Viktor II, Duke of Ratibor

Victor II, Duke of Ratibor, Prince of Corvey, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst was a member of the House of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and Duke of the Silesian duchy of Ratibor. He was a lawyer, an cavalry officer in the Royal Prussian Army and a politician in the Free Conservative Party. He served in the Prussian House of Lords, and as the chairman of the provincial parliaments of Silesia and Upper Silesia between 1897 and 1921.

Early life and family

Victor was born at Rauden Castle, Kingdom of Prussia, eldest son of Victor I, Duke of Ratibor, and his wife, Princess Amelie of Fürstenberg,.
He studied law in Bonn and Göttingen and was a member of the Corps Borussia and Corps Saxonia. In Saxonia were also his four brothers, Max, Karl Egon, Franz and Egon.

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

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 served as the chairman of the provincial parliaments of Silesia during the German Empire and Upper Silesia during the Weimar Republic. 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.

Victor III, Duke of Ratibor, married in 1910 to Princess Elisabeth of Oettingen-Spielberg, had issue.
Prince Hans of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, married in 1918 to Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz, no issue.
Princess Agathe of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, married in 1910 to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, had issue.
Princess Margarete of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, never married.
Honours, awards and arms

Major general à la suite of the Prussian Army
Honorary citizenships and doctorates
Honorary Citizen of Breslau, 1913'
Orders and decorations