Prince Franz Joseph | |||||
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Born |
Heiligendamm, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
30 August 1891||||
Died | 3 April 1964 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
(aged 72)||||
Spouse | Princess Maria Alix of Saxony | ||||
Issue | Prince Karl Anton Prince Meinrad Leopold Princess Maria Margarethe Prince Emanuel Joseph |
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House | Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen | ||||
Father | William, Prince of Hohenzollern | ||||
Mother | Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies |
Full name | |
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Franz Joseph Maria Ludwig Anton Thassilo |
Franz Joseph Prinz von Hohenzollern-Emden (English: Prince Francis Joseph of Hohenzollern-Emden; 30 August 1891 – 3 April 1964) was a member of the Roman Catholic branch of the House of Hohenzollern. He was born as Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern and adopted the surname Prinz von Hohenzollern-Emden in 1933.
Franz Joseph was born in Heiligendamm in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the second son of Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had a twin brother, Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern, who was born a few minutes before he was.
During World War I Franz Joseph served in Germany's Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) as the second torpedo officer on the light cruiser SMS Emden at the Battle of Cocos. The SMS Emden had an extraordinary record capturing British ships, and as a result all those who served on her, including Franz Joseph, were given the right to add the ship's name to the end of their surnames. Since Germany had converted titles of nobility into family names in 1919, he became Franz Joseph Prinz von Hohenzollern-Emden.
In 1925 Franz Joseph wrote a book recording his naval service, Emden: Meine Erlebnisse auf S.M Schiff Emden (Leipzig: Eckstein, 1925), translated into English and published as Emden: My Experiences in S.M.S. Emden (reprinted as Emden: The Last Cruise of the Chivalrous Raider, 1914, Brighton: Lyon, 1989, ).
Franz Joseph also had the rank of Konteradmiral in the Romanian Naval Forces.
In 1933 Franz Joseph became a member of the SS (member number 276 691). On 1 April 1936, he became as full member of the Nazi party with membership number 3765580. As a leading Roman Catholic nobleman and a near relative of the Habsburg, Bourbon, and Saxon dynasties, Franz Joseph did much to lend respectability to the Nazi party.