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Alexander Hochberg

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Alexander
5th Prince of Pless
Aleksander von Hochberg in 1937
Coat of arms
PredecessorHans-Heinrich XVII, 4th Prince of Pless
SuccessorBolko VI Hochberg von Pless
Full name
Alexander Friedrich-Wilhelm Georg Konrad-Ernst-Maximilian Fürst von Pless
Other titlesCount of Hochberg
Baron of Fürstenstein
Born(1905-02-01)1 February 1905
London
Baptised28 February 1905
St-James's Palace, London
Died22 February 1984(1984-02-22) (aged 79)
Pollença, Mallorca
BuriedPollença, Mallorca
Noble familyHouse of Hochberg
FatherHans Heinrich XV, 3rd Prince of Pless
MotherMary-Theresa Olivia Cornwallis-West
OccupationBusinessman; Soldier

Alexander, Count von Hochberg-Fürstenstein, Prince von Pless or Aleksander Pszczyński (1 February 1905 – 22 February 1984) was a German aristocrat and Polish military officer (2nd Lieutenant) who served in the Secret Intelligence Service. He was a personal security guard for Prime Minister of Poland General Władysław Sikorski, and was awarded the Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross and Cross of Merit with Swords for his service in the Polish Army. In 1984, he briefly served as the head of the Hochberg von Pless princely family.

Biography

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He was born 1 February 1905 in London, to Hans Heinrich XV, 3rd Prince von Pleß and his first wife Daisy, Princess of Pless. As an heir of once mighty Silesian ducal family of Dukes von Pless, Alexander (officially styled Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Konrad Ernst Maximilian Graf von Hochberg, baron zu Fürstenstein, 5th Fürst von Pless) had been a Polish citizen when Upper Silesia and Pless became part of Poland in 1921.

In 1924 Alexander became one of the main charactrers of a scandal in Wałbrzych. Six men (Alexander, Werner von der Schulenburg, butcher apprentice Fritz Langner, typesetter Rudolf Nimptsch, office worker Fritz Wähner, tailor Ernst Dünnebier) were accused of composing "Lila Klub" that was to organize gay orgies in Fürstenstein Castle teahouse. Von Hochberg was punished with 2 months of prison time.[1]

In 1927, his father sent him to London to study banking at Oxford University. After two years, Alexander quit his studies and in 1929 started an apprenticeship at Barclays in London. Afterwards, he returned to his mother in Munich. On his mother's initiative, he became engaged to Princess Ileana of Romania, but the Romanian side broke off the engagement in 1930 after being tipped off about "Hochberg–Schulenburg–Langner affair".[1]

Due to fiscal problems and indebtedness his estate was partly taken the Polish State (65% of the family's assets). Following his father's death in 1938 he emigrated to Paris, where he later joined the Polish Army in the West in the latter stages of the war, becoming personal security guard for Prime Minister of Poland general Władysław Sikorski. He served with distinction in North Africa and in Italy.

After the war he settled in Pollença on the Spanish island of Majorca. In the early 1950s, he befriended the American pulp author Gordon Merrick who described von Hochberg in his novel The Demon of Noon, disguising him as a Central European prince Alex. Alexander died on 22 February 1984, survived by his younger legally adopted lover Max.[1] He was succeeded as the head of the von Pless line of his family by his nephew Bolko Graf von Hochberg, 6th Fürst von Pless (b. Munich 3 Apr 1936, d. Munich 27 Aug 2022).[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wolfert, Raimund (2023). "Lila Klub". Replika. No. 102. pp. 48–50. ISSN 1896-3617.
  2. ^ "Zmarł Książę Bolko - Zamek Książ". www.ksiaz.walbrzych.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  • Ludovici, Laurence James (1993). The Three of Us. London: Marjay Books.
  • Luke, Michael (2002). Hansel Pless: Prisoner of History. A Life of H.S.H. Hans Heinrich XVII, 4th Prince of Pless. London: Cygnet Press.

Ancestry

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