Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1899–1997)

The ruins of Dohna's former home, Schloss Dohna Schlobitten

Alexander, Prince of Dohna-Schlobitten (11 December 1899 – 29 October 1997) was a German Junker, soldier, business man and author.

Life

Dohna was born in Potsdam, the son of Richard Emil Fürst zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1872–1918) by his marriage to Marie Mathilde Solms-Hohensolms-Lich. He grew up in Potsdam, where his father was in the service of the Gardes du Corps, and at his family's estate of Schlobitten.

After the outbreak of World War I Dohna was evacuated to Darmstadt, where he lived at the Court of his relative Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and in 1916 he moved to Davos, Switzerland, where he passed his Abitur in 1918.

On 1 June 1918 he joined the Prussian Army regiment Garde du Corps and was deployed to the Ukraine for a short time before the War ended in November. He returned to Schlobitten after his father's death, received a training in agriculture and forestry, and studied at the University of Bonn. From 1924 until 1945 he administered the family estates of Schlobitten and Prökelwitz.

After the Nazis came to power in Germany, Dohna, who was a classmate of Karl Wolff, met Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring and planned to join the SS. However, under the influence of Kurt von Plettenberg and his uncle Heinrich Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten, he distanced himself from going in that direction.

Dohna was drafted into the Wehrmacht at the start of World War II and served as a Rittmeister throughout the German invasion of Poland and later the Soviet Union. On 18 January 1943 he was one of the last to be evacuated from Stalingrad, carrying personal letters and the awards of Friedrich Paulus. Since January 1944 he served at the LXXV. Army Corps in Italy. In March 1944 a U.S. Army commando of 15 men had landed near La Spezia and was captured by German troops. Even though the men were out of uniform and disguised as civilians Dohna refused to sign the execution order [for reasons unknown] and was dismissed from the Wehrmacht for insubordination. General Anton Dostler, who signed the execution order, was executed after the war.

Dohna returned to Schlobitten during the Soviet Army take-over. He organized the flight of the populace of his estates and left Schlobitten on 22 January 1945. With 330 refugees, 140 horses and 38 horse carts he arrived at Hoya on 20 March 1945. By them bringing some Trakehner horses, they enabled the continuation of that breed.

Dohna lived in Thedinghausen from 1945 to 1948. He moved to Switzerland in 1948 and worked for Hoffmann-La Roche. From 1961 to 1979 he owned a dry-cleaning company in Lörrach, and in 1979 he moved to Basel, where he wrote his memoirs and died in 1997 at the age of 97.

In 1926, Dohna had married Freda Antoinette, Countess von Arnim-Muskau. They had six children.

Publications

• Das Dohnasche Schloß Schlobitten in Ostpreußen ['The Dohna Castle of Schlobitten in East Prussia'], with Carl Grommelt, Christine von Mertens, Lothar Count zu Dohna and Christian Krollmann (Stuttgart, 1965)
• Erinnerungen eines alten Ostpreußen ['Recollections of an old East Prussian'] (Berlin, 1989)

External links

http://slobity.com.pl/index.php/publikacje/aleks.html

Notes

Regarding personal names: Fürst was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Prince. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine form is Fürstin.