Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt
| Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt | |
|---|---|
Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, 2008
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| Born |
Hans Georg Robert Lichtenberg June 18, 1943 Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland, Germany |
| Residence | Bel Air, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | German |
| Other names | Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt |
| Citizenship | Germany; United States (naturalized) |
| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) | Zsa Zsa Gabor (m. 1986; her death 2016) |
| Website | www |
Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt (born Hans Georg Robert Lichtenberg; June 18, 1943) is a German-American entrepreneur best known as the last husband of late film actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. He changed his name after paying Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt to adopt him as an adult.
Hans Lichtenberg was born in Bad Kreuznach in the Rhineland, Germany, one of five children of a criminal police councillor, Ferdinand, and his wife, Barbara.
In 1980, at the age of 36, Lichtenberg was adopted as an adult by Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt (1898–1983), whose first husband was Prince Joachim of Prussia, son of German Emperor Wilhelm II. Upon adoption, Lichtenberg's name became "Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt", although "Prinz" is part of the legal surname and not a princely title. Since 1919, royal and noble titles in Germany, which were all abolished then, may be used as part of registered, legal surnames. Despite this, Anhalt styles himself "Prince Frédéric of Anhalt, Duke of Saxony and Westphalia, Count of Ascania". Some reports state that Anhalt claims to have been a childhood friend of Princess Marie Auguste's only child, Prince Karl Franz of Prussia (1916–1975), and that the grieving mother adopted him out of kindness, naming him "Prince" and "Duke of Saxony". However, British press reports indicate that Princess Marie Auguste was bankrupt and the adoption was a business transaction, allegedly masterminded by Hans Hermann Weyer, a former window dresser who became the honorary consul of Bolivia in Luxembourg. Weyer was known for selling certificates of nobility, doctoral degrees from fictitious universities, and other spurious decorations in Germany in the 1960s. Lichtenberg was one of about 35 adults adopted by the Princess, some then styling themselves Princes of Anhalt.
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