| Full Name: | German: Albert Wilhelm Heinrich English: Albert William Henry | ||||||||||||
| Prince Henry of Prussia | |||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 14 August 1862 | ||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation | ||||||||||||
| House: | Hohenzollern | ||||||||||||
| Father: | Frederick III, German Emperor | ||||||||||||
| Mother: | Victoria, Princess Royal | ||||||||||||
| Issue: | |||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Schloss Hemmelmark, Barkelsby, Schleswig-Holstein, Weimar Republic | ||||||||||||
| Burial Date: | 24 April 1929 | ||||||||||||
| Burial Place: | Schloss Hemmelmark, Barkelsby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | ||||||||||||
| Signature: | China Under Empress Dowager (1914, p 015).svg | ||||||||||||
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Prince Henry of Prussia (German: Albert Wilhelm Heinrich; 14 August 1862 – 20 April 1929) was a younger brother of German Emperor Wilhelm II and a Prince of Prussia. Through his mother, he was also a grandson of Queen Victoria. A career naval officer, he held various commands in the Imperial German Navy and eventually rose to the rank of Grand Admiral and Generalinspekteur der Marine.
Born in Berlin, Prince Henry was the third child and second son of eight children born to Crown Prince Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III), and Victoria, Princess Royal (later Empress Victoria and in widowhood Empress Frederick), eldest daughter of the British Queen Victoria. Henry was three years younger than his brother, the future Emperor William II (born 27 January 1859). He was born on the same day as King Frederick William I "Soldier-King" of Prussia.
After attending the gymnasium in Kassel, which he left in the middle grades in 1877, the 15-year-old Henry entered the Imperial Navy cadet program. His naval education included a two-year voyage around the world (1878–1880), the naval officer examination (Seeoffizierhauptprüfung) in October 1880, and attending the German naval academy (1884–1886).
As an imperial prince, Henry quickly achieved command. In 1887, he commanded a torpedo boat and simultaneously the First Torpedo Boat Division; in 1888 the Imperial yacht SMY Hohenzollern; from 1889 to 1890 the protected cruiser, the coastal defense ship, the ironclad and the pre-dreadnought battleship .
From 1897, Prince Henry commanded several naval task forces; these included an improvised squadron that took part with the East Asia Squadron in consolidating and securing the German hold on the region of Kiaochow and the port of Tsingtao in 1898. The prince's success was more of the diplomatic than the military variety; he became the first European potentate ever to be received at the Chinese imperial court. In 1899 he became officially the commander of the East Asia Squadron, later of a capital-ship squadron and in 1903 commander of the Baltic Sea naval station. From 1906 to 1909, Henry was commander of the High Seas Fleet. In 1909, he was promoted to Grand Admiral.
At the beginning of World War I, Prince Henry was named as Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet. Although the means provided to him were far inferior to Russia's Baltic Fleet, he succeeded, until the 1917 Revolution, in putting Russian naval forces far on the defensive and hindered them from making attacks on the German coast. After the end of hostilities with Russia, his mission was ended, and Prince Henry simply left active duty. With the war's end and the dissolution of the monarchy in Germany, Prince Henry left the navy.
On 24 May 1888, Henry married Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, his first cousin. His dying father, German Emperor Frederick III and his mother Empress Victoria were in attendance. The marriage produced three children:
| Name | Picture | Birth | Death | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waldemar William Louis Frederick Victor Henry | 20 March 1889 | 2 May 1945 | Married Princess Calixta of Lippe-Biesterfeld, but had no issue. | ||
| William Victor Charles Augustus Henry Sigismund | 27 November 1896 | 14 November 1978 | Married Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg, had issue. | ||
| Henry Victor Louis Frederick | 9 January 1900 | 26 February 1904 | Was a haemophiliac and died aged four after bumping his head |
See main article: Haemophilia in European royalty.
Henry received one of the first pilot's licenses in Germany, and was judged a spirited and excellent seaman. He was dedicated to modern technology and was able to understand quickly the practical value of technical innovations. A yachting enthusiast, Prince Henry became one of the first members of the Yacht Club of Kiel, established by a group of naval officers in 1887, and quickly became the club's patron.
Henry was interested in motor cars as well and supposedly invented a windshield wiper[1] and, according to other sources, the car horn.
In his honor, the Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt (Prince Heinrich Tour) was established in 1908, like the earlier Kaiserpreis a precursor to the German Grand Prix. Henry and his brother William gave patronage to the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (Imperial Automobile Club). From 1911 to 1914 the British car makers Vauxhall Motors produced a model, the C-10, which was called the "Vauxhall Prince Henry" in his honour after initially being built for participation in the 1911 race.
After the German Revolution, Henry lived with his family in Hemmelmark near Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein. He continued with motor sports and sailing and even in old age was a very successful participant in regattas. He popularized the Prince Henry cap, which is still worn, especially by older sailors.
In 1899, Henry received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Engineering honoris causa) from the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (now Technische Universität Berlin) . Also in foreign countries he received numerous similar honors, including an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) from Harvard University in March 1902, during his visit to the United States.[2]
Prince Henry died of throat cancer on 20 April 1929 in Hemmelmark.[3]
George Burroughs Torrey painted a portrait of him.