Prince Louis-Ferdinand of Prussia (November 9, 1907 - September 26, 1994 Hohenzollern was the the pretender to the abolished German monarchy, opponent of the Nazi party in Germany, a business man, and patron of the arts.

Louis-Ferdinand was born as the third in succession to the throne over the German Empire, after his father, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and elder brother Prince Wilhelm of Prussia . The monarchy was abolished after Germany's defeat in World War I. Since Prince Wilhelm renounced his throne to marry a commoner in 1933, Louis-Ferdinand took over in the line of succession.

Louis-Ferdinand was educated in Berlin and deviated from his family's tradition by not pursuing a military career. Instead, he travelled extensively and settled for some time in Detroit, where he befriended Henry Ford and became acquainted with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, among others. He held a great interest in engineering. Recalled from the United States upon his brother's renounciation of the throne, he got involved in the German aviation industry, but was barred by Hitler from taking any active part in German military activities.

Louis-Ferdinand disassociated himself from the Nazis after this, and may even have been involved in the July 20 Plot against Hitler in 1944.

He married the Grand Duchess Kira Kirilovna of Russia in 1938 in first a Russian Orthodox in Potsdam and then Protestant ceremony in Haus Dorn , Netherlands. They had four sons and three daughters. His son Prince Louis-Ferdinand II died in 1977 during military maneuvers, and the current heir to the Prussian imperial throne and head of the Hohenzollern family is Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia.

After the reunification of Germany, Louis-Ferdinand arranged to have the remains of several Hohenzollern members reinterred at the imperial vault in Potsdam.

External links

European Royal History entry on Prince Louis-Ferdinand