Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Hermine carries off daughter to castle

Embed from Getty Images 

 August 10, 1935


Kaiserin Hermine, the second wife of the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, is adamant that her 25-year-old daughter, Princess Caroline of Schoenaich-Carolath, will not wed Georg Martin Wunderlich, 31.

Wunderlich served as Hermine's private secretary until recently, reports the Los Angeles Times.    In an effort to break up the couple,  Hermine has "carried off" her daughter, known as Carmo, to the family's castle, Schloss Saabor in Silesia.

The former secretary, who has been looking for a job in Frankfurt, plans to travel to Saabor for a "show-down" with Hermine, who last year approved of the couple's engagement.

Young Carmo bolted from Doorn, her stepfather's home in the Netherlands, a few months ago, and moved into a boarding house in Berlin to be nearer to her fiance.   Through his mother, Baroness Luecken, Wunderlich is related to "many of the oldest families of German aristocracy."  But these family connections have proved futile in finding a job as "radical Nazis" distrust the aristocracy.

Hermine followed her daughter to Berlin, and moved into the palace on the Unter den Linden, which had been returned to the Hohenzollerns by the German government.  She ordered Carmo to "report to her."

The princess was "deeply depressed by the obstacles of her romance."   She was often seen "walking through a part for hours, accompanied only by her small black Scottie, Odo."

Originally, Hermine accepted Wunderlich as her daughter's fiancee because she believed that Carmo's marriage to a commoner "would impress the Nazis favorably."  But she now realizes that she has no chance of "getting Nazi approval" and she has returned  to "her old traditional anti-commoner attitude."

Carmo and Georg have "a plan" to turn to former Crown Prince Wilhelm if Wunderlich's "attempt to induce" Hermine to "stick to her promise fails" when he arrives at Saabor.    Crown Prince Wilhelm is currently in Switzerland on vacation, but the young couple believe that "he has a real understanding for youth and modern time."

Read more about Empress Hermine:  An Empress In Exile: My Days In Doorn

An Empress in Exile: My Days in Doorn  (UK)

7 comments:

tjmooney said...

Is Hermine's namesake daughter still alive? I can't find any reference to her death.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Hermine's daughter was named Caroline. She was still listed as alive several years ago ...

Paul Harten said...

Looks like she married a commoner the folowing year anyway

Bea said...

Marlene, do you know what became of Caroline? Did she get back her mother's jewels, taken from her? Bea

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Bea, if you use the search box, and look for Hermine, you will find other stories about Carmo. No idea about the jewels.

Bea said...

Marlene, this is where I found the stories about Carmo, your the only one I've seen who has written about her. I just wondered if she has lived this long there would be something else on her. I'll look it up I probably missed something. Thanks Bea.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Carmo was a member of a very minor princely family - she did not marry into another royal family, and probably lived a rather quiet life, did nothing of importance.