Bernhart, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
| Bernhart | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein | |
| Head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein | |
| Period | 17 August 1983 - present |
| Predecessor | Prince Christian Heinrich |
| Heir-Apparent | Prince Wenzel |
| Born | 15 November 1962 |
| Spouse | Countess Katharina von Podewils-Durniz |
| Issue | Wenzel, Hereditary Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein |
| Father | Christian-Heinrich, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein |
| Mother | Princess Dagmar of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein |
| Religion | Lutheran |
Bernhart Otto Peter, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (born 15 November 1962) is a German businessman and the current head of the Princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein.
Prince Bernhart was born in Marburg the son of Christian-Heinrich, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein and Princess Dagmar of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1919–2003).
Prince Bernhart was married at Schwarzenau, Germany on 31 August 1996 to Countess Katharina von Podewils-Durniz, the daughter of diplomat Count Max von Podewils-Dürniz and his wife Baroness Elisabeth von Hirschberg. She has a doctorate in Art History and in 2003 was appointed Sotheby's representative in Hamburg. The couple have one child, Wenzel, Hereditary Prince (Erbprinz) of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (b. 1997).
Prince Bernhart is Chairman of the Board of the Fürst Wittgenstein`sche Waldbesitzergesellschaft Forestry company and also joint Managing Director of Verlag Dashoefer' publishers. He was the patron of the 300th Anniversary celebrations for the Schwarzenau Brethren, which were held on his estate in 2008.
Four dynastic branches of the princely House of Sayn were extant at the beginning of the 20th century, each possessing its own secundogeniture. In order of seniority of legitimate descent from their progenitor, Ludwig I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein (1532-1605), they were the:
Some of these lines had junior branches, dynastic and non-dynastic, the latter including families whose right to the princely title was recognized by the Russian, Prussian and Bavarian monarchies, whereas other morganatic branches used lesser titles in Germany.
On the death of Ludwig, 3rd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn in 1912, the eldest of his three sons, Hereditary Prince August (1868-1947), became 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein and head of the third branch of the House of Sayn. Being a childless bachelor, the elder of whose two younger brothers, Georg (1873-1960), had married morganatically, while the younger, Wilhelm (1877-1958), was 49 and yet unmarried, August preserved the name and heritage of his branch of the House of Sayn by adopting Christian Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1908-1953). He was the second son of the late head of the entire House of Sayn, Richard, 4th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1882-1925), whose eldest son, Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1907-1944) had inherited the senior line's fortune and position.
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