Frederick Francis IV
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Reign10 April 1897 – 14 November 1918
PredecessorFrederick Francis III
Born(1882-04-09)9 April 1882
Palermo, Kingdom of Italy
Died17 November 1945(1945-11-17) (aged 63)
Flensburg, Germany
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1904)​
IssueHereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Franz
Duke Christian Ludwig
Duchess Olga
Duchess Thyra
Anastasia, Princess Friedrich Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
HouseMecklenburg-Schwerin
FatherFrederick Francis III
MotherAnastasia Mikhailovna of Russia

Frederick Francis IV (Friedrich Franz Michael; 9 April 1882 – 17 November 1945) was the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He inherited the throne when he was fifteen years old in 1897 and was forced to renounce it in 1918.

Early life

Born on 9 April 1882, Duke Frederick Francis IV was the son of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, then hereditary Grand duke, and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia. He was born in Palermo, Sicily at Villa Belmonte where his parents where staying to alleviate the faltering health of the hereditary Grand duke. Frederick Francis's father suffered from a weak heart, chronic asthma, and acute excemna and had to live part of the year away from Mecklenburg in a warmer climate. Frederick Francis's mother, raised in the splendor of the Russian imperial court and the Orthodox church, never got used to the provincial austerity of the Lutheran court of Schwerin, preferring to live abroad. Frederick Francis was one year old when he became the hereditary grand duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at the death of his grandfather Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 15 April 1883. Frederick Francis IV had an older sister, Alexandrine and a younger one, Cecilie. The three children were raised with simplicity and a lot of freedom by royal standards. Theirs was a polyglot household. The three siblings, who would remain very close throughout their lives learned English, French, German and Russian. The family spent only half of the year in Schwerin during the summer months. They stayed as little time as possible in Schwerin Castle surrounded by a lake preferring Gelbensande, a hunting lodge near Rostock and the Baltic Sea. There, the family led the simple life they preferred. Friederich Franz III spent most his time hunting, while Anastasia and the children rode or drove out, visited local people or enjoyed the beach and the surrounding forest. Every year from November until May, they live in Villa Welden in Cannes where they sail with their father and swin in the Meditterrenan. On their journey back to Germany thye stopped in Paris.

Following in his father's footsteps, Friedrich Franz was sent to study at the Vitzthumsche Gymnasium in Dresden. In April 1897, he joined his family in Cannes as his father's health declined. On April 10, while family and household were at dinner, a coachman found Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III unconscious at the bottom of the villa's 25-foot (7.6 m)-high retaining wall on the road below the rose-festooned parapet, which encircled the villa's garden. He had jumped in an attempt to end his life. He was carried back to the villa, where he died shortly after. The official report was that the sick grand duke, gasping for air, had gone to the balcony falling down over the railing accidentally. Frederick Francis, his mother and eldest sister Alexandrine, took the body back to Mecklenburg for the funeral.

He was born in Palermo the son of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia. Following in the footsteps of his father he studied at the Vitzthumsche Gymnasium in Dresden. He succeeded his father as Grand Duke upon his death on 10 April 1897, but due to his minority the grand duchy was governed by his uncle Duke Johann Albrecht as regent until Friedrich Franz came of age on 9 April 1901.[1]

Marriage and issue

On 7 June 1904, Frederick Francis married Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland in Gmunden. She was the second eldest daughter of Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, and his wife Princess Thyra of Denmark, a daughter of Christian IX of Denmark.

They had five children:[2]

Abdication

Following the 1918 suicide of Grand Duke Adolphus Frederick VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Frederick Francis took up the regency of Strelitz. This happened because the heir presumptive Duke Charles Michael was serving in the Russian Army at the time and had indicated that he wished to renounce his succession rights. Friedrich Franz abdicated the grand ducal throne on 14 November 1918 following the German Empire's defeat in World War I; the regency ended at the same time.[3]

After his abdication, he was initially not allowed to live in Mecklenburg and had to move to Denmark. A year later, he was permitted to return. He recovered some of his former properties and occupied some of his former homes. Frederick Francis died on 17 November 1945 in Flensburg after being arrested by No6 RAF Security section on 9 November 1945. He was succeeded as head of the grand ducal house by his son Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Franz.[3]

Honours

German decorations[4]
Foreign decorations[4]

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ^ "Celebration in Schwerin" (PDF). New York Times. 10 April 1901. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  2. ^ Online Gotha
  3. ^ a b House laws of Mecklenburg
  4. ^ a b Grossherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinscher Staatskalendar, 1908, p. 1
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha 1922 (1922) page 64
  6. ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Jørgen Pedersen (2009). Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 (in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 466. ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.

References

Frederick Francis IV House of Mecklenburg-SchwerinCadet branch of the House of MecklenburgBorn: 9 April 1882 Died: 17 November 1945 Regnal titles Preceded byFriedrich Franz III Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1897–1918 Succeeded byHugo Wendorffas President of the State Ministry Preceded byAdolf Friedrich VIas Grand Duke Regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1918 Succeeded byPeter Franz Stubmannas Chairman of the State Ministry Titles in pretence Loss of titleMonarchy abolished — TITULAR — Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1918–1945Reason for succession failure:Grand Duchy abolished in 1918 Succeeded byFriedrich Franz
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