After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he returned to his homeland, represented the district in the Bundestag, and served in local government.
He grew up in the idyllic setting of Wechselburg (51°0′11″N 12°46′36″E / 51.00306°N 12.77667°E / 51.00306; 12.77667) in the Zwickauer Mulde river valley, about 25 kilometers north of Chemnitz.
He married his first wife, Countess Beatrix Széchenyi de Sárvár et Felsővidék (1930–2021), on 27 October 1957 in Vienna.
She was the great granddaughter of the Hungarian social reformer and national hero, Count István Széchényi.
Any title, however, held prior to the Weimar Constitution, were permitted to continue merely as part of the family name and heritage, or erased from future name use.