Confessions of a Castleholic

Wednesday night is a night as good as any for the my third post about the guests of last weekend's royal wedding of Ernst-August and Ekaterina of Hanover, so without further ado, let's go... Princess Olga of Hanover, aunt of the groom, in the middle together with her brother Prince Heinrich and his son Prince Albert. Prince Constantin of Salm-Salm and his wife Princess Friederike, née Gumberz von Rhonthal, who apparently had their fifth child recently. Princess Milana of Fürstenberg. Another picture of Princess Milana of Fürstenberg (middle) and on her right Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill.  Two of the ushers: Princess Hermann of Leinigen on the left and Prince Berthold of Baden on the right. Prince Georg and Princess Victoria of Hanover, possibly with their daughter Princess Nora of Hanover and a granddaughter.  Page boy Arcadj Hadey and flower girl Noa Hadey and their parents. Dirk Rossmann, owner of Europe's second largest drugstore chai...

And here we go again, some more guests of the royal wedding in Hanover yesterday. Once again in no particular order. For more guests, have a look at my previous post . Pictures of the bridal couple here . The bride's parents on the left together with Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Alessandra de Osma (fiancée of Prince Christian), Prince Christian of Hanover and Princess Chantal of Hanover, mother of the groom. It was Prince Christian who led a round of rousing applause for his brother and sister-in-law. Princess Alexandra and Alessandra de Osma. Prince Christian. Princess Alexandra Princess Chantal, mother of the groom. Baron Christian of Humboldt-Dachroeden, illegitimate son of the groom's grandfather, and his wife Baroness Marie.  Countess Marie of Hochberg, née Princess of Hanover and aunt of the groom.  Hereditary Prince Ferdinand of Leiningen, cousin of the groom.  Martin Kind, businessman and president of the local foot...

View image | gettyimages.com Today is July 20, one of the most famous dates in German history. 71 years ago, a group of conspirators around Claus Schenk Graf (Count) von Stauffenberg tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Many of those surrounding Stauffenberg were also of noble descent and mainly based on their actions, there has long been the underlying assumption that much of the German nobility was against the Nazis, which they weren't. Well, first off: There wasn't the German nobility. Looking back, there are two main indicators for a noble family - or, as you'll see later, members of a noble family - to either be supporters of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or to be against them. On the one hand, the wealth of the family seems to have played a role; on the other hand, their faith. The staunchly Catholic well-off royal and noble families from western and especially southern Germany often weren't closely associ...