Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1886–1964)

Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was born on 14 February 1886 in Düsseldorf. He was educated by a tutor until deemed old enough to enter the Imperial German Army.[2] He joined the Cuirassiers of the Guard in Berlin, where he was separated from the guidance of his family and tutor, and began to build up a reputation as a spendthrift like his father.[2] He was given $10,000 a year to spend, and he and those he bought items from realized that any debts contracted would eventually be paid by his family, thus increasing the amount Hermann could spend.[2] By the end of the year, Hermann was a quarter of a million dollars in debt, which his family duly paid; he was sent to a small town as a disciplinary measure.[2] He persuaded his family that he was ill, and was able to travel to Paris, racking up more debts along the way; one rumor said he sold his mother's jewels en route to France.[2]

William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach remained childless for much of his early life, fueling speculation of the succession to his duchy. As a descendant of Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach through a younger son, firstly Hermann and secondly his brother were heir presumptives until the birth of Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in 1912.

Coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Before he became disinherited, Prince Hermann desired to marry Princess Marie Bonaparte, a great heiress; he might have succeeded but for his unsavory reputation.[4] Though there was a chance he would succeed to the Grand Ducal throne, Marie's father disliked Hermann for possessing an "evil" reputation, and consequently allowed her instead to marry Prince George of Greece and Denmark.[4] Before her refusal, however, Hermann was able to obtain a great deal of money, as it was assumed he would soon have a great deal of wealth to spend; when it became clear there was to be no marriage, a "crash" came.[4] It was these money troubles, along with other problems, that led to his disinheritance.[2][4]

Despite being disinherited, Hermann openly boasted he would travel to the United States in search of a wealthy wife, and then return to Germany and pay off his debts within a year; all this was said while staying in Zurich awaiting funds from his family.[9] Instead, Hermann, now Count Ostheim, morganatically married Wanda Paola Lottero, an Italian stage actress, on 5 September 1909 in London.[1] They visited the United States on several occasions.[3] They were divorced two years later, on 22 June 1911 after Wanda grew tired of supporting him with her earnings and divorced him on the grounds of financial "non-support", "cruelty", and "infidelity".[1][3][4] Wanda later gained notoriety for having a short-lived affair with King Konstantínos I of the Hellenes in 1912.[10]

On 4 August 1918, Hermann married secondly to Suzanne Aagot Midling at Heidelberg. They had one surviving child before her death on 16 October 1931:

• Alexander Kyrill Graf von Ostheim (born 7 August 1922); he died unmarried in Stockholm on 28 March 1943[1]

On 16 November 1932, Hermann's engagement with Isabel Neilson, daughter of former British MP and prominent actor and author Francis Neilson, was announced.[11] Hermann and Isabel were married civilly and religiously in Paris on 28 November 1932.[1][12] A small family luncheon accompanied the wedding; afterwards, the couple honeymooned to Spain and North Africa.[12] They had no children.

Hermann died in London on 6 June 1964 at the age of 78.[1]