Friedrich
Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Friedrich Adolf Hermann Fürst zu Waldeck und Pyrmont; 20 January 1865 – 26 May 1946) was the last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 12 May 1893 to 13 November 1918. Friedrich was born on 20 January 1865 in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont during the reign of his father George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. He was the only son and sixth child of George Victor and his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. He was a brother of the Dutch Queen consort Emma and Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany. His maternal grandparents were William, Duke of Nassau and his second wife Princess Pauline of Württemberg. Pauline was a daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and his wife Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Paul was a son of Frederick I of Württemberg and his wife Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Augusta was the eldest daughter of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Augusta of Great Britain, elder sister of George III of the United Kingdom. Friedrich studied law at both the University of Göttingen, and the Leipzig University. Following his time in university, Friedrich went on to serve in the Prussian army. On 12 May 1893, Friedrich ascended to the throne upon the death of his father. During World War I, he served in the Imperial German Army as a cavalry general. Germany would however lose the war and the German Revolution would force Friedrich to abdicate on 13 November 1918.
The Gardes du Corps (Regiment der Gardes du Corps) was the personal bodyguard of the king of Prussia and, after 1871, of the German Emperor (in German, the Kaiser). The unit was founded in 1740 by Frederick the Great. Its first commander was Friedrich von Blumenthal, who died unexpectedly in 1745; his brother Hans von Blumenthal, who, with the other officers of the regiment had won the Pour le Mérite in its first action at the battle of Hohenfriedberg, assumed command in 1747. Hans von Blumenthal was badly wounded leading the regiment in a successful cavalry charge in the battle of Lobositz and had to retire from the military. Initially, the Regiment was used in part as a training unit for officers as part of a programme of expansion of the cavalry. Early officers included the rake and memoirist Friedrich von der Trenck, who described the arduous life of sleep deprivation and physical stress endured by officers, as well as the huge cost of belonging to the unit (the cuirasses, for example, were silverplated at a time when the precious metal was exceptionally
expensive). Unlike the rest of the Imperial German Army after German unification in 1871, the Garde du Corps was recruited nationally and was part of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division. The Regiment wore a white cuirassier uniform with certain special distinctions in full dress. These included a red tunic for officers in court dress and a white metal eagle poised as if about to rise from the bronze helmet on which it sat. Other unique features of the regiment's full dress worn until 1914 included a red sleeveless Supraweste (vest) with the star of the Order of the Black Eagle on front and back and the retention of black iron cuirasses edged with red which had been presented by the Russian Tsar in 1814. These last replaced the normal white metal breastplates on certain special occasions.
The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and in 1712 was raised to the rank of principality. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 it was a constituent state of its successors: the Confederation of the Rhine, the German Confederation, the North German Confederation, and the German Empire. Waldeck was a county within the Holy Roman Empire from 1180. The ruling counts were a branch of the Counts of Schwalenberg (at Schwalenberg Castle). Waldeck Castle (Waldeck), overlooking the Eder river at Waldeck and first mentioned in 1120, was inherited by Count Widekind I of Schwalenberg and his son Volkwin, from the counts of Itter and the counts of Ziegenhain, when they married wives of these families. Waldeck remained the main residence of the county until 1655. Its counts included Adolf II of Waldeck from 1270 to 1276. In 1655, the residence was shifted from Waldeck to Arolsen. In 1625, the small County of \
Pyrmont was added to Waldeck through inheritance, as it had also been ruled by a branch of the counts of Schwalenberg. The princely house of Waldeck and Pyrmont is closely related to the royal family of the Netherlands. The last ruling prince, Frederick, was the brother of Queen Consort Emma of the Netherlands.
Awards: Collar and star of the Order of the Red Eagle, Sash and star of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, Stars of the Royal Order of Saint Hubert and the House Order of Fidelity.
