His 100th birthday on 9 December 2023 was celebrated with his family. Christian Fürst zu Bentheim und Steinfurt, according to a spokesperson for the family, was doing quite well for his advanced age. Also the media paid attention to this special day. However, only three days later, on 12 December 2023, one of the eldest members of the Gotha died in Steinfurt, Germany, where he was also born 100 years earlier. The red-yellow flag on the keep of the Burgsteinfurt moated castle, the residence of the family, was lowered to half-mast. His death announcement was published in several newspapers.
© Parsifal von Pallandt (thanks for the permission)
People could bid farewell to Christian Fürst zu Bentheim und Steinfurt at the Knights’ Hall at Burgsteinfurt Castle on 27 December 2023 and sign the book of condolences. The funeral service took place in the Grosse Kirche in Burgsteinfurt. Afterwards a four-horse black carriage drove through Burgsteinfurt, stopped for a minute at the castle gate, and then continued to the family cemetery at the Bagno Park.
© Parsifal von Pallandt (thanks for the permission)
Christian Max Gustav Albrecht was born as the second son of Viktor Adolf Fürst zu Bentheim und Steinfurt (1883-1961) and his first wife, Princess Stephanie zu Schaumburg-Lippe. He was the godson of his great-aunt, Queen Emma of the Netherlands, who visited him several times. The contacts with the Dutch royal family ended after World War II. Christian was only one and a half years old, when his mother died when giving birth to twins, only 25 years old. Stephanie herself had only been six years old when her mother, Princess Louise of Denmark, died. Christian’s elder brother, Hereditary Prince Alexis, was killed in action during an air fight over the Mediterranean, near Marseille, France, in December 1943. From his father’s second marriage to Princess Rosa Helene zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich Christian had several half-siblings: Juliane – named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands -, Reinhard, Marie-Adelheid, Charlotte, Ferdinand, Otto-Victor and Oscar. Of them, only Charlotte is still alive.
On 7 August 1950 Hereditary Prince Christian married Countess Sylvia von Pückler, Freiin von Groditz in Burgsteinfurt. She died on 15 November 2013 in Münster. As the couple didn’t have children themselves, they adopted two girls: Caroline and Alexa, who are now both married and have children. In 1991 he also adopted the son of his brother Prince Reinhard. Carl Ferdinand (born 1977). From his marriage to Elna-Margret Rinn the new Fürst has two children: Jonathan (2008) and Wilhelmina (2018). The couple split 2020.
Photos by Royaltyguide.nl