Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia

Who was Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia?

Prince Eitel Friedrich was the second son of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany by his first wife, Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein. He was born and died in Potsdam, Germany.

On 27 February 1906 Prince Eitel married Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg in Berlin. They were divorced 20 October 1926 and had no children.

Raised at the cadet corps of Plön Castle, Prince Eitel was in the front line from the beginning of World War I and was wounded at Bapaume, where he commanded the Prussian First Foot Guards. He temporarily relinquished command to Count Hans von Blumenthal, but returned to duty before the end of the year. The following year he was transferred to the Eastern Front and during the Summer of 1915 was out in a field in Russia when he had a chance encounter with Manfred von Richthofen who had just crashed with his superior officer, Count Holck. The two men were hiding in a nearby tree line from what they thought was the advancing Russian army and who turned out to be the grenadiers, guardsmen, and officers of Prince Eitel.

After the war he was engaged in monarchistic circles and the Stahlhelm paramilitary organization. In 1921 the Berlin criminal court found him guilty of fraudulent transfer of 300,000 Mark and sentenced him to a fine of 5000 Mark.