+Fürstin Delia zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Wallerstein

Born in 1919 Countess Delia Schenck von Stauffenberg was destined to marry into a prominent mediatized family.

Her parents were Count Marquard Schenck von Satuffenberg (1889-1975) and Olga-Marie Böhl de Liagre (1889-1973).

Delia was the couple's first child and her siblings included: Maria-Agnes (1920-1999) who was married to Hans-Heinrich Linden; Alexandra (b. 1922), widowed from Rolf Staelin (1912-1985); Alfred (b. 1923), who in 1954 married Countess Gioia von Hochberg, Baroness zu Fürstenstein (of the Princes of Pleß), but divorced in 1980 and six years later married Mrta Daeppen; and Clemens (1929-1987), who married Countess Clementine Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht.

In 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, Delia married Hereditary Prince Carl Friedrich zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Wallerstein (1917-1991), eldest son and heir of Fürst Eugen (1885-1969) and of his wife the former Princess Maria Anna zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, von Ratibor und Corvey (1895-1978). Carl Friedrich's siblings included: Moritz (1922-1944), who was killed fighting in Romania; Rose-Marie (1923-2008), who was married to Count Franz von Strassoldo; and Wolfgang (1924-2001), who married three times, firstly to Countess Henriette de Longueval von Buquoy (1917-1967), secondly to Princess Michaela von Schönburg-Waldenburg (b. 1940 (div.); and lastly to Countess Angelika von Schönborn (b. 1942), who survived him.

Carl Friedrich and Delia were the parents of three children: Ernestine (b. 1943), who is widowed from Raffaello Massini (1928-2001); Moritz (b. 1946), who married Princess Lioba zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg; and Krafft (b. 1951), who is married to Helen Lins.

Delia's husband succeeded as sixth Fürst zu Oettingen-Wallerstein upon the death of his father in 1969. For the next two decades he was head of the mediatized family whose holdings include forestry and agricultural lands in Baden-Württemberg and Western Bavaria, as well as a well-respected brewery. Their properties include three beautiful castles in the area: Schloß Wallerstein, Schloß Baldern and the Harburg. These are destinations for countless tourists yearly.

Fürst Carl Friedrich passed away in 1991. Fürstin Delia survived her husband by more than two decades, achieving the status of doyenne amongst German aristocrats.

Fürstin Delia zu Oettingen-Wallerstein passed away on 5 May 2012. She is mourned by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Her funeral was celebrated a week later and she now rests next to her husband in the family burial plot at Schloß Baldern.

May She Rest in Peace...

Article about her 90th birthday: http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/noerdlingen/Fuerstin-der-Herzen-bekommt-ihren-eigenen-Preis-id5230116.html

Article on her funeral service: http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/noerdlingen/Fuerstin-Delia-beigesetzt-id20149971.html

Fürstin Delia on her 90th birthday.

 Fürstin Delia in old age.

The German Gotha gather at Schloß Baldern to bid farewell to Fürstin Delia.