Stephanie von Hohenlohe was born on September 16, 1891 in Vienna, Austria to the daughter of a Jewish ancestor. Stephanie was noted for her beauty and charm even from a young age. She became a political figure in Hitler’s circle and was best known for her tile as the Nazi Princess during World War II. She was known as a socialite, spy, gold-digger and close confident to Adolf Hitler, which to some made her the most dangerous woman at that time. It is known that Hitler bestowed gifts upon her, including the Schloss Leopoldskron Palace.

Stephanie was known for the lovers she would take; in 1913, she began an affair with a married man  named Franz Salcator and she soon found herself pregnant with her first child. Although it was reported that the child belonged to Franz Salcator, she was able to convince another man of high statue,  Prince Friedrich Franz von Holenloche-Waldenburg-Schilingsfurst that the child was his and on May 2, 1914 Prince Friedrich Franz and Stephanie were married. Stephanie found herself in high society where she felt like she had always belonged.  Along with her marriage to Franz Schillingsfurst, she was bestowed with the title of Princess which she still used after the dissolve of her marriage in 1920. During that period she volunteered as a nurse of the First World War, but even in war she still upheld the lifestyle to which she was accustomed to. Her service as a nurse was a short lived occupation due to the lady maid and butler she would keep.

In 1927, while living in London, she began an affair with a journalist named Lord Rothemere, a Nazi sympathizer; he was the key person that introduced Princess Stephanie to Adolf Hitler in 1933. Soon after meeting Hitler, Stephanie used her contacts in London to pass correspondence and arrange meetings with high-ranking Nazi figures. One particular meeting Stephanie arranged with was Duke of Windsor and the Fuhrer. It was after this meeting that Princess Stephanie’s reputation as a spy increased.  After the dissolve of her relationship with Lord Rothermere, Princess Stephanie began another affair with Hitler’s top aid Fritz Wiedemann throughout the 1930s. Time Magazine reported that:

           "Titian haired, 40 year old Stephanie Juliana Princess Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfurst, confidante of the Führer and friend of half of Europe's great is scheduled to sail from England to the US this week. Since the fall of Austria, Princess Stephanie, once the toast of Vienna, has lent her charms to advancing the Nazi cause in circles where it would do the most good. As a reward the Nazi government permitted her to take a lease on the sumptuous Schloss Leopoldskron near Salzburg, taken over from Jewish Max Reinhardt after Anschluss. During the Czecho-Slovak crisis she did yeoman service for the Nazi campaign. When Mr. Chamberlain sent Lord Runciman to gather impressions of conditions in Czechoslovakia Princess Stephanie hurried to the Sudetenland castle of Prince Max Hohenlohe where the British mediator was entertained."

Towards the end of 1938, Hitler and Princess Stephanie’s relationship began to change; once Hitler found out about his aid Wiedemann and the Princess relationship. Some say it was due to Hitler’s knowledge that Stephanie was half Jewish; however, Hitler had known of her Jewish ancestry since 1934. So after their falling out Wiedemann left for the United States and Princess Stephanie would later follow him to San Francisco, traveling back and forth for London and the U.S, until the outbreak of World War II.  Roosevelt and the FBI did not like Stephanie and her occasions in the U.S. Roosevelt is quoted saying that Princess Stephanie’s activities made her “worse than 10,000 men.”  She was detained in 1941 by the U.S and sent to a detainment camp in Texas until she was paroled in 1945. After the end of the war she returned to Germany and the lifestyle, men and social life to which she was accustomed. Nothing for Princess Stephanie changed during or after the war; she lived until the age of 81.

 

 

 

Recommended Books:

Schad, Martha. Hitler’s spy Princess: The Extraordinary Life of Princes Stephanie von Hohenlohe. Sutton Publishing , 2004.  

Wilson, Jim. Nazi Princess: Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stpehanie von Hohenlohe.  The History Press, 2011.  

 

References:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum ; safe files- box 3 folder titles list Hohenlohe, Stefanie von Index October 28,1941. http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box3/folo31.html  (accessed February 13, 2014).

 

Girl Spy, Stephanie von Hohenlohe. February 4, 2011. http://girlspy.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/stephanie-von-hohenlohe/ (assessed February 13, 2014).

 

Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Spartacus Educational. Simkin, John, September 1197-October 2013. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Stephanie_von_Hohenlohe.htm (accessed February 13, 2014).