Prince Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

{{Infobox royalty|

| name =Prince Wilhelm

| title =

| image = Prince Wilhem Karl of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.jpg

| caption =

| spouse =Princess Gerta of Ysenburg and Büdingen zu Wächtersbach

| issue =Prince Hermann
Prince Albrecht Wilhelm
Princess Sophie

| full name =German: Wilhelm Karl Bernhard Hermann Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenachhttps://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00191484&tree=LEO

| house =House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

| father =Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

| mother =Princess Augusta of Württemberg

| birth_date ={{birth date|1853|12|21|df=y}}

| birth_place =Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg

| death_date ={{death date and age|1924|12|15|1853|12|21|df=y}}

| death_place =Baden-Baden, Germany

|}}

File:Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.svg

Prince Wilhelm Karl Bernhard Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (21 December 1853 – 15 December 1924) was a member of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a collateral branch of an ancient House of Wettin.

Life

Prince Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was born on 21 December 1853 in Stuttgart. He was the eldest son of the Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and his wife, Princess Augusta of Württemberg (1826-1898).https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00191484&tree=LEO

Prince Wilhelm also has had his own financial problems, and has been forced by the Grand Duke to live outside Weimar. Wilhelm is heir presumptive to the throne as the young Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst is a widower. His wife, Princess Karoline Reuss of Greiz died on 17 January 1905, eighteen months after their marriage, under mysterious circumstances.https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00180658&tree=LEO

Prince William had a problem with his eldest son. Prince Hermann morganatically married Wanda Paola Lottero (1881-1963) on 5 September 1909 in London.https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00079009&tree=LEO Lottero was an Italian stage actress, and due to Hermann's rollicking lifestyle, the ducal family forced him to renounce his rights of succession to the Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach throne, as well as his royal status, title and prerogatives, granting him a lesser, noble title, Count von Ostheim, along with a small allowance on the grounds that he stay out of the duchy.{{Citation

| last =

| first =

| title = Princess Who Cost A Throne Is Visiting Here

| pages =

| newspaper = The New York Times

| location =

| date = 27 November 1910

| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1910/11/27/archives/princess-who-cost-a-throne-is-visiting-here-countess-ostheim-who.html

| accessdate = }} Prince Wilhelm also had a bad reputation. His behavior aroused the dissatisfaction of the head of the family.{{Citation

| last = Fontenoy

| first = Marquise de

| title = Boy of 6, Saxe-Weimar Scion

| pages =

| newspaper = The Washington Post

| location =

| date = 2 October 1918

| url =

| accessdate = }} Prince Wilhelm fled to the United States in his youth, served as a riding master, clerk, book agent and even as a restaurant waiter in New York City, but was finally persuaded to return to Germany, marry his second cousin, and live on a small pension from the head of the house.

Marriage and family

Prince Wilhelm married Princess Gerta Auguste of Ysenburg and Büdingen zu Wächtersbach (1863-1945), younger daughter of Ferdinand Maximilian I, Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1824-1903) and his wife, Princess Auguste Marie Gertrude of Hanau and Horowitz (1829-1887), on 11 April 1885 at Wächtersbach, Germany. Augusta Marie Gertrude was daughter of Frederick William, Elector of Hesse. Wilhelm and Gerta had three children, two sons and one daughter:

Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (14 February 1886 – 6 June 1964)
Prince Albrecht of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (23 December 1886 - 9 September 1918), killed in action during World War I
Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (25 July 1888 - 18 September 1913)https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00191485&tree=LEO

Honours and arms

During his life, Prince Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach received the following orders and decorations:Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1913), "Genealogie", p. [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00186013/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_17_0391.tif 5]

{{flag|Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach}}: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 1853Staatshandbuch ... Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1913), "Großherzogliche Hausorden", p. [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00186013/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_17_0393.tif 9]
{{flagicon|Saxe-Coburg and Gotha}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Altenburg}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Meiningen}} Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, 1878Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1890), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00243753/Sachsen_Coburg_Gotha_166999342_1890_0057.tif?logicalDiv=jportal_jparticle_00484309 p. 46]
{{flag|Schaumburg-Lippe}}: Cross of Honour of the House Order of Lippe, 1st Class
{{flagicon|Thailand|1855}} Siam: Grand Cross of the White Elephant
{{flag|Württemberg}}: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1871Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1907), "Königliche Orden" p. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Pc5CAAAAYAAJ/page/n61/mode/2up 27]