Queen Silvia's Family and Siblings - The Sommerlaths


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NJRedDevils

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does anyone have any information about Queen Silvia's brother's and their family.

I notice there is information on the King's sisters but nothing on the Queen's does anyone know anything about them:confused:

Thanks
 
Silvia has three older brothers: Walther Jr, Ralf and Jörg
Here´s a part about Silvias family from this article:
http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=148&a=216318&previousRenderType=2

Första gången Silvia kom till Brasilien var hon två år. Hon anlände med det brasilianska fartyget Santarem som hämtat hem de sydamerikaner som av någon anledning befunnit sig i Tyskland under andra världskriget. Med på fartyget var hennes två äldre bröder Ralf och Walther junior, och fyraårige Jörg Sommerlath.

Han hade fötts i Berlin under kriget.
Pappa Walther Sommerlath hade fått sin verkstadsfabrik bombad av de allierade och tvingats evakuera familjen från Nikolassee utanför Berlin till det skonade Heidelberg. Där föddes Silvia Renate, parets första och enda dotter, på lilljulafton 1943.

För mamma Alice de Toledo var situationen värst. Hon var brasilianska och hade träffat den unge tyske affärsmannen på stranden i Rio de Janeiro i mitten av tjugotalet. Trots att hon bara var sjutton år gifte de sig kort efter och flyttade till São Paulo. I slutet av trettiotalet försämrades däremot det politiska läget för tyskkolonin i staden och Walther bestämde sig för att ta med familjen till Tyskland.

Andra världskriget började, och när USA senare förklarade krig mot Tyskland anslöt sig Brasilien på de allierades sida. Brasilien skickade trupper till Italien och i en av dem ingick Alice bror, Silvias morbror. Han var läkare i den brasilianska armén och stred mot tyskarna i södra Italien.

Inte förrän efter den sista våldsamma attacken, slutstriden i Berlin 1945, kom Walther Sommerlath tillbaka till Heidelberg. Återresan till Brasilien kunde planeras.

De köpte ett rosa kolonialhus med vita knutar i centrala São Paulo och började ett nytt liv. Dotterbolaget till den tyska stålkoncernen Röchling-Buderus som Walther jobbat för tidigare i Brasilien fanns däremot inte kvar. Företaget lades ned efter kriget och koncernchefen Hermann Röchling dömdes till tio års fängelse för krigsförbrytelser.

Silvias pappa fick i stället i uppdrag av det svenska stålbolaget Uddeholm att bygga upp ett brasilianskt dotterbolag till dem. Snart blev han vd för dotterbolaget och familjens ekonomi var räddad. Silvia skrevs in på en tysk privatskola i São Paulo och fick så småningom ett eget rum på övervåningen. För att sprida glädje i det nya hemmet skaffade familjen en apa. Micki blev Silvias främsta lekkamrat under de kommande åren.

photo: the Sommerlath siblings at home in Heidelberg in 1944 (?)
 

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Photos the brothers: Jörg, Ralf and Walter
 

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Silvias youngest brother, 63 year old Jörg Sommerlath, is a diplomat working at the Brazilian embassy in Germany.
He is married to Simone and they have two children, 13 year old Helena and 11 year old Vivian

Early 2005 Jörg got the diagnosis cancer in the
throat and went throug an operation earlier this year at the hospital in Munich.
 

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Does she get to see them often?
 
I dont know that much about the Sommerlath cousins, other that Patrick Sommerlath, son of Walter.
He lives in Sweden and when he moved her in his teens he stayed with the royal family at Drottningholm and now he has a apartment at the royal mews, just like Madeleine
Patrik Sommerlath married actress Camilla Lundén around 2000/2001 and they has a son, Leopold. They are now divorced

The photo shows Patrick Sommerlath with princess Margrethas daughter Sibylla Ambler, at the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi in december 2003

Patrick with ex-wife Camilla Lundén in may 2003

Patrik in december 2003
 

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robby86 said:
Does she get to see them often?
They usually visit the royal family on Solliden every summer. And they were in Sweden in december 2003 when Silvia celebrated her 60th birthday
 
Siblings

Is Queen Silvia the youngest out of the four siblings?
 
Gita said:
Is Queen Silvia the youngest out of the four siblings?
Yes she is. Walter jr is the oldest, then comes Ralf (I think :) ), then Jörg and Silvia is the youngest
 
Here´s a photo from the funeral of Walter Sommerlath in 1990. The Queens mother in the middle, Silvia on the left and Carl Gustaf and Victoria.
Carl Philip and Madeleine wasn´t there, perhaps they were to little.
 

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Patrick Sommerlath

Hey everyone!

I once read that Queen Silvia´s nephew Patrick lived with the Royal family when he was younger?
Is that true? If yes, why did he live with them?
Thanks!
Helen
 
Yes its true. Patrik moved to Stockholm when he was a teenager to "get away" from his life at home. I think I´ve read somewhere that he was friends with not-so-nice people or something like that... and thats way his parents send him away
 
On a members-only site, a small world, Patrick Sommerlath, along with Lussan Gottlieb and other royal-related persons, has a profile.

In his photo he poses (probably :) ) with his son Leopold, godson of Patricks cousin crownprincess Victoria

photo from a small world via Aftonbladet
 

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I was curious about Queen Sylvia's father. I don't know much of the man except for his name. Does anybody know what he did for a living, how he met his Brazilian wife and, as a German, how he spent WWII?
 
Marengo said:
I was curious about Queen Sylvia's father. I don't know much of the man except for his name. Does anybody know what he did for a living, how he met his Brazilian wife and, as a German, how he spent WWII?
Walter and Alice met at Copacabana around the year of 1925. They were very young, Alice was only 17 I belive. Walther was a bussness man who had a factory in Germany during WWII. During the war his factory made some war-related material so he did not serve and lived with his family in Heidelberg. I think his factory in Berlin was bombed and possibly destroyed.
After the war the Sommelath family left Germany for Brazil, where mother Alice was born, and they lived in a villa in Sao Paolo and Walther worked for the swedish company Uddeholm
 
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Thanks a lot Yennie. Did Walter sr. stay in Brazil untill his death? And does anybody know a website with some more information about Queen Sylvia's anscestors, her grandparents to start with for example?

So the Alice went from the Copacabana to the black forest, that must have been quite a change!
 
Yennie said:
Walter and Alice met at Copacabana around the year of 1925. They were very young, Alice was only 17 I belive. Walther was a bussness man who had a factory in Germany during WWII. During the war his factory made some war-related material so he did not serve and lived with his family in Heidelberg. I think his factory in Berlin was bombed and possibly destroyed.
After the war the Sommelath family left Germany for Brazil, where Sylvia was born, and they lived in a villa in Sao Paolo and Walther worked for the swedish company Uddeholm

Silvia was born in Heidelberg, Germany not in Brazil.
 
Marengo said:
Thanks a lot Yennie. Did Walter sr. stay in Brazil untill his death? And does anybody know a website with some more information about Queen Sylvia's anscestors, her grandparents to start with for example?

So the Alice went from the Copacabana to the black forest, that must have been quite a change!
The returned to Germany around 1950 i think because Silvia went to School in Germany. Both her parents lived in heidelberg in their later years where Walter Sommerlath also died.
 
Stefan said:
Silvia was born in Heidelberg, Germany not in Brazil.
sorry, mixed up the names :) It should be where ALICE was born
 
Marengo said:
Thanks a lot Yennie. Did Walter sr. stay in Brazil untill his death? And does anybody know a website with some more information about Queen Sylvia's anscestors, her grandparents to start with for example?

So the Alice went from the Copacabana to the black forest, that must have been quite a change!
No the Sommerlath family returned to Europe and Germany. Walther Sr lived in Heidelberg until his death in 1990. His wife Alice moved to Sweden to live with her daughter in mid-90s and had an apartment at Drottningholm. She died at Drottningholm in march 1997
 
Thanks everybody for the information. The wikipedia link was interesting too, especially as it described that Walter did become a member of the Nazi party, and stayed one untill it was abolished. I believe it was rather common to become a member though, especially for those who were in business. Or did Walter sr. become a member out of idealistic principles?
Did his wife get a German passport btw or did she stick to the Brazilian nationality?

And another question, did they stay in Germany, move to Brazil..etc?
 
Marengo said:
Thanks a lot Yennie. Did Walter sr. stay in Brazil untill his death? And does anybody know a website with some more information about Queen Sylvia's anscestors, her grandparents to start with for example?

So the Alice went from the Copacabana to the black forest, that must have been quite a change!

Heidelberg is not at the border of the Schwarzwald ("Black Forest") but of the Odenwald (Old germanic "Odin's Forest", where Siegfried of the Nibelung Saga was killed by Hagen). South of the Odenwald comes a picturesque landscape with softly rolling hills called the "Kraichgau" and only south of Kraichgau the first hills of the Black Forest start, leading down to the Swiss Border.

Heidelberg is at the end of a road called "Bergstraße", that starts in the Frankfort area and is famous for it's warm and sunny climate and the abundance of fruit and wine which is grown here. So it was not that much of a change in climate as Heidelberg nights are famous for being "tropic" and very hot in summer - one has to get used to them when studying in Heidelberg...
 
Hey! I've a question! :question:
The mother of queen silvia was called Alice de Toledo! Is the family of the queens mother from spain?
There is a town or village called Toledo!

Does someone now more about this?
 
Queen Silvia's mother was Brazilian, there are several posts above about the Sommerlath family living in Brazil for some years.
 
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