Wilhelm Malte II
Prince of Putbus
Wilhelm Malte II, Fürst und Herr zu Putbus, born Wilhelm Carl Gustav Malte, Reichsgraf von Wylich und Lottum (16 April 1833 – 18 April 1907) was a Prussian general and statesman. After the death of his maternal grandfather Malte the house of Putbus went extinct in the male line. In 1861 by decision of King Wilhelm I of Prussia the succession to the house of Putbus was passed down to Wilhelm C.G. Malte and he was given the title of Prince (Fürst) of Putbus. He was the second son of Count Hermann Friedrich von Wylich und Lottum (1796–1849) and his wife Clothilde, née Countess zu Putbus (1809–1894). His paternal grandfather was the Prussian general and finance minister Carl Friedrich Heinrich, Graf von Wylich und Lottum, his maternal grandfather was Prince Wilhelm Malte von Putbus, Vice Governor of Swedish Pomerania and from 1817 of Prussian New Western Pomerania. After the death of Prince Wilhelm Malte on 26 September 1854, his wife Princess Luise, divorced Countess von Veltheim, née Freiin von Lauterbach, inherited the Majorat as a previous heir. The only son of the princely couple, Count Malte (1807–1837) was unmarried and died without a legitimate heir (his illegitimate son was not entitled to inherit). When Princess Luise died on 27 September 1860,Wilhelm
Carl Gustav Malte, the second son of Clothilde, the eldest daughter of the princely couple, took over the inheritance. At the express request of Prince Wilhelm Malte, the Swedish document of 1807 on his elevation to the rank of prince had stipulated that only the direct male successors should be entitled to the title of prince. In 1817, King Frederick William III had confirmed the rank of prince for Prussia. Therefore, in March 1861, contrary to Swedish provision, the Prussian King Wilhelm I raised his grandson Wilhelm Malte, Graf von Wylich und Lottum with the title Prince and Lord of Putbus to the Prussian princely status. Wilhelm Malte was a member of the Prussian House of Lords, until 1888 Obersttruchseß, as well as Hereditary Lord Marshal in the Principality of Rügen and the Land of Barth. As Prince of Putbus, he was entitled to a viril vote, he was a member of the Provincial Parliament of the Province of Pomerania.
The Leibgendarmerie referred to orderly departments in the Prussian Army, which were at the special disposal of the king. Until 1820, the cavalry regiments provided the mounted orderlies for the king as well as the royal prince, the generals and the command authorities. On February 12, 1820, the Supreme Cabinet Order (A.K.O.) ordered the formation of an “Army Gendarmerie”. This army gendarmerie consisted of 150 cavalrymen. Each provincial army corps received one non-commissioned officer and 13 men, but the Guard and Grenadier Corps received one non-commissioned officer and 14 men. These formed the Army Gendarmerie Command and Guard Army Gendarmerie Command respectively. Each commanding general received a non-commissioned officer and three men, each division general two and each brigadier general one man. The later staff orderlies emerged from the army gendarmes. The remaining 23 positions (a sergeant, two non-commissioned officers and 20 men) were placed under the command of an officer at the disposal of “His Majesty the King”. At first they were experienced men from the land gendarmerie, later people from the active cavalry. Two army gendarmes each had to speak French, Russian, Polish and one each of Dutch and Wendish. Economically, the team was assigned to the Gardes du Corps regiment and was referred to as the “Garde Reserve Army Gendarmerie Command”. This gave rise to the Leib-Gendarmerie.
The House of Putbus, Pedebuz or Podebusk was a German noble family of high nobility, ultimately princely house in Pomerania, mainly on the island of Rügen, territories in northern Europe on the south Baltic Sea coast. The aristocratic family of Putbus is of Slavic origin and a collateral line of the Rügen princely house, the Wizlawiden (House of Wizlaw) dynasty, which itself went back to the Rani kings of Rügen, beginning with Kruto (died 1093), son of Grin or Grinus, prince of Wagria. The House of Putbus is descended from Stoislav, who was documented in 1193 and was probably a close relative of Prince Jaromar I - perhaps a brother. At the beginning, the lords of Putbus, a town on the island of Rügen, had the same territorial status as the Rügen princes, but later became their vassals. In early modern epoch, lords of Pedebuz became recognized as barons. In 1727, they were created counts of Holy Roman Empire and 1731 counts in Sweden. In 1807 Wilhelm Malte I was created prince (Fürst) by king Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Swedish Pomerania. In 1815 the King of Prussia recognized the princely title, after his assumption of power in Swedish Pomerania (now once again part of the Duchy of
Pomerania as a province of Prussia). Already under Wilhelm Malte there were close relations between the Prussian royal house and the house of Putbus. King Frederick William IV visited the princely residence in Putbus as crown prince in 1820, 1825 and in 1843, 1846, and 1853 as king. The close ties between Putbus and Berlin were further strengthened under Wilhelm Malte in 1860, still under the reign of Princess Luise, Crown Prince Frederick and his wife Victoria visited the residential palace in Putbus. From 1818 to the middle of the 19th century, Lauterbach, a district of Putbus, was a luxury bath of the nobility, despite its distance to the sea. In order to make the residence even more attractive for bathers, Wilhelm Malte ordered the construction of a railway line from Putbus to the seaside resort of Binz, which was inaugurated in the summer of 1895. Four years later, the entire line to Göhren was completed.
Awards: Sash and star of the Order of the Red Eagle, Insignia of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem, Stars of the House Order of Hohenzollern, the Iron Cross and the Royal Order of Vasa.
