Duke Christian Louis of Mecklenburg

Born in Schloss Ludwigslust, as a member of an elder, Mecklenburg-Schwerin line of an ancient House of Mecklenburg, he was the second child of the reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis IV, and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, third child and second daughter of Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover and Princess Thyra of Denmark.

[1] Following the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, his father formally abdicated on 14 November 1918 and the monarchy was abolished.

After finishing school, in the autumn of 1935, he went as a recruit in the cavalry regiment 14 in Ludwigslust, with whom he was drafted in 1939 into World War II.

When the war ended, Ludwigslust was first occupied by the British, but soon was transferred to the Soviet occupation, so that Christian Louis initially went with his family to Glücksburg Castle in Schleswig-Holstein.

In 1953, he was released after the intervention of Konrad Adenauer for German POWs in the Soviet Union and came back to Christmas 1953 with his family in Glücksburg.

Christian Ludwig (on right) with his mother and his elder brother (1918)
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess with their children in 1925 .
From left to right: Duke Christian Louis, Grand Duke Frederick Francis , Duchess Thyra, Grand Duchess Alexandra , Duchess Anastasia and Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Franz .