Europe's Oldest Royal Bids Us Adieu: Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuß Dies Aged 100

Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuß (1918-2019; née Mecklenburg-Schwerin)

HH Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuß, born Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, passed away yesterday, 3 June, at Strittmatt, Schwarzwald, Germany. The princess was 100 years old and the eldest surviving European royal. She had suffered from a short illness.

Princess Woizlawa Feodora celebrates her 100th birthday in December 2018

The 100th birthday of Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuß was celebrated on 20 December 2018 with a ceremony at the Gera Theatre. Her maternal grandfather was the last reigning prince in Gera. There, the princess had witnessed how the castle was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1945. As a result, her family fled.

Fellow friends and family fête the princess on her 100th anniversary of life

In 1991, Woizlawa Feodora returned to Gera and lived there for fifteen years. Since then, she had a home in the Black Forest. It was there that she celebrated her 100th birthday on Monday, 17 December 2018. At the ceremony in Gera, students of the special music class performed at the Geraer Rutheneum. The Gymnasium was founded 400 years ago by Count Heinrich II Reuß.

Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin with his daughter Woizlawa Feodora

A young Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born at Rostock, Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 17 December 1918. She was the only child of Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1873-1969) and Princess Victoria Feodora Reuß zu Schleiz (1889-1918, a day after her daughter's birth). In 1939, Woizlawa Feodora married Prince Heinrich I Reuß zu Köstritz (1910-1982): the couple had one daughter and five sons. 

Princess Woizlawa Feodora with her cousin Prince Heinrich XIV Reuß, Head of the Family, at the wedding of her granddaughter Princess Benigna in 2011

Woizlawa Feodora was one of the three remaining members of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, after her cousins Donata and Edwina. The princess was a first cousin of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (1876–1938), Queen Alexandrine of Denmark (1879–1952), German Crown Princess Cecilie (1886–1954), and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004).

For more on the Royal Families of Europe, please subscribe to ERHJ by clicking on the link:

Subscribe to Eurohistory!