Photos and Copyright: Netty Leistra
On Wednesday morning 8 May I heard the sad news that Eva-Benita Fürstin zu Schaumburg-Lippe née Freiin von Tiele-Winckler had died early that morning at the age of 85. She had been ill for some years already. Flags at Bückeburg Castle in Bückeburg are flying at half-mast. People are able to say goodbye to her at the chapel of the castle on 13 and 14 May from noon to 5pm. There are books of condolences in the entrance hall. The funeral service for guests will take place in the Mausoleum of the family at Bückeburg on 24 May, a public service will take place in the Stadtkirche in Bückeburg on 25 May.
Eva Benita Freiin von Tiele-Winckler was born on 18 November 1927 at Vollrathsruhe, Mecklenburg, as daughter of Hans-Werner Count von Tiele-Winckler and his wife Elisabeth Countess von Bassewitz. After WW II she fled to the western part of Germany. She spent some time working and Sweden. Later on she studied biology, and during these studies in Freiburg im Breisgau she learnt to know Philipp-Ernst, the then hereditary prince zu Schaumburg-Lippe, who was eight months younger than her. The couple got married at Bückeburg on 3 October 1955. They had two sons: Georg-Wilhelm, who died in a car accident near Steinbergen in 1983 only aged 27, and Alexander (* 1958). Philipp-Ernst, who had become the Fürst zu Schaumburg-Lippe in 1962, died at Bückeburg on 28 August 2003. The Fürstin is survived by her son Alexander, his second wife Nadja Anna and his children Heinrich Donatus (* 1994), Felipa (* 2008) and Philomena (* 2011).
After a serious traffic accident in February 2007 the health of the Fürstin deteriorated. Since she didn’t appear in public often anymore, and regularly had to use a wheelchair. The photos above were taken by me at the second wedding of her son Alexander in 2007 and the wedding of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia in 2011.
