[3] In addition to managing his family's estates, Ludwig Deines occasionally stood in for Alexis, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld in his capacity as deputy in the Kommunallandtag Kassel, or municipal parliament, between 1868 and 1885.

[8] Through his mother's sisters, Deines was the nephew by marriage of three prominent men: the chemist Friedrich Wöhler, the legal scholar Otto Bähr, and the Hessian finance minister Karl Ledderhose.

[12] Deines acquitted himself well as both a soldier and a horseman, but his father refused his request to pursue a military career, so upon graduation from university, he took up a position managing a large noble estate in Schmograu, Lower Silesia.

[13] Deines remained a commissioned officer of the 7th Hussars (active as of 15 July 1871), rising to the rank of adjutant before being appointed to the Prussian General Staff in March 1872.

[13] Deines's background, education, and social acumen served him well in Spain, where he was noted to have won the favor of King Alfonso XII and his Austrian wife Maria Christina, as well as many important Spanish military leaders.

[22] This position gave Deines the curious German right of Immediatstellung, or "immediate access" to the Kaiser, a privilege restricted to the highest ranking nobility and members of the military.

[24] Like the military attachés in Saint Petersburg, Paris and Rome, Deines provided the Waldersee with reports that cast a bad light on German foreign policy at the time - and thus on Bismarck as its author.

[24][26] During his tenure in Vienna, Deines also made the acquaintance of the British Brigadier-General Sir Douglas Dawson, who would reminisce fondly of their friendship in his memoirs, despite the estrangement of their nations following two great wars.

On December 16, 1888, the Kölnische Zeitung published a sensational story that accused Morier of diplomatic malfeasance during his time as the chargé d'affaires to the British legation in Darmstadt, which coincided with the Franco-Prussian war.

[29] During his tenure in Germany, Morier had become a close friend and confidant to Crown Prince Frederick, with whose liberal leanings he sympathized, against the conservative nationalism of Bismarck.

In October 1894, while retaining his position as aide-de-camp, Deines was recalled from Vienna to Berlin to act as Obergouverneur, or the individual in charge of the education of the emperor's sons.

The town of Plön in Schleswig-Holstein was chosen, in part, to soften the blow to the Empress Augusta Victoria, because it was located in her ancestral homeland, and so while the children were apart from her, they were at least in a place she knew and loved.

[34] At Plön, the princes were given all of the instruction typical of boys at the time, including history, geography, elocution, religion, mathematics, and the sciences; Deines even had a chemistry laboratory built into the basement of the Prinzenhaus.

Not only that ours had to pass a regular final exam in a Realschule of the first order; they had to speak English and French fluently, control their horse like a cavalry soldier, and ride through the countryside map in hand.

[39] In gratitude for overseeing the education of his sons, Wilhelm II made Deines a Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern in 1898, as well as raising him to the rank of adjutant general.

[42] Almost thirty years older than his wife, Deines actually served with his father-in-law during the Franco-Prussian War, where they fought together at the Battle of Gravelotte as part of the VIII Army Corps.

[45][46] By 1906, increased hearing loss forced Deines to relinquish his command of the VIII Army Corps, and he was retired from active duty, although he retained the honorary rank of Adjutant general à la suite to his old unit, the 7th Hussar Regiment.