Prince Gustav and Carina Axelsson, Current Events Part 2: Aug 2009 - June 2022

[Muhler]

Part 3.

Gustav's childhood.
He turned 50 this month.
"My childhood at Berleburg was very intensive. I grew up in the house behind the manor (the building where Benedikte live today.)
I know exactly where I lived when I was very small and where I eventually ended up living, in the same room.
It was the same room for 30 years."

In 2005 he moved in at the main building.
"As a child I had my friends in Berleburg and they came here at the manor. (He went to the local school, under the name of Prinz Gustav BTW.) For the first part of my time in school I went to the local school about fifteen minutes from here. Initially we played inside the manor, but as we grew older we started playing soccer. My father wasn't happy about us playing in the park. We ruined not only the lawn but also the flowers. So we were allocated a lawn outside the park. That was our soccer field. It was so big. (As in great!) I clearly remember that."

His days in school, weeell...
"I was just an ordinary boy who just liked playing soccer. And as such I wasn't perhaps as focused on school as my father would have liked. Mathematics was absolutely not my strong side. But then I got a private tutor who taught me mathematics and then it fortunately went better.
I loved nature and being outside and soccer was back then the biggest thing for me.
When I was young they found out that I have muscular dystrophy. That put it's mark om my childhood.
I couldn't really understand why I couldn't walk, but my parents saw it, especially my father. That's why I was often at the hospital and I hated being committed. So when I was five and six I spend a lot of time at the hospital. I underwent surgery. Yes, I also had my tonsils removed. When I went to Denmark it was always because I had to go to the hospital. I didn't understand it."

His father was in despair and encouraged his son to do a lot of exercise on order to strengthen his muscles.
"Once in a while my father asked me: Gustav! Have you gone up and down the stairs? Have you been hopping on one leg?
And I hadn't. But fortunately he did with the best intentions.

But apart from running up and down the stairs, Gustav was also signed up for judo and taekwondo. He doesn't seemed to have enjoyed that, but in the summer he was at least allowed to play tennis.
"But all my friends played soccer and one day they took me along to practice. And then I discovered that this was something for me.
My father accepted that as long as I didn't neglect school.
If my grades were bad, he said with a twinkle in his eyes: If you don't improve in school, you won't be allowed to play soccer."

When he was 14 Gustav was send off to the boarding school, Louisenlund, not far from the Danish border. That became six years of his life that he loved.
"That was the best time of my life. With the ups and downs that followed. All you had to go through with love and if you did things that were forbidden. Louisenlund had it all.
That time is a big part of me and I often think back on that time. The years at the boarding school made who I am today. It has also shaped me. I also had friends in Berleburg, but the friends for life, those I found at Luisenlund."

Benedikte was also pleased with Louisenlund, because it was located near the route to Denmark.
"The area where the school is located was once Danish. For my mother it was fun to have me closer to Denmark. Because then she could just drive up to visit me or pick me up when we were going on vacation in Denmark. So that was practical.
Louisenlund was perfect and she was completely in agreement with me attending a boarding school. She had after all been to a boarding school herself. So she knew how it was."

But there was also focus on him, because he is a Prince. (And a Prinz.)
"Of course there was particular focus on me and my family. Not least because of my mother. That is... a Danish royal Princess. I wasn't that keen about it. Both when journalists and photographers came down to Berleburg, but often at the boarding school there was a photographer who stood there with his long lens. I couldn't run around freely and it was frightfully annoying.
When there was a shooting-party (a central European/German tradition) at Berleburg there came two or three photographers. I just wanted to be left alone with my friends and I couldn't.
I always had to behave and be dressed neatly. Back then I hated it. Now I have gotten used to it And now it's not a problem.

Gustav was from early childhood made aware that he was eventually to take over Schloss Berleburg and trained by his father in running such a huge estate.
Schloss Berleburg was build in the 1200's and it has been in possession of the family for more than 700 years.
No one really know how many square meters it is, but there are more than 60 rooms there. To Berleburg belongs, apart from the town, some 13.000 hectares of forest. So forestry constitute the main income of the manor.

Today Gustav is a man of 50.
"As someone very correctly said. It's but a number. I'm fine but I can tell that I have grown older. When I look at myself in the mirror I suddenly see that I have gotten grey hairs. And sometimes I wake up in the morning and feel so sore. Then you feel like an old man.
But I also feel like a young man, who can do it all. You can do everything so long as you feel fit.
I have a weakness for sweet things and I have to stop that. I have told myself that." - While looking longingly at the pastry served at the interview.

- The next post will contain the scans as well what Gustav has to say about his father, and the death of his father.

 

[Somebody]

Gustav was from early childhood made aware that he was eventually to take over Schloss Berleburg and trained by his father in running such a huge estate.

I wonder whom he is training to take it over. He talks fondly about his nephew count Richard. But as he is his sister's instead of his brother's son, I assume Berleburg cannot be passed on to him or is there a way around it?

 

[Muhler]

I wonder whom he is training to take it over. He talks afondly bout his nephew count Richard. But as he is his sister's instead of his brother's son, I assume Berleburg cannot be passed on to him or is there a way around it?

Good question!
I understand that other branches of the extended family have voiced a future claim on Berleburg. But surely a true-born son of a younger sister can inherit the place, right?
Does the Aryan-clause in the testament also apply to the next generation as well?

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I thought the testament only had effect on Prince Richard and Prince Gustav. The idea was that the inheritance officially bypassed Prince Richard but he executed the ownership rights as long as he was the Fürst (= having the usufruct).

Now Prince Richard has passed away, Prince Gustav is not only the owner he already was since his birth, but now also has the usufruct of it, since he is the Fürst himself.

By my understanding, with this his grandfather's Will is now executed and as Fürst and Chef des Hauses Prince Gustav is free to make arrangements he sees fit. Maybe there are limitations, for an example properties which are part of a Fideï Commis (a protected part of an estate) which are assigned from Fürst to Fürst.

But in Sweden we have seen that the King and Prince Carl Philip were able to change the Galliera Foundation, so that not the eldest son (= Carl Philip) is the beneficiary but the bearer of the Crown (= Victoria). I think that Prince Gustav is equally able to make his own arrangements.

 

[Muhler]

Part four.

Gustav's relationship with his father and the death of Prince Richard.

As mentioned previously Gustav was taught from early on about the estate.
"I grew up with Berleburg on my mind every single day. So that came gradually. And my father made it clear to at an early age that Berleburg was to be mine. You will inherit it one day, he said.
My father explained what it meant to me and the responsibility dawned on me in earnest during my teens.
But of course my father had worries. At the boarding school I learned to be responsible. Later on I joined the military where I learned about leadership. So it has never been terrifying for to take over Berleburg."

Father and son were very different but they shared a common love for nature.
"When I look back my father was very different. He did things his way and I didn't feel good about it, when my father was angry with one of the employees. He did it in a way, so that I could that it made them sorry. My father did after all roar at people (not shout, roar) when they had something wrong. I soon decided that I wouldn't be like that.
One of the reasons why I and my father had such a good relationship was probably also that we were so very different. If I had been just like him, we would probably not have had such a good relationship with each other.
My father has had a big significance for me. On one hand he was my father, but he also became a good friend.
He was in many ways a rough person, from whom I learned a lot. Good things as well as bad things. Sometimes I laugh at myself because I do exactly like he did. And on the phone we could sound exactly alike. So much so that the person in the other end could be in doubt as to who he or she actually spoke to.
My father was a person with a lot of humor who could easily laugh at himself. But he could also be rough. He had a hard shell, but he was soft inside. But the shell fortunately became softer the older he got."

Prince Richard died 13th March 2017.
"If we can all die the way he died, then I'm not afraid of dying.
My father had had a perfectly normal day. I went over to him around 08.30 like I always did. He wasn't well for the last three months and the health was far from what was desirable. He had problems with the blood pressure. We tried to get it under control and it was the plan that he should see a specialist."

On that day Gustav had arranged that someone took his father for a drive through the forest in the morning, but in the afternoon they were to drive together. At 16.00.
"He stood there, ready. Had dressed himself. It was a beautiful day with blue and clear sky."

On the way, they pick up Princess Alexandra and leave it to Prince Richard to decide where to go.
"There is laughter in the car and we have such a cozy time. We see deer and a big group of wild boars and it was a beautiful day.
But suddenly he would like to go home. He loved to see the TV-series about the detective Colombo and would like to go back before it started.
When we come home, I help him up the stairs and we agree to speak later in the evening. We never did that. The last time I see him alive is on the stairs.
An hour later my phone ring... In a split-second I ran over to his house. And there he lay. In the bed. Where he had fallen asleep. The glasses on the nose, the remote in his right hand, while the left hand lay on top of a newspaper on his belly."

Richard's dogs lie around him. One has put it's head on him, the others only react when Gustav and Alexandra go in the door.
"Shortly before he died, my mother had fortunately phoned him.
He was in particular afraid of that he might die in a hospital. He didn't wish that at all.
But that's up to you to decide, I calmed him.
He was 82 years old, he had enjoyed life and he wasn't well towards the end. He was a character and he could indeed be rough, but those who knew him did after all like him.
In 2003 he was very ill and if he had died back then, it would have been harder for me. I was fortunately with him at the end."

That's it.
A very frank interview.

And here are the scans of this weeks issue of BB.
https://app.box.com/s/w1jgndxmfnfgyaf8x8336k81y4a3314x

 

[polyesco]

... If we hit a window that broke our mormor came out and asked: Who was it?
Then we all pointed at Frederik, after which mormor said: You mustn't do that again.
When mormor had gone, Frederik asked: Why do you all point at me?
And we did that because he would never get a scolding.
My mormor really knew how to bring the family together."

Now that is cute.
My cousins and I would do something similar when we wanted grandma to cook a special treat; we mentioned that it was my brother who wanted it. She always took his requests more seriously then from others ?

thank you Muhler for the Interview summaries and translations.
Gustav seems like he is happy in his forest and with his dogs

 

[Muhler]

Yes, he seems happy. And because he and Carina have no children, and by now are most unlikely ever to have one, they can of course spend periods away from each other. Perhaps it's the reunions that maintains the spark in their relationship?

Keep in mind that Richard and Benedikte were often apart during their marriage and yet, their marriage was strong for them to share the same bed, according to Gustav, except towards the end.
I must admit it's difficult for me to imagine such a relationship, but if it works for others, who am I to judge.

 

[Al_bina]

Thanks for the translation of Prince Gustav's interview!

It is nice that Prince Gustav and Ms Axelsson are still a couple. One can conclude that Prince Gustav has made the decision to be an uncle.

 

[iceflower]

I found the part about Prince Richard's last day very touching to read.

How nice that Gustav was so extremely open and honest when being confronted with all these personal interview questions. That says something for him.

And this part was cute:

That's why I have of course asked Carina why she want's to be with me, if she believe I'm a bit - uncultured - But you are so maddeningly sweet and there is something about you, I like so much, she says.

Thanks a lot for sharing the interview, Muhler!

Meanwhile Carina checked the replies to her prize game:


** Photo **

 

[Muhler]

Thank you all of you. ?

I felt I didn't really know Prince Gustav and now I have a much better picture of him.
He seems in so many ways to be just like his father, but without the negative traits Prince Richard had.
Prince Gustav is a man who appears to be easy to like.

 

[eya]

Sunday magic posted by Carina of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. !

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs3d4wCHHlu/

Carina talking yesterday about her book in BBC Cornwall and Kids Fun Radio

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtG_6PCHdlN/

Carina met Paddington!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtO3SXiHyiy/

Carina visit schools to promote her book!!


https://www.instagram.com/p/BtQlyfvnQwB/

 

[Muhler]

Magic indeed!

Is that a new bridge?
I don't recall having seen Neuschwanstein from that angle before, and I have quite a few photos of the place as screensavers.

 

[iceflower]

My guess is that the stairs (or bridge) don't exist in reality. If you look at the Instagram account she has shared it from, you'll see that the artist does a lot of magical, illusional artwork..

 

[Kataryn]

My guess is that the stairs (or bridge) don't exist in reality. If you look at the Instagram account she has shared it from, you'll see that the artist does a lot of magical, illusional artwork..

I'm with Iceflower here. While there is the possibility to take a pic of the castle from that corner, you'd be much higher up in the mountains or much closer to the castle. On either point there is no possibility of such a walk.



Here's a link to a page where you can see the castle from the available points for pictures.
https://www.zigzagonearth.com/photograph-neuschwanstein-castle/#tab-con-3

 

[Muhler]

Thanks. ?

Well done.

 

[iceflower]

.

Carina signed books in Newcastle today and drummed up business for the town and its bookshop

** Video **

 

[Kataryn]

Read today, alas, in a rather unreliable paper - German BILD - that Prince Gustav's cousin Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand is in a legal struggle with Gustav since Prince Richard died, because of that old will and the fact that Gustav is openly inb a relationship with "Non-Aryan" Carina. The paper writes that the private estate is held in custody by a asset management company till a court will decide in March if Gustav can inherit the estate and the position of Head of the House despite being "in a relationship" with a woman who is not eligible as his wife, according to that will.

Not sure if this is true, but if so, we'll get a (first) decision of the case in March.

 

[muriel]

Read today, alas, in a rather unreliable paper - German BILD - that Prince Gustav's cousin Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand is in a legal struggle with Gustav since Prince Richard died, because of that old will and the fact that Gustav is openly inb a relationship with "Non-Aryan" Carina. The paper writes that the private estate is held in custody by a asset management company till a court will decide in March if Gustav can inherit the estate and the position of Head of the House despite being "in a relationship" with a woman who is not eligible as his wife, according to that will.

Not sure if this is true, but if so, we'll get a (first) decision of the case in March.

What a ridiculous mess this is!

 

[Tia]

Read today, alas, in a rather unreliable paper - German BILD - that Prince Gustav's cousin Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand is in a legal struggle with Gustav since Prince Richard died, because of that old will and the fact that Gustav is openly inb a relationship with "Non-Aryan" Carina. The paper writes that the private estate is held in custody by a asset management company till a court will decide in March if Gustav can inherit the estate and the position of Head of the House despite being "in a relationship" with a woman who is not eligible as his wife, according to that will.

Not sure if this is true, but if so, we'll get a (first) decision of the case in March.

Indeed what a mess. And to take advantage of a will totally infuenced by the Nazi ideology...
Ludwig-Ferdinand's daughter Princess Anna von Bayern is journalist and works for BILD. So they have first hand information I guess.

 

[JR76]

Read today, alas, in a rather unreliable paper - German BILD - that Prince Gustav's cousin Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand is in a legal struggle with Gustav since Prince Richard died, because of that old will and the fact that Gustav is openly inb a relationship with "Non-Aryan" Carina.

One thing with this whole affair that has always puzzled me is why it's stated that Gustav's uncle Robin didn't marry in accordance with the stipulations of the will when his wife Birgitta af Klercker is noble and, being a Swede, most likely both an aryan and a Protestant. This would mean that Robin would be first in line to take over Berleburg if Gustav married Carina.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Read today, alas, in a rather unreliable paper - German BILD - that Prince Gustav's cousin Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand is in a legal struggle with Gustav since Prince Richard died, because of that old will and the fact that Gustav is openly inb a relationship with "Non-Aryan" Carina. The paper writes that the private estate is held in custody by a asset management company till a court will decide in March if Gustav can inherit the estate and the position of Head of the House despite being "in a relationship" with a woman who is not eligible as his wife, according to that will.

Not sure if this is true, but if so, we'll get a (first) decision of the case in March.

It is the Bild...
Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand has zero comma zero position as Prince Gustav is not married at all and therefore not breaking the Will.

 

[Biri]

But who will be the head of the Sayn-Wittgenstein House after Gustav passes away?

 

[Muhler]

Read today, alas, in a rather unreliable paper - German BILD - that Prince Gustav's cousin Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand is in a legal struggle with Gustav since Prince Richard died, because of that old will and the fact that Gustav is openly inb a relationship with "Non-Aryan" Carina. The paper writes that the private estate is held in custody by a asset management company till a court will decide in March if Gustav can inherit the estate and the position of Head of the House despite being "in a relationship" with a woman who is not eligible as his wife, according to that will.

Not sure if this is true, but if so, we'll get a (first) decision of the case in March.

Well, it's not the first time another member of the extended family has laid claim to Berleburg.
I can't remember who, perhaps Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand, has some years ago made it clear that Berleburg will revert to the inner circle of the family, if Gustav doesn't produce an heir in accordance with the will.
Gustav may have been putting his nephew Richard in position as the heir to Berleburg, as was suggested in the recent interview, where he made it very clear how fond he is of the young man.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

But who will be the head of the Sayn-Wittgenstein House after Gustav passes away?

Purely from agnatic position:


0. Gustav Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
1. Robin Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (uncle of Prince Gustav)
--------
The son of Prince Robin is no heir since he married a non-noble lady
--------
2. Bernhart, Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
3. Wenzel, Erbprinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein

 

[JR76]

Purely from agnatic position:


0. Gustav Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
1. Robin Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (uncle of Prince Gustav)
--------
The son of Prince Robin is no heir since he married a non-noble lady
--------
2. Bernhart, Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
3. Wenzel, Erbprinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein

According to an article I read the Hohensteins are not in the line of succession and ineligible to inherit Berleburg since the adoption of Christian-Heinrich. It's an unconfirmed source though. Regarding Ludwig-Ferdinand, while he himself made an ebenbürtig marriage his oldest son didn't. His younger son August is still unmarried. If true the Sayns are quickly stumbling against extinction unless the family could come to an agreement regarding a change of the rules regarding marriages.

http://www.castleholic.com/2018/08/new-developments-infamous-sayn.html?m=1

 

[Kataryn]

One thing with this whole affair that has always puzzled me is why it's stated that Gustav's uncle Robin didn't marry in accordance with the stipulations of the will when his wife Birgitta af Klercker is noble and, being a Swede, most likely both an aryan and a Protestant. This would mean that Robin would be first in line to take over Berleburg if Gustav married Carina.

It can't be that because not only there is Robin, but a lot of others who have married according to the will aqnd are closer to the title of the Head of the House than Robin. I read a statement of the lawyer and he said that it's difficult to know how the will is to be interpret nowadays when the stipulated situation did not come to pass.

The things seems to be: Richard should have managed the estate and money till Gustav, the heir, married according to the will. Richard reacted to that stipulation, when Gustav did simply not marry, by handing over the management to his son. Neither Richard and Gustav ever owned the estate, but they could manage it within the stipulations of the will.


The inheritance is so linked to the will that legally, they steal speak of the estate of the late grandfather of Gustav. This grandfather who made Richard the manager of the estate till Gustav fulfilled the stipulation and became heir did not think of a situation like this where Richard simply accepted his son's decision and handed over the reins to him.


So after Richard's death, the whole potential heirs would have gathered and discussed the will, because they all together could in that situation decide what to do with the Headship of the House and the estate. That has happened with other families of the former nobility and if all agnats agreed their decision would become law. But obviously at least one opposed and now a German court has to decide. And after that in all probability another.


The lawyer said that this is a matter best discussed and agreed upon within the family, so I think this is what happened and they couldn't agree. And it doesn't matter in such a situation who is first in line or not, but who is accepted as agnat of the family.

 

[victor1319]

A local paper paper has the story too (in german):
https://www.wp.de/staedte/wittgenst...enstein-beschaeftigt-gericht-id216364653.html

They, Prince Gustav and Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, are, according to this newspaper "Westfalenpost", fighting over a fortune of 500 million Euros. Among it a large forest of 14 000 ha - 140 square Kilometers!

That is some money!

 

[Somebody]

I assumed it was all about money. It would be great if a judge would rule that those discriminatory rules (about Aryan descent) should not longer be held up and are considered void for that reason.

 

[MsJulie]

I assumed it was all about money. It would be great if a judge would rule that those discriminatory rules (about Aryan descent) should not longer be held up and are considered void for that reason.

I agree with you, but is there any Judge brave enough to stand up for what is right and not be afraid of any threats that may come along

 

[COUNTESS]

If Germany, as it should have, repudiated the Nazis, then this will should be Null and Void. It is the essence of bigotry and racism. How any German Court, today would uphold this is beyond me. Why have they not tried?