Köchert

Cf.: Viktoria Luise von Preussen, Mein Leben- Viktoria Luise Tochter des Kaisers, Munich, 1984, pg. 95.

Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1892-1980) was the youngest child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941) and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. Through her father she was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1913, Victoria Louise of Prussia wed Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1887-1953) who was the heir to the ancient Welfen House which had lost the throne of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866 when it was annexed by Prussia. The marriage of Victoria Louise and Ernst August resolved the decades-long, political tensions surrounding the abolition of Hanover as an independent state. Their union was celebrated in Berlin with lavish wedding celebrations attended most notably by Tsar Nicolas II and King George V. It would prove to be the last time that the crowned heads of Europe met before the outbreak of World War I one year later.

George V and Queen Mary offered this devant-de-corsage to Princess Victoria Louise on the occasion of her marriage. In her autobiography, she describes her wedding gifts from the British Royal couple as follows: an impressive gold vessel and 'a brilliant brooch with a brilliant tassel as a pendant'. The latter corresponds exactly to the corsage ornament. This photograph of Princess Victoria Louise, accompanied by her two oldest sons circa 1915, shows her wearing the piece. Characteristically for an important turn-of-the century jewel, it is transformable and can be worn either as a large devant-de-corsage or as a smaller bow brooch with or without a pendant. The central diamond cluster also detaches. On the reverse, blue enamel numbers indicate how the five elements can be combined with the help of four screws.

In November 1974, the brooch was offered for sale at the Bern-based auction house Jürg Stuker together with other pieces belonging to Princess Victoria Louise and the House of Hanover.