Viktor II, Duke of Ratibor

Victor II, Duke of Ratibor, Prince of Corvey, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst  (Viktor Amadeus 2. Herzog von Ratibor, 2. Fürst von Corvey, Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst; 6 September 1847 – 9 August 1923) was a member of the House of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and Duke of the Silesian duchy of Ratibor (Racibórz).

Early life and family
Victor was born at Rauden Castle, Kingdom of Prussia, eldest son of Victor I, Duke of Ratibor (1818–1893), (son of Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and Princess Constanze of Hohenlohe-Langenburg) and his wife, Princess Amelie of Fürstenberg (1821–1899), (daughter of Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg and Princess Amalie of Baden).

He studied Law in Bonn and Göttingen and was a member of the Corps Borussia (1867) and Corps Saxonia (1890). In Saxonia were also his four brothers, Max, Karl Egon, Franz (Colonel à la suite) and Egon (Lord Chamberlain).

Military career
After making his Doctorate in Law he entered the Potsdamer Life Guards Hussar Regiment in which he fought during the Franco-Prussian War.

Political career
Between 1873 and 1876 he worked at the German Embassy in Vienna. In 1893 he took over the dominions Kieferstädtel and Zembowitz in Upper Silesia.

From 1897 to 1921 he was Chairman of the Silesia Province respectively of the Upper Silesian provincial parliament. As a member of the Free Conservative Party, he ran in 1885 and 1888 for the Prussian House of Representatives. Since 1893, he was a member of the Prussian House of Lords. From 1896 to 1904 he was chairman of the New Coalition Party.

Marriage
Victor married 19 June 1877 at Vienna to Countess Marie Breuner-Enckevoirt (1856–1929), daughter of Count August Johann Breuner-Enckevoirt, and his wife, Countess Agota Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék.

They had four children:
 * Victor III, Duke of Ratibor (2 February 1879, Rauden – 11 November 1945, Corvey), married in 1910 to Princess Elisabeth of Oettingen-Spielberg (1886–1976), had issue.
 * Prince Hans of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (8 March 1882, Rauden – 5 January 1948, Walkersdorf Castle), married in 1918 to Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz (1898–1992), no issue.
 * Princess Agathe of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (24 July 1888, Rauden – 12 December 1960, Wiesbaden), married in 1910 to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (1880–1925), had issue.
 * Princess Margarete of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (3 Mar 1894, Rauden – 23 May 1973, Corvey); never married.

Military appointments

 * Major general à la suite of the Prussian Army
 * Honorary Citizen of Breslau, 1913

Orders and decorations
• Kingdom of Prussia:

• * Iron Cross (1870), 2nd Class on Black Band

• * Knight of the Prussian Crown, 1st Class, 8 February 1893

• * Knight of the Black Eagle, with Collar

• * Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern

• * Red Cross Medal, 3rd Class

•  Hohenzollern: Cross of Honour of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, 1st Class

•  Baden:

• * Knight of the Zähringer Lion, 1st Class with Swords and Oak Leaves, 1872

• * Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1893

• * Knight of the Order of Berthold the First, 1893

•    Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order

•  Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon

•  Kingdom of Saxony: Grand Cross of the Albert Order, with Golden Star, 1898

•  Schaumburg-Lippe: Military Merit Medal

•  Austria-Hungary: Commander of the Order of Franz Joseph, 1876

•  Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion

•  Persian Empire: Order of the Lion and the Sun, 1st Class

• 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 Sweden-Norway: Commander Grand Cross of the North Star, 7 September 1893

Notes and sources

 * Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Reference: 1956