Personal Life
Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was born on 14 August 1916 in Copenhagen, Denmark as a member of the aristocratic family Sayn-Wittgenstein. He was the second of three sons of Gustav Alexander Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (1880–1953), a diplomat at the German embassy in Copenhagen, and his wife, Walburga, Baroness von Friesen (1885–1970). His brother Ludwig was older and Alexander younger. Sayn-Wittgenstein was a descendant of Russian Field Marshal Prince Peter Khristianovich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Berleburg, a prominent commander in the Imperial Russian Army during the Napoleonic wars.
Sayn-Wittgenstein attended numerous schools in various locations. These included a private tutor at Lake Geneva, a boarding school in Neubeuern in Upper Bavaria, a brief stay at Davos in Switzerland, and a private school in Montreux. He received his Abitur from the Realgymnasium, a higher education facility, in Freiburg im Breisgau on 17 December 1935.
He joined the Hitler Youth on 12 April 1932 in Freiburg. On 15 January 1933, he became a Kameradschaftsführer (group leader). From Easter 1933 until fall of 1933 he led the group's military-sports activities as a Wehrsportleiter. He then became head of the instruction unit (Ausbildungsschar) until May 1934. From June 1934 he led the work unit 2/1/113 (Gefolgschaft) and received further pre-military sports training at the different camps of the unit 113 (Bann) and at the Regional Leaders' School (Gebietsführerschule).
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