| Wilhelm Karl Prinz von Preussen | |
| Spouse: | Armgard von Veltheim |
| Issue: | Donata Wilhelm-Karl Oscar |
| Father: | Prince Oskar of Prussia |
| Mother: | Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz |
| Birth Date: | 30 January 1922 |
| Birth Place: | Potsdam, Weimar Republic |
| Death Place: | Holzminden, Germany |
| Burial Date: | 13 April 2007 |
| Burial Place: | Bornstedter Friedhof, Potsdam, Germany |
| Full Name: | Wilhelm Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff |
| House: | Hohenzollern |
Wilhelm Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff Prinz von Preussen (30 January 1922, in Potsdam – 9 April 2007, in Holzminden) was the third son of Prince Oskar of Prussia, and the last surviving grandson of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor. He was the thirty-sixth Master of Knights (Herrenmeister) of the Protestant (and largely German) Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), also known as Der Johanniterorden, as his father's successor and his son's predecessor.
Wilhelm-Karl was the youngest of Prince Oskar of Prussia and Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz's four children.[1] Having been admitted to the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem (known unofficially as the Johanniterorden, the Protestant successor of the mediaeval Knights Hospitaller) in 1944, he later succeeded his father as its head, serving as the thirty-sixth Herrenmeister ("Master of the Knights") of the Order from 1958 until 1999. Wilhelm-Karl worked tirelessly to keep the Order intact during the Cold War and helped to reunite its membership after the fall of East Germany.
Amongst other orders and awards, Wilhelm-Karl received the Grand Merit Cross (with star) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Grand Cross of the Order pro merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
In 1952, Wilhelm-Karl married Armgard Else Helene von Veltheim (17 February 1926 - 1 November 2019), daughter of Friedrich von Veltheim (1881-1955) and his wife, Ottonie von Alvensleben (1883-1960). The couple had two sons and a daughter:[1]
This page is a translation of the article in the German language Wikipedia