Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Ludwig Adolf Friedrich, 2nd Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (born 8 June 1799 in Kovno, died 20 June 1866 in Cannes), from 1861 Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, was a Russo-German aristocrat. Among his properties were the famed Mir Castle Complex and Verkiai Palace.

Life and career

He was the eldest child of the celebrated German-Russian field marshal, Peter, 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg. Ludwig was half-Polish through his mother, Antonia Cäcilie Snarska (1778-1856), and was formally known in Russian as Lev Petrovich Vitgenshtein. In 1821, he represented Russia at the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, but his career came to a halt when his participation in the Decembrist societies was revealed in 1826. He secured a pardon through the intervention of his influential father.

On 1 May 1834, Ludwig's father was raised by King Frederick William III of Prussia from an Imperial Count to Prince of (Fürst zu) Sayn and Wittgenstein in the Kingdom of Prussia, where the family's mediatized German domain was located. He was also incorporated into the Russian nobility as a prince on 16 June 1834, where his family had been domiciled for two generations. Ludwig inherited both titles and passed the Russian titles on to his descendants.

Marriages and issue

On 14 June 1828 at St. Petersburg, Ludwig married Princess Caroline (Stefania) Radziwiłł (1809-1832) and thus came into possession of the largest privately owned estate in Central Europe, covering roughly 12,000 km² of fields, forests, villages and towns in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

They had two children:

• Marie (16 February 1829 - 21 December 1897); married Chlodwig, 2nd Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of the German Empire (31 March 1819 - 6 July 1901).
• Peter, Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (10 May 1831 - 20 Aug 1887); married Rosalie Léon (21 October 1832 - 28 August 1886).

Upon Stefania's death in 1832, Ludwig married his first cousin once removed, Princess Leonilla Bariatinskaya, by whom he had a further four children:

• Friedrich (3 April 1836 - 19 May 1909).
• Antoinette (12 March 1839 - 17 May 1918); married with issue.
• Ludwig (15 July 1843 - 28 February 1876).
• Alexander.