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Wilhelm
II. König von Württemberg
(25.02.1848 -
02.10.1921)
place of birth: Stuttgart
Königreich Württemberg: Seine
Majestät der König,
Generalfeldmarschall
His
Majesty King Wilhelm II., born 25 February 1848, was the fourth and final
king of Württemberg.
He was appointed the rank of Generalfeldmarschall on
23 July 1916. Wilhelm was the son of General der Kavallerie Prinz Friedrich von Württemberg
and Princess Katharina, the daughter of King Wilhelm I. von Württemberg.
He was the couple's only child and became heir to the throne due to the
childless marriage of His Majesty King Karl and Queen Olga.
Wilhelm studied law and
finance at Tübingen
and Göttingen and married Princess Georgine Henriette Marie von
Waldeck-Pyrmont in 1877. This marriage produced two children, Pauline
and Ulrich, who died at just a few months of age. This also lead to
Katharina's early death, and in 1886 Wilhelm was remarried to Princess
Charlotte zu Schaumburg-Lippe. Together they had three children, but son Ulrich
died as an infant. Therefore, Wilhelm's distant relative Generalfeldmarschall Albrecht
became the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Württemberg's throne.
Wilhelm II. succeeded his uncle Karl to the
throne in 1891 but was deposed in 1918 along with the other German
rulers. He was thus embittered by the fact that he received less
protection and support than he had hoped for, having been
considered a fairly popular ruler. King Wilhelm II. had the habit, for
example, of walking his two dogs in public parks in Stuttgart without
body guard protection. His royal subjects often greeted him with „Grüß
Gott, Herr König“ (hello Mr. King) and Wilhelm would reportedly doff
his hat and hand out candy to the children. He died on 2 October 1921
in Bebenhausen and was interred at Ludwigsburg next to his first wife
and son Ulrich.
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