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Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany
Princes Philipp and Christoph von Hessen-Kassel, great-grandsons of Queen Victoria of England, had been humiliated by defeat in World War I and, like much of the German aristocracy, feared the social unrest wrought by the ineffectual Weimar Republic. Jonathan Petropoulos shows how the princes, lured by prominent positions in the Nazi regime and highly susceptible to nationalist appeals, became enthusiastic supporters of Hitler. Prince Philipp, son-in-law to the King of Italy, became the highest-ranking prince in the Nazi state and developed a close personal relationship with Hitler and Hermann Göering. Prince Christoph was a prominent SS officer and head of the most important intelligence agency in the Third Reich. In return, the princes made the Nazis socially acceptable to wealthy, high-society patrons. Prince Philipp even introduced Göering to Mussolini at a critical stage in the Nazi Party's development and later served as a liaison between Hitler and the Italian dictator. Permitted access to Hessen family private papers and the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, Petropoulos follows the story of the House of Hesse through to its tragic denouement--the princes' betrayal and persecution by an increasingly paranoid Hitler and prosecution and denazification by the Allies.
544 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 24, 2022
This is a splendid and fascinating book on the post WWI lives, not just of the Hessen family (so closely connected to other dynasties like the Romanovs and Windsors), but of the former German dynastic houses (Imperial Germany contained 4 kingdoms, 4 grand duchies 7 duchies and 7 principalities of varying degrees of size and independence as well as numerous royal/princely families such as those of Hesse-Cassell and Hanover whose territories had vanished but position as royals and as acceptable husbands/wives for those whose kingdoms hadn't disappeared). It may seem obvious now that their relevance was over, but it wasn't so clear at the time just as it wasn't obvious that supporting the Nazis was guaranteed not to provide them an ongoing relevance but only to cement their destruction - because the Nazis used the Royals like they used everyone who might be of use - but they had no loyalty or commitment to them and turned on them with a thoroughness that would be shocking had the Nazis not already demonstrated a freedom from ethics and a penchant for betrayal on numerous previous occasions.
Petropoulos sorts, as far as is possible, the truth from the fictions and I think it is a tribute to his own reputation as a scholar that the Hessen family archives were opened to him and that Prince Philip spoke with him (it is interesting to learn how many former archives of the various defunct royal 'states' of the equally defunct German empire are still private family archives with access controlled by the current pretenders to those long vanished kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies and principalities - it means that access to the war time period for the Coburg's, one of the most Nazi loving group of royals, is very restricted, just like the archives of the Windsor family. Petropoulos tells a fascinating and awful story but it will be some time before anyone matches his knowledge of the sources and archives. Please be warned off the many shoddy competitors out there.
Petropoulos sorts, as far as is possible, the truth from the fictions and I think it is a tribute to his own reputation as a scholar that the Hessen family archives were opened to him and that Prince Philip spoke with him (it is interesting to learn how many former archives of the various defunct royal 'states' of the equally defunct German empire are still private family archives with access controlled by the current pretenders to those long vanished kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies and principalities - it means that access to the war time period for the Coburg's, one of the most Nazi loving group of royals, is very restricted, just like the archives of the Windsor family. Petropoulos tells a fascinating and awful story but it will be some time before anyone matches his knowledge of the sources and archives. Please be warned off the many shoddy competitors out there.
September 3, 2013
Petropoulos goes where no one, that I know of, has gone before. I had wondered about what had become of the many royal houses of pre-Weimar Germany. With this book, I understand a lot more about them and their post WWI history and their participation in the Reich. Regarding the rumors surrounding the Windsors, Petropoulos carefully separates facts from fiction.
The von Hessen princes are featured in this book, but they are not the story; they are used as a benchmark for many royals in this period. I didn't know this family, what they did, nor their fate, but I was glued to it.
The devastation of Germany in WWI (22% of its young men killed) was followed by a new governance and the Weimar Republic arose. It exiled the Kaiser, rescinded royal titles, and voted on the status of lands formerly owned by a patchwork of royal sovereignties now abolished. While this vote on the lands failed passage, it was alarming to the aristocracy.
Noting this, and perhaps the fate of the Romanov's, and the socialistic/communistic trends of the times, the royals and aristocrats were seduced by Hitler's message. They joined the Nazi party earlier and in greater proportion than any other demographic.
The prose in this book is heavy, and for someone like me, without much background in the history of Germany in this period, it was a slow read. It was, nevertheless, a page turner.
I came to understand the thinking and the loss which compelled these royals to do something, anything, following their loss of status and wealth. The militaristic overtones of the Nazi party matched the feudal ideals of these royals and the author documents the anti-Semitism of the aristocracy. The author notes their childhood training taught them their role above others and inculcated a sense of honor which should have precluded the activities they later got caught up in.
Phillipp and Christoph, perhaps typical of royals and aristocrats, were deeply entrenched in the party as it turned homicidal. Phillipp either approved or ignored the conversion of the former mental hospital to a torture and/or elimination facility in the town over which he presided. As the author notes, due to the heavy censorship of the times, and his inability to confide, we don't know the disposition of Phillipp (and the other royals and aristocrats in similar situations, nor their feelings and motivations as the party turned on them) as events careened into deeper madness. We do have Philipp's denazificaiton testimony, which of course is steered to his defense.
The book needs a map.
A debt is owed to not just the author for assembling this massive amount of material, but to the von Hessen family who provided full access to their personal papers.
The von Hessen princes are featured in this book, but they are not the story; they are used as a benchmark for many royals in this period. I didn't know this family, what they did, nor their fate, but I was glued to it.
The devastation of Germany in WWI (22% of its young men killed) was followed by a new governance and the Weimar Republic arose. It exiled the Kaiser, rescinded royal titles, and voted on the status of lands formerly owned by a patchwork of royal sovereignties now abolished. While this vote on the lands failed passage, it was alarming to the aristocracy.
Noting this, and perhaps the fate of the Romanov's, and the socialistic/communistic trends of the times, the royals and aristocrats were seduced by Hitler's message. They joined the Nazi party earlier and in greater proportion than any other demographic.
The prose in this book is heavy, and for someone like me, without much background in the history of Germany in this period, it was a slow read. It was, nevertheless, a page turner.
I came to understand the thinking and the loss which compelled these royals to do something, anything, following their loss of status and wealth. The militaristic overtones of the Nazi party matched the feudal ideals of these royals and the author documents the anti-Semitism of the aristocracy. The author notes their childhood training taught them their role above others and inculcated a sense of honor which should have precluded the activities they later got caught up in.
Phillipp and Christoph, perhaps typical of royals and aristocrats, were deeply entrenched in the party as it turned homicidal. Phillipp either approved or ignored the conversion of the former mental hospital to a torture and/or elimination facility in the town over which he presided. As the author notes, due to the heavy censorship of the times, and his inability to confide, we don't know the disposition of Phillipp (and the other royals and aristocrats in similar situations, nor their feelings and motivations as the party turned on them) as events careened into deeper madness. We do have Philipp's denazificaiton testimony, which of course is steered to his defense.
The book needs a map.
A debt is owed to not just the author for assembling this massive amount of material, but to the von Hessen family who provided full access to their personal papers.
October 5, 2026
Perhaps the one thing that World War I left Germany with an excess of was aristocrats. Bismarck's unification left them without their governing roles but they still had estates and money. The Weimar Republic gave them a purpose--to oppose it with a conservative fervor (colored at times for a nostalgia for the time when the great house had been great), That often led them to National Socialism.
This volume focuses on a particular family, a branch of the von Hessens. One forgets how interwoven the aristocracy was: they were descended from both Queen Victoria and Kaiser Friedrick III. Edward VIII was a relative and the author at least holds out the possibility that the family archive may hold more information about pro-German sympathies in the English aristocracy than has been revealed. The bug to rule never left them; the paterfamilias was briefly recruited to become King of the new nation of Finland.
Two of the six sons died in World War I. Although all four became National Socialists, the book concentrates on the two who were most active. Philipp, the oldest surviving son was a bit of an aesthete; despite serving in World War I the evidence is convincing that he had a serious relationship with the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who fought for the British. Subsequently, he lived in Italy, where he started a business in sprucing up aristocratic estates and marrying a daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II. His talent for procuring art endeared him to both Goering and Hitler, who in the early stages he could call upon. He was used to communicate with Mussolini about key points early on--Austria was a sensitive topic since it bordered Germany and Italy. He was appointed Governor of the area where his family had been lords, and despite post-war efforts to scrub his image, his signature can be found on the founding documents of an institution where people deemed unfit were killed. He denied knowledge of course. When the King of Italy bowed to the inevitable and deposed Mussolini, Philipp lost his cachet and was sent to camp (not a labor one, of course). His wife was sent to a different one, was severely wounded in a bombing, and died in what could plausibly be called deliberate malpractice.
Christoph, a younger brother, was too young for World War I, but joined the National Socialists early. He served high up in Goering's intelligence unit (at odds with the one operated by Himmler and Heydrich), then left to join the Luftwaffe. The author does not credit the rumor that Christoph was involved in the bombing of Buckingham Palace in the early part of the war. In any case, he died in an airplane crash before the end of it.
The author's examination of the German nobility is not limited to the von Hessens--his knowledge of the links between all these families is astonishing, even bewildering. One of the more interesting discussions is how the plotters of 1944, many of whom were aristocrats, were motivated by rescuing the nation from ignominy rather than its people from oppression. That Philipp and Christoph were patriots of a kind cannot be disputed, and they both at times seem to have become disillusioned by the Reich (which in turn was disillusioned with the aristocrats--Hitler issued a decree removing many of them from their posts), a fact that the surviving brother's lawyers argued during his post-war trials. But the quality of patriotism matters; what portions of the state cause one to step forward. And what does it mean to cheer when to offer criticism--honest, patriotic criticism--is to run a risk? Is it really patriotism to join the herd?
This volume focuses on a particular family, a branch of the von Hessens. One forgets how interwoven the aristocracy was: they were descended from both Queen Victoria and Kaiser Friedrick III. Edward VIII was a relative and the author at least holds out the possibility that the family archive may hold more information about pro-German sympathies in the English aristocracy than has been revealed. The bug to rule never left them; the paterfamilias was briefly recruited to become King of the new nation of Finland.
Two of the six sons died in World War I. Although all four became National Socialists, the book concentrates on the two who were most active. Philipp, the oldest surviving son was a bit of an aesthete; despite serving in World War I the evidence is convincing that he had a serious relationship with the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who fought for the British. Subsequently, he lived in Italy, where he started a business in sprucing up aristocratic estates and marrying a daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II. His talent for procuring art endeared him to both Goering and Hitler, who in the early stages he could call upon. He was used to communicate with Mussolini about key points early on--Austria was a sensitive topic since it bordered Germany and Italy. He was appointed Governor of the area where his family had been lords, and despite post-war efforts to scrub his image, his signature can be found on the founding documents of an institution where people deemed unfit were killed. He denied knowledge of course. When the King of Italy bowed to the inevitable and deposed Mussolini, Philipp lost his cachet and was sent to camp (not a labor one, of course). His wife was sent to a different one, was severely wounded in a bombing, and died in what could plausibly be called deliberate malpractice.
Christoph, a younger brother, was too young for World War I, but joined the National Socialists early. He served high up in Goering's intelligence unit (at odds with the one operated by Himmler and Heydrich), then left to join the Luftwaffe. The author does not credit the rumor that Christoph was involved in the bombing of Buckingham Palace in the early part of the war. In any case, he died in an airplane crash before the end of it.
The author's examination of the German nobility is not limited to the von Hessens--his knowledge of the links between all these families is astonishing, even bewildering. One of the more interesting discussions is how the plotters of 1944, many of whom were aristocrats, were motivated by rescuing the nation from ignominy rather than its people from oppression. That Philipp and Christoph were patriots of a kind cannot be disputed, and they both at times seem to have become disillusioned by the Reich (which in turn was disillusioned with the aristocrats--Hitler issued a decree removing many of them from their posts), a fact that the surviving brother's lawyers argued during his post-war trials. But the quality of patriotism matters; what portions of the state cause one to step forward. And what does it mean to cheer when to offer criticism--honest, patriotic criticism--is to run a risk? Is it really patriotism to join the herd?
February 20, 2012
So what do you do if you are Prince, but your country is no longer a kingdom?
Try to hold on to your money, of course.
Petropoulos examines the effect of Nazi Germany on the German princes, in particular two of the von Hessens. While the subject is interesting, and Petropoulos does an excellent job at examining facts, at times the book drags. The last two or three chapters are the most intersting, with the rest forming background. While the von Hessens did fight for Nazi Germany, two of thier members were imprisoned. It is a rather interesting study and fills a gap in my education.
A note, I think this might be better read in a non-ebook form. As someone who didn't know very much about the German princes, I got confused with some of the names and titles. In a book book, it would've been easier to flip back and forth.
Try to hold on to your money, of course.
Petropoulos examines the effect of Nazi Germany on the German princes, in particular two of the von Hessens. While the subject is interesting, and Petropoulos does an excellent job at examining facts, at times the book drags. The last two or three chapters are the most intersting, with the rest forming background. While the von Hessens did fight for Nazi Germany, two of thier members were imprisoned. It is a rather interesting study and fills a gap in my education.
A note, I think this might be better read in a non-ebook form. As someone who didn't know very much about the German princes, I got confused with some of the names and titles. In a book book, it would've been easier to flip back and forth.
February 10, 2021
This book is packed with information and required careful reading and constant use of Wikipedia. I very much enjoyed reading it and it has provided a great deal of knowledge on how the Nazis dealt with the royal families of Germany, their links with Britain and how they were used by various Nazi leaders in the pre war years. A fascinating book.
September 18, 2019
This was a really interesting look at not just the Hessian princes, but of their whole caste's actions towards the Nazis. This presented a nuanced view of their participation in the atrocities with a certain amount of "insider" information from the opened Hessian family archives and interviews with many family members including the Duke of Edinburgh.
May 30, 2013
Read the beginning and the end, and skimmed the middle.
March 5, 2018
Amazing read - excellent research - couldn't put it down.
May 10, 2015
Good info, long winded
It's a terrific contribution to life in the upper strata of Hitler's Germany. This book covers a specific family and the aristocracy as a whole very thoroughly.
That said, the author is just so long winded. Specifically I'm thinking about the section on bombing the British royal couple at the castle in London. Was Christoph involved or not? Well, it looks like not. He could have summed up all the evidence in three paragraphs instead of an extremely long chapter. You just wish he'd get to the point.
It's a terrific contribution to life in the upper strata of Hitler's Germany. This book covers a specific family and the aristocracy as a whole very thoroughly.
That said, the author is just so long winded. Specifically I'm thinking about the section on bombing the British royal couple at the castle in London. Was Christoph involved or not? Well, it looks like not. He could have summed up all the evidence in three paragraphs instead of an extremely long chapter. You just wish he'd get to the point.
August 5, 2020
Hitler and the Nazi regime managed to get their ideals and claws into many notable figures, especially those belonging to various European royal and noble families. This book specifically gets into the roles that the Princes of Hesse played in the Nazi regime. The Princes of Hesse, were the great grandsons of Queen Victoria. It was very detailed and thoroughly researched. I very much enjoyed this book.
January 2, 2011
This was a remarkable book, rich in research and yet completely "readable". Petropoulos deals with a controversial subject with great diplomacy and conviction.
September 19, 2007
This one is strictly for history buffs and royal-watchers.
January 9, 2014
Excellent
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews