You are right, Tilia C.
To be cynical this will smells more like a safeguard against a poor golddigger, or common riff raff and ensuring the social standard.
Secondary to prevent someone to marry someone of a, shall we say, undesirable skin color. In that way the grandfather probably wasn't much different than the majority of Europeans of that age.
What is interesting is that such a will, that clearly discriminate against at least non-nobles, is valid. The Aryan bit could probably be circumnavigated in court, but is a condition of nobility discrimination or not when it comes to inheritance?
Perhaps someone with a knowledge of wills can explain?
It is a sort of
Fidei Commisum construction which is an inheritance system based on Roman Law aimed to keep the bulk of a family's heritage unfragmented for the benefit and usufruct of the (head of) the family. The family as a whole (rather than individual members) was the juridical owner of the heritage. It is a testamentary obligation for the heirs to keep the heritage and, on their turn, pass it in at least the same state to their successive heirs.
Like in many European countries, also in Germany the
Fidei Commisum was ended (in 1938). This because such a system blocks the proper workings of the general heritage regulation that all children have the right on an equal part of the heritage. For historic Fidei Commisum-regulations there was a period to change it. Many families erected Family Foundations or made remainders for usufruct. So to see the inheritance of Prince Gustav also had a
remainder. The German Law allows
Nießbrauch an einer Erbschaft (Usufruct of a heritage), § 1089 of the Civic Code, set by special remainder.
For example, if the owner of property makes a grant of that property to his eldest grandon, then that grandson becomes the
remainderman, he is entitled to a future interest, the remainder. Such a remainder can have requirements for beneficiaries for purposes of the trust, he has to be 'qualified’. The requirement that a remainderman for a large historic noble heritage dequalifies when not engaging in an
Ebenbürtige marriage is not
that weird and outrageous for a heritage which mainly consists of ancestral estates, domains, lands and properties with the aim to keep the high historic noble standing and patrimonium of a House.
Gustav is in not at all hindranced, he can marry Ms Axelsson if he wants. He is not the only Sayn-Wittgenstein walking around. There are other gentlemen who do meet the requirements in the Will and they will surely fight in Court, pointing to the fact that Gustav did not 'qualify' and this means that the estate, should go to the most senior closest male relative who does completely fit inside the set conditions and requirements. There lies the problem. I believe that when Prince Richard dies and Gustav is the final owner, he can eventually change the remainder. But Carina will then be too old for children. That means that the inheritance still will go to the most senior male relative fitting in the original remainder.
The younger brother of Prince Gustav's father is the most senior male relative. He however married twice with ladies not meeting the requirements. The second most senior male relative is Bernhart
Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein who married Katharina, daughter of Max
Graf von Podewilz-Dürniz and of Elisabeth
Freifrau von Hirschberg. They have a young son, Wenzel
Erbprinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein.
Yeah, and the most ironic thing about all that Aryan nonsense is that, as far as I understand, the most pure aryans alive today are Northern Indians.
