Prince Heinrich of Prussia

Infobox Prussian Royalty|prince
name =Prince Heinrih
title = Prince Heinrich of Prussia


caption =Prince Heinrich as naval officer during the First World War
spouse =Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine
royal house =House of Hohenzollern
father =Frederick III
mother =Victoria, Princess Royal
date of birth =birth date|1862|08|14|mf=y
place of birth =Berlin, Prussia
date of death =death date and age|1929|4|20|1862|08|14|mf=y
place of death =Hemmelmark, Schleswig-Holstein
place of burial=|

:"For the brother of King Frederick II of Prussia, see Prince Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)."

Prince Heinrich of Prussia (born "Albert Wilhelm Heinrich", August 14, 1862 – April 20, 1929), sometimes known as Henry, was a younger brother of Emperor William II of Germany and a Prince of Prussia. A career naval officer, he held various commands in the Imperial German Navy and eventually rose to the rank of Grand Admiral.

Family

Born in Berlin, Prince Heinrich of Prussia was the third of eight children born to Crown Prince Frederick (later Emperor Frederick III), and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (later Empress Victoria and in widowhood Empress Frederick), a daughter of the British Queen Victoria. Heinrich was three years younger than his older brother, the future Emperor Willliam II (born January 27, 1859).

On May 24, 1888, Heinrich married Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, his first cousin. The marriage produced three children:

*Prince "Waldemar" Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich Viktor Heinrich of Prussia (20 March 1889 - 2 May 1945)
*Prince Wilhelm Viktor Karl August Heinrich "Sigismund" of Prussia (27 November 1896 - 14 November 1978)
*Prince "Heinrich" Viktor Ludwig Friedrich of Prussia (9 January 1900 - 26 February 1904)

Their sons Waldemar and Heinrich were both hemophiliacs.

Naval career

After attending the gymnasium in Kassel, which he left in the middle grades in 1877, the 15-year-old Heinrich entered the Imperial Navy and was trained as an officer. His naval education included a two-year voyage around the world (1878 to 1880), the naval officer examination ["Seeoffizierhauptprüfung"] on October 1, 1880, and later (1884 to 1886) attendance at the German naval academy. Students were supposed to graduate during the winter months, following the period of actual duty.

Early commands

As an imperial prince, Heinrich quickly achieved command. In 1887, he commanded a torpedo boat (in 1887) and simultaneously the First Torpedo Boat Division; in 1888 the imperial yacht "SMY Hohenzollern"; from 1889-1890 the second-class cruiser "Irene", the armored coastal defense ship "Beowulf", and the capital ships "SMS Sachsen (1877)" and "SMS Wörth".

quadron commands

From 1897 Prince Heinrich commanded several naval task forces; these included, at first, an improvised squadron that took part with the East Asia Squadron in suppressing the unrest in the Chinese region of Kiautschou and then took the port of Tsingtao into the possession of the German Empire (1897). The prince’s success was more of the diplomatic than the military variety. Thus he became the first European potentate ever to be received at the Chinese imperial court. In 1899 he became officially the commander of the East Asia Squadron, later of a capital-ship squadron and in 1903 commander of the Baltic Sea naval station. From 1906 to 1909, Heinrich was commander of the High Seas Fleet. In 1909, he was promoted to Grand Admiral.

World War I

At the beginning of World War I, Prince Heinrich was named Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet. Although the means provided him were far inferior to Russia’s Baltic Fleet, he succeeded, until the 1917 Revolution, in putting Russia’s naval forces far on the defensive, and hindered them from making attacks on the German coast. After the end of hostilities with Russia, his mission was ended, and Prince Heinrich simply left active duty. With the war’s end and the dissolution of the monarchy in Germany, Prince Heinrich left the Navy.

Personality and private life

Heinrich had little in common with his brother, the German Emperor. He lacked, for example, William's erratic nature and egotism. The prince was truly popular in Northern Germany, and on account of his humble and open manner was beloved by those under his command. On foreign travels he was a good diplomat, who, unlike his brother, was able to strike the right tone. Thus, on his 1902 trip to the United States, Heinrich succeeded in winning the sympathy of critical American press as well as the hearts of more than just the numerous German-American population.

As a naval officer, Heinrich had a profession that completely satisfied him and that he loved. He was thoroughly a pragmatist. He received one of the first pilot’s licenses in Germany, and was judged a spirited and excellent seaman. He was dedicated to modern technology and was able to understand quickly the practical value of technical innovations. A yachting enthusiast, Prince Heinrich became one of the first members of the Yacht Club of Kiel, established by a group of naval officers in 1887, and quickly became the club's patron.

Heinrich was interested in motor cars as well and supposedly invented a windshield wiper and, according to other sources, the car horn. In his honor, the "Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt" (Prince Heinrich Tour) was established in 1908, like the earlier Kaiserpreis a precursor to the German Grand Prix.

Heinrich also was an early proponent of introducing submarines and airplanes. In the Baltic Sea, he had a steamship converted into an aircraft carrier, in order to attack Russia with naval air forces.

Heinrich respected his brother, but this attitude was not returned in the same measure. Certainly William was intellectually superior.Fact|date=February 2007 He kept his younger brother far from politics, although Heinrich served as his representative as long as the Crown Prince was still in his minority. Heinrich complied with this, for he did not interest himself in either politics or grand strategy. He did not recognize what political effect the German naval build-up would entail, and also would not have been in the position to move his brother toward a different policy.

After the German Revolution, Heinrich lived with his family in Hemmelmark near Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein. He continued with motor sports and sailing and even in old age was a very successful participant in regattas. He popularized the headgear known as the "Prinz-Heinrich-Mütze" ("Prince Heinrich cap") --an item of apparel still worn, and especially beloved among older sailors.

In 1899, Heinrich received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Engineering "honoris causa") from the Technical University of Berlin. Also in foreign countries he received numerous similar honors, including an honorary doctorate in 1902 from Harvard University.

Prince Heinrich died of throat cancer, as his father had, in Hemmelmark on April 20, 1929. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Died |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,769213-2,00.html |quote=Prince Henry of Hohenzollern, 66, of Berlin, brother of onetime Kaiser Wilhelm II, Wartime commander of Germany's Baltic fleet; of heart disease and pneumonia; in Berlin. Popular Prince Henry visited the U. S. in 1884 and 1902, was caricatured in many a newspaper passing under festal arches of sausages, pretzels. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=April 29, 1929 |accessdate=2008-06-06 ]

Ancestry

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1= 1. Prince Heinrich of Prussia
2= 2. Frederick III, German Emperor
3= 3. Victoria, Princess Royal
4= 4. William I, German Emperor
5= 5. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach
6= 6. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
7= 7. Victoria of the United Kingdom
8= 8. Frederick William III of Prussia
9= 9. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
10= 10. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
11= 11. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
12= 12. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
13= 13. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
14= 14. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
15= 15. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
16= 16. Frederick William II of Prussia
17= 17. Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt
18= 18. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
19= 19. Frederica Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
20= 20. Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
21= 21. Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
22= 22. Paul I of Russia
23= 23. Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
24= 24. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
25= 25. Princess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf
26= 26. Emil, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
27= 27. Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
28= 28. George III of the United Kingdom
29= 29. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
30= 30. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 24)
31= 31. Princess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (= 25)

References

Further reading

Harald Eschenburg. "Prinz Heinrich von Preußen - Der Großadmiral im Schatten des Kaisers". Heide, 1989, ISBN 3-8042-0456-2. [Translation of title: Prince Heinrich of Prussia - The Grand Admiral in the Shadow of the Emperor.]

External links

* [http://www.marlesreuth.de/heinrich_albert_wilhelm_prinz_preussen_1862.html Heinrich Albert Wilhelm, Prinz von Preußen] (In German)