Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Richard
4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Reign	1904 – 1918
Predecessor	Albrecht, 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Successor	Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Born	(1882-05-27)27 May 1882 Berleburg, Germany
Died	25 April 1925(1925-04-25) (aged 42) Hanau, Germany
Spouse	Princess Madeleine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg
Issue	Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Christian Heinrich, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein Prince Ludwig Ferdinand
Names Richard Hermann Gustav
Father	Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Mother	Baroness Marie von Gemmingen-Hornberg

Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (German: Richard Hermann Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, 27 May 1882 – 25 April 1925) was Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg from 1904 to 1918.

Life

Prince Richard was born on 27 May 1882 at Berleburg, Germany, to Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1837-1889) and Baroness Marie von Gemmingen-Hornberg (1855-1946). His father was the younger son of (Friedrich) Albrecht, 2nd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1777-1851), and his wife Countess (Christiane) Charlotte of Ortenburg (1802-1854).

Richard had two older sisters, Charlotte (1879-1968) and Hildegard (1880-1973), and a younger brother, Wolfgang (1887-1966), who all married and had issue.

On 21 November 1902, at Langenzell, he married Princess Madeleine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, daughter of Prince Alfred of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and Countess Pauline von Reichenbach-Lessonitz.

Richard became head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg on the death of his paternal uncle, Albrecht (born 15 March 1834), the 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who died unmarried and childless on 9 November 1904.

His title was de-recognized by the Weimar and other German Republics after abolition of the German Empire in 1918 but lawfully retained henceforth as a surname.

He died as the result of a traffic accident in Hanau on 25 April 1925 at age 42.

Issue

• Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1907-1944, declared dead in 1969 after being missing in action in Russia in 1944)
• Prince Christian Heinrich of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1908-1983) – adopted by August, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, who he succeeded as 5th Prince in 1947. Married firstly Countess Beatrix von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1921-2006) in 1945 at Berleburg. They had 4 children and were subsequently divorced in 1951. He married secondly Princess Dagmar of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1919-2002), daughter of his adopted father's younger brother, Prince Georg, in 1960 at Schwarzenau. They had two children.
  • Princess Loretta of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 6 June 1946) who has married twice and had 3 children.
  • Princess Johanna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 22 October 1948) who has married thrice and had 4 children.
  • Hereditary Prince Albrecht of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1950-1953).
  • Princess Madeleine of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 17 March 1961) who has married twice and had 2 children.
  • Bernhart, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 15 November 1962).
• Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1910-1943).