaz 30 Jul 1888)
2c) Marie Josephine Friederike Eugenie Wilhelmine Theodelinde
Pss von Urach
(10 Oct 1844-Monaco 13 Jan 1864)
3c)
Eugenie Amalie Auguste Wilhelmine Theodelinde Pss
von Urach (Stuttgart 13 Sep 1848-Stuttgart 26 Nov 1867)
4c) Mathilde Auguste Pauline Wilhelmine Theodelinde Pss
von Urach (Stuttgart 14 Jan 1854-Bad Möders 13 Jul 1907);
m.Monaco 2 Feb 1874 Pr Paolo Altieri, Pr di Viano
(Rome 17 Nov 1849-Rome 4 Jan 1901)
5c)King MINDAUGAS II of Lithuania, Wilhelm
Karl Florestan
Gero Crescentius, 2nd Duke von Urach (Monaco 3 Mar 1864-Rapallo
24 Mar 1928); m.1st Tegernsee 4
Jul 1892 Amelie Dss in Bavaria
(Munich 24 Dec 1865-Stuttgart 26 May 1912); m.2d Munich 26 Nov
1924 Wiltrud Pss
of Bavaria (Munich 10 Nov 1884-Oberstdorf
28 Mar 1975) see: Kingdom of Wurttemberg.
1d) Marie Gabriele Carola Josepha Sophie Mathilde
Pss
von Urach (Stuttgart 22 Jun 1893-Stuttgart 19 Mar 1908)
2d) Elisabeth Florestine Auguste Marie Luise Pss von Urach
(Schloß Lichtenstein 23 Aug 1894-Frauenthal
13 Oct 1962);
m.Tegernsee 5 Apr 1921 Karl Pr von und zu Liechtenstein
(Frauenthal, Styria 16 Sep 1878-Frauenthal
20 Jun 1955)
3d) Karola Hilda Elisabeth Maria (Stuttgart
6 Jun 1896-Tübingen-Lustnau 26 Mar 1980)
4d) Wilhelm Albert Karl Anton Paul Gero Maria Pr von Urach,
renounced the Ducal title and took the
name "Graf von
Württemberg"(Stuttgart 27 Sep 1897-Munich 8 Aug 1957);
m.Stuttgart 19 Jun 1928 Elisabeth
Theurer (Stuttgart-
Feuerbach 20 Nov 1899-Stuttgart 20 Jun 1988)
1e) Elisabeth Amelie Hedwig Maria Mechthilde
Pss von
Urach (Stuttgart 2 Jan 1932-Stuttgart 12 Nov 1999)
2e) Marie Christine Gabriele Antonie Irmgard Pss von
Urach (Stuttgart 18 Apr 1933-Stuttgart 2 Sep
1990)
5d)Karl Gero Albrecht
Joseph Wilhelm Anton Maria,
de jure King of Lithuania, 3rd Duke von Urach
(Lichtenstein 19 Aug 1899-Lichtenstein
15 Aug
1981); m.Zeil 20 Jun 1940 Gabriele Gfn von Waldburg
zu Zeil und Trauchburg (Zeil 26 Apr 1910-6 Apr 2005)
6d) Margarethe Sophie Florestine Maria
Josepha
(Lichtenstein 4 Sep 1901-Tübingen-Lustnau 28 Jan 1975)
7d) Albrecht Eberhard Karl Gero Maria Pr von Urach
(Hanau 8 Oct 1903-
Stuttgart 11 Dec 1969); m.1st Oslo 1 Jun 1931 (div 1943) Rosemary
Blackadder (Giessen 20 Jan
1901-1975); m.2d Berwang, Tyrol 8 Sep 1943
(div 1960) Ute Waldschmidt (Munich 11 Sep 1922-Stuttgart 25 Apr 1984)
1e) Marie Gabriele Sophie José Elisabeth
Albertine Almeria Pss von Urach
(London 21 Sep 1933-Holyhead 7 May 1989); m.Oxford 3 Jul 1954 (div 1981)
Hon Desmond
Guinness (b.8 Sep 1932)
2e) Axel Peter Johannes Karl Alexander Pr von Urach
(Bern 5 Jul 1944-Stuttgart-Degerloch
5 Jul 1977)
3e) Manuela Ilse
Maria Thea Pss von Urach (b.Bern 8 Aug 1945);
m.Stuttgart 19 Oct 1967 Sergius von Cube (b.Leningrad 11 Jul 1934)
8d) Rupprecht Eberhard Wilhelm Gero Maria Pr von Urach (Stuttgart 24
Jan 1907-Tutzing 29 Aug 1969); m.(civ) Niederaichbach
18 May 1948 (rel)
Regensburg 20 May 1948 Iniga Pss von Thurn und Taxis
(Niederaichbach 25 Aug 1925-Aufhausen 17
Sep 2008)
1e) Amelie Margit Elisabeth Anna Pss von Urach (b.Tübingen 6 Apr 1949);
m.(civ) Bachhausen
bei Starnberg 10 May 1974 (rel) Aufkirchen 11 May
1974 Curt-Hildebrand von Einsiedel (b.Dresden 14 Nov 1944)
2e) Elisabeth Maria Immaculata Alberta Wilhelmine
Pss von Urach (b.Regensburg 10 Dec 1952)
3e) Karl Anselm Franz Joseph Wilhelm Louis Philippe
Gero Maria,
de jure King of Lithuania, 4th Duke von Urach, renounced that
title 1991 (b.Regensburg 5 Feb 1955);
m.Niederaichbach 28 Dec
1990 (rel) 9 Feb 1991 (div 1996) Saskia Wüsthof
(b.Gräfelfing 25 Feb 1968)
1f) Wilhelm Karl Gero Eberhard Peter Maria
Pr von Urach (b.Munich 8 Jul 1991)
2f) Maximilian Emanuel Wolfgang Luitpold
Robert Pr von Urach (b.Munich
5 May 1993)
4e) Wilhelm
Albert Raphael Maria, de jure King of Lithuania,
5th Duke von Urach, (b.Hohenberg 9 Aug 1957); m.Rheinber 23
Dec
1991 (rel) Rimburg 1 Feb 1992 Karen von Brauchitsch
(b.Rimburg 24 Sep 1959)
1f) Karl Philipp Amedee Konrad
Maria, Hereditary Pr von Urach,
(b.6
Jul 1992)
2f) Alexandra-Charlotte
Pss von Urach (b.18 Feb 1994)
3f)
Louise Antonia Gabriele Elisabeth
Maria Pss von Urach (b.12 Feb 1996)
5e) Eberhard Friedrich Inigo Antonius
Maria Pr von Urach
(b.Bachhausen 12 Apr 1962); m.(civ) Niederaichbach 21 Sep
1991 (rel) 24 Sep 1991 Daniela Frn
von und zu Bodman
(b.Munich 28 Aug 1963)
1f) Eberhard Constantin Anselm Johannes Sigmund
Albert maria
Pr von Urach (b.Salzburg 20 Oct 1990)
2f)
Anselm Wilhelm Arbogast Egmont Johannes
Maria Pr von Urach (b.Landshut 29 Nov 1992)
3f) Amelie Philippa Stephanie Valentine Iniga Isabelle
Theodelinde Odile
Maria Pss von Urach (b.Landshut 11 Nov 1994)
9d) Mechthilde Marie Gabriele Florestine Sophie Devota Pss von Urach
(Stuttgart 4 May 1912-Waldenburg 11 Mar 2001); m.(civ) Stuttgart 12
May 1932 (rel) Lichtenstein 24 May 1932 Friedrich
Karl Fst zu Hohenlohe
-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst(Waldenburg 31 Jul 1908-Waldenburg 24 Oct 1982)
6c) Karl Josef Wilhelm Florestan Gero Crescentius
Pr von Urach (Ulm 15 Feb 1865-Stuttgart 5 Dec 1925)
4b) Friedrich Alexander August Wilhelm Gf
von Württemberg (30 Nov 1811-12 Nov 1812)
5b) Friedrich Alexander Franz Konstantin Gf
von Württemberg
(6 Feb 1814-Stuttgart 21 Jan 1824)
6b)
Friederike Marie Alexandrine Charlotte Katharina Gfn von Württemberg
(Stuttgart 29 May 1815-Stuttgart 31 Dec 1866);
m.Serach, nr Esslingen 17 Sep
1842 Wilhelm Gf von Taubenheim (Stuttgart 16 Apr 1805-Stuttgart 4 Jan 1894)
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