Monday, July 27, 2009

Hohenzollern house laws discarded in court case

July 27, 1921

In Berlin, the Common Court has awarded custody of Prince Karl Franz Joseph to his mother, Princess Marie Auguste, according to the New York Times. The court refused to recognize the house laws of the former ruling Hohenzollerns, and return the young boy to his mother.
Prince Eitel Friedrich, the second son of the former Kaiser and the legal head of the House of Hohenzollern, argued that he had the right to "dispose of life and limb in the Hohenzollern family." He also claimed the right to have his youngest brother's son, "alleging that the mother was not a fit person for his guardianship, inasmuch as she had run away from her husband and child, and it was rumored, not alone."
Princess Joachim pleaded in court that "she was heartbroken and shattered, which won the case for her."
Prince Karl Franz Joseph was the couple's only child. He was born in 1916. At the time of Joachim's suicide in 1920, he and his wife were largely estranged.

4 comments:

Cabri said...

What is a Common Court? Civil Law / Family Law Court I suppose.

Indeed House Laws can never overrule the Civil Code. The HRH had to learn that Germany is a republic and not only in name -)

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Or a translation from the German of the court's name ... the New York Times referred to it as Common Court.

Anonymous said...

Is this the homosexual son of the Kaiser?

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Yes, it is understood that Eitel Friedrich was gay