Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen

Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen (German: Donata Gräfin zu Castell-Rüdenhausen; 20 June 1950, Rüdenhausen, Unterfranken, Germany – 5 September 2015, Traunstein, Oberbayern, Germany) was a member of German nobility. She was the daughter of Siegfried, 4th Prince of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1916–2007), head of the Rüdenhausen branch of the House of Castell, and his wife, Countess Irene of Solms-Laubach (1925–2006). She was the mother of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia (born 1976) the current head of the House of Hohenzollern, the ruling dynasty of the German Empire and of the Kingdom of Prussia until 1918.^[1]

Biography

Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen was born on 20 June 1950 at the Castle of Rüdenhausen, Unterfranken, Germany to Siegfried, 4th Prince of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1916–2007), head of the Rüdenhausen branch of the House of Castell and his wife Countess Irene of Solms-Laubach (1925–2006). Donata was the third born child of her parents and the only daughter of eight children. She was raised Lutheran. After Abitur at Wiesentheider Gymnasium she made an apprenticeship of three years as a nurse at the German Red Cross Hospital in Würzburg.^[2]

On 24 May 1975 at the Lutheran St. Peter and Paul Church in Rüdenhausen Donata married Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944–1977), son of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1907–1994) and his wife Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (1909–1967). After the wedding the young couple lived in Bremen, where Louis Ferdinand worked at a bank.

Louis Ferdinand and Donata were parents of two children, a son and a daughter:

• Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand of Prussia (born 10 June 1976 in Bremen), the current head of the House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling dynasty of the German Empire and of the Kingdom of Prussia until 1918, married to Sophie, Princess of Prussia on 27 August 2011 at the Church of Peace. They have 4 children:
  • Prince Carl Friedrich Franz Alexander of Prussia (born 20 January 2013 in Bremen)
  • Prince Louis Ferdinand Christian Albrecht of Prussia (born 20 January 2013 in Bremen)
  • Princess Emma Marie Charlotte Sophie of Prussia (born 2 April 2015 in Bremen)
  • Prince Heinrich Albert Johann George (born 17 November 2016 in Bremen)
• Princess Cornelie-Cécile Viktoria Luise of Prussia (born on January 30, 1978 in Bremen, after her father had died); she was born developmentally disabled.

Her husband Louis Ferdinand in 1967 volunteered to serve in the West German Army (Bundeswehr) with the goal of becoming a reserve officer. In 1972 he started an apprenticeship at a bank and continued to serve his military duties on a regular basis. In 1977 he was involved in a severe accident during military maneuvers when he was pinned between two vehicles. Although his leg was amputated, he succumbed several weeks later to the trauma and died on 11 July 1977 in Bremen.

On 9 February 1991 Donata remarried Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg (born 1936) at Lutheran St. Peter and Paul Church in Rüdenhausen. He had divorced from Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia on 23 November 1989. Marie Cécile was the sister of Donata's late husband Louis Ferdinand. Friedrich August is the son of Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg (1897-1970) and his wife Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1899–1948). They did not have children together.^[3]

Donata died in Traunstein, Oberbayern, on 5 September 2015 after a long illness aged 65.^[4][5] She was interred in the Mausoleum of the Grand Ducal Family of Oldenburg at the Gertrudenfriedhof in Oldenburg.^[6]

Titles and styles

• 1950–1975: Her Illustrious Highness Countess Donata of Castell Rüdenhausen
• 1975–1991: Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Donata of Prussia
• 1991–2015: Her Highness Duchess Donata of Oldenburg

Ancestry^[7]

References