View source for Alexander, Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn

{{Infobox royalty
| name = Alexander
| title = Prince zu [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn]]
| image = Alexander_zu_Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn_(2014-08-02_Sp).JPG
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|11|22|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Salzburg]], Austria
| death_date =
| death_place =
| father = Ludwig, 6th Prince zu [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn]]
| mother = [[Marianne, Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn|Baroness Marianne von Mayr-Melnhof]]
| spouse = Countess Gabriela of [[House of Schönborn|Schönborn-Wiesentheid]]
| issue = Heinrich, Hereditary Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn<br>Princess Alexandra<br>Prince Casimir<br>Princess Filippa<br>Prince Ludwig<br>Princess Sofia<br>Prince Peter
| house = [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn]]
| religion = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
| place of burial =
| full name = {{langx|de|Alexander Konrad Friedrich Heinrich Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn}}
}}
'''Alexander Konrad Friedrich Heinrich Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn'''<ref name=ghda>Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser  XIX. "Sayn-Wittgenstein". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2011, pp. 331-333. (German). {{ISBN|978-3-7980-0849-6}}.</ref><ref>In 1919 [[royal family|royalty]] and [[nobility]] lost their privileges in Germany, hereditary titles were to be legally borne thereafter only as part of the surname, according to [http://www.zum.de/psm/weimar/weimar_vve.php#First_Chapter_:_The_Individual Article 109] of the [[Weimar Constitution]].</ref> (born 22 November 1943), is a German businessman, who is head of the Princely House [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn]].
==Early life==
He was born in [[Salzburg]] as the first son of Ludwig, 6th Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1915–1962) and his wife [[Marianne, Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn|Baroness Marianne von Mayr-Melnhof]] (born 1919).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.andrewcusack.com/2011/mamarazza/|title=Mamarazza|date=Feb 14, 2011|accessdate=Aug 8, 2020}}</ref> Following Prince Ludwig's death in 1962, Alexander succeeded as head of the princely house and, by tradition, as the 7th Prince (German: ''[[Fürst]])'' zu [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn]].<ref name=ghda/>
Alexander is a descendant of [[James II of England]] and his illegitimate son [[James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of Berwick]], through his father's grandmother Marie Auguste Yvonne de [[Blacas|Blacas d'Aulps]], daughter of [[Louis, Duke of Blacas]].
==Career==
Prince Alexander is vice president of [[Europa Nostra]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Europa Nostra|url=http://www.europanostra.org/governance--amp--structure/|access-date=2013-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531035212/http://www.europanostra.org/governance--amp--structure/|archive-date=2013-05-31|url-status=dead}}</ref> and president of Europa Nostra Germany. From 1986 to 2013, he served as president of the German Castles Association,<ref name=ghda/> which elected him on 28 April 2013 honorary president as well as president of the "Stiftung der Deutschen Burgenvereinigung" (Foundation of the German Castles Association).
==Personal life==
[[File:2006-05-05 Schloss Sayn 01.JPG|thumb|The old and the new castle at [[Sayn]]]]
In 1969, Alexander married Countess Gabriela von [[House of Schönborn|Schönborn-Wiesentheid]] (b. 1950) at [[Schloss Weißenstein]], [[Pommersfelden]].<ref name=ghda/> They have seven children:<ref>Website of the house Sayn-Wittgenstein: ''[http://www.sayn.de/html/aktuell.html Familie aktuell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927141554/http://www.sayn.de/html/aktuell.html |date=2011-09-27 }}''. 2011-07-18.</ref>
* Heinrich, Hereditary Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (b. 1971), who married ''[[Don (honorific)|Donna]]'' Priscilla [[Marquisate of Incisa|Incisa della Rocchetta]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Civil Marriage of Hereditary Prince Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and Donna Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta|url=https://www.angelfire.com/de3/verenasroyalty2003/Saynwed.html}}</ref> daughter of ''Don'' Niccolo, ''[[Marquis|Marchese]] Incisa della Rocchetta'', in 2003, and they have issue.
* Princess Alexandra (b. 1973), who married [[House of Oettingen-Wallerstein#Princes of Oettingen-Wallerstein|Hereditary Prince Carl Eugen zu Oettingen-Wallerstein]] in 1994. They divorced in 2002 and she married Count Stefano [[Hunyady de Kéthely]] in 2006,<ref name=ghda/> and has issue from both marriages.
* Prince Casimir (b. 1976), who married (civilly) in 1999 [[Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein|Corinna Larsen]] (divorced in 2004),<ref name=ghda/> and married secondly to American model Alana Camille Bunte in 2019, and has issue from both marriages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.castleholic.com/2017/07/royal-wedding-in-hanover-guests-part-1.html|title=Royal Wedding in Hanover: The Guests (Part 1)|website=www.castleholic.com|access-date=2017-10-31}}</ref>
* Princess Filippa (1980–2001), who married Count Vittorio [[:it:Mazzetti di Pietralata|Mazzetti d'Albertis]] in June 2001; she was killed in an automobile accident in England three months later, without issue.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.claret.cat/es/libro/el-angel-de-filippa |title=Filippa's Angel |access-date=2013-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402202538/http://www.claret.cat/es/libro/el-angel-de-filippa |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Prince Ludwig "Louis" (b. 1982),{{CN|date=December 2024}} who married in 2011 Countess Philippa [[Palazzo Spannocchi |Spannocchi]], and they have issue.<ref name=ghda/>
* Princess Sofia (b. 1986), who married to Archia Akhavan-Kharazian, London based businessman of Iranian and Spanish roots, in 2020.
* Prince Peter (b. 1992).
== Patronages ==
* Honorary President of the [[German Castles Association]].
== Honours ==
;National honours
* [[Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate]].
* Member of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] (2004).
* German Monument Protection Prize [Karl-Friedrich-Schinkel-Ring] (2018).
;Foreign honours
* Knight of Honour and Devotion of the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]].
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, Prince}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:People from Salzburg]]
[[Category:German landowners]]
[[Category:House of Sayn-Wittgenstein]]
[[Category:20th-century German businesspeople]]
[[Category:21st-century German businesspeople]]
[[Category:Living people]]